Kate’s family waited anxiously as she gave birth to her first child, a baby boy with a very sentimental name, during the Tuesday, March 12, episode of This Is Us, titled “The Waiting Room.”
Jack Damon
Doctors tried to delay Kate’s (Chrissy Metz) labor since she was only 28 weeks pregnant, but when her baby’s heart rate dropped, they took her in for an emergency C-section. Her baby boy arrived prematurely and needed a machine to breathe and an incubator to keep him warm.
At the end of the episode, Kate and Toby (Chris Sullivan) went to the NICU to visit their son. Kate told Toby she wanted to name him Jack. She then prayed to her late father, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), to ask him to make sure that her baby was OK. She knew he could make that happen, and after their one-sided chat, she assured Toby that little Jack would be just fine.
Thanks for Putting Up With Us
In the waiting room, tensions ran high as the Pearsons awaited news about Kate. At first, the family made jokes about Duchess Meghan’s baby and played games to distract themselves, but their problems seeped out. Kate’s doctor encouraged them to leave until there was something to report, but Rebecca (Mandy Moore) insisted, “This family stays.”
Toby had revealed Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) relapse — which involved alcohol, not pain pills — to his relatives. He was defensive and lashed out at hospital employees and Kate’s friend Madison (Caitlin Thompson). He later promised Zoe (Melanie Liburd), who confided in Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) that she wanted to stay in the relationship, his drinking was over. However, she discovered vodka in his water bottle, though she didn’t let him know it. Kevin told Zoe that he couldn’t recover without her.
Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth talked out their work-life balance, but they didn’t make any headway. When they thought they had a solution in Miguel (Jon Huertas) and Rebecca stepping in to help, the grandparents admitted they were thinking of moving to California to help Kate with her baby. Meanwhile, Miguel confessed to Madison that he struggled with finding his place in the family without taking Jack’s spot.
The family members repeatedly got into it over small and big things … until Rebecca told them they needed to put their issues aside if they didn’t have anything to do with Kate. After they found out Kate delivered the baby, the brood headed out to clean themselves up and recharge before returning to the NICU.
This Is Us airs on NBC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
