Most women in labor probably don't want their partner to leave them for a conference room and a cheeseburger. But Melinda French Gates? She had a book. And apparently, a high tolerance for both contractions and Microsoft boardrooms.
In her new memoir, "The Next Day", French Gates shares a moment from the day her first child, Jennifer, was born—a moment that had the potential to spark social media fury if she hadn't beat everyone to the punchline.
"On the morning of April 26, 1999," she writes, "my water broke." She and Bill made their way to the hospital, only to be told she wasn't quite ready. Doctors even considered sending them home. What followed was a compromise worthy of a marriage negotiation handbook:
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"Ultimately, we settled on a compromise. I stayed at the hospital. Bill went to the office," she writes. And then, already anticipating the collective eye-roll, she added: "Before you roll your eyes, keep in mind that there really wasn't anything for him to do yet. Plus I had a good book with me."
What could've read as neglectful instead comes off as pragmatic—especially the way Melinda tells it. "In the end, I spent most of that magical day cheerfully alone," she notes, offering zero resentment and plenty of perspective.
But when active labor kicked in, so did the real discomfort—and Bill made it back in time for the action. That's when the cheeseburger incident happened. Melinda recalls asking her husband to remove his sweater "because it smelled like the hamburger he'd eaten on the way, and I was far too nauseated to deal with that."
Her labor lasted more than 14 hours, and at one point, in an effort to avoid a C-section, the doctor attempted a vacuum-assisted delivery. The attempt was brief—and loud. "The doctor [was] shrieking, ‘Turn it off!'" Melinda writes.
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Jennifer was finally born at 6:11 p.m., and Melinda describes being "absolutely smitten." It was a transformative moment that marked the beginning of her journey into motherhood in her early 30s—one she now reflects on with clarity, humor, and blunt honesty.
That story—and many others like it—takes on new weight knowing that Melinda and Bill finalized their divorce in 2021 after nearly three decades of marriage.
She writes that she never expected to become a grandmother before turning 60, but in February 2023, she welcomed granddaughter Leila, followed by Mia just six months later. And just like the day she labored mostly solo while Bill went to work, she's handled this new chapter with grace and a little grit.
"There's a lot that's happened in my life over the last few years that I didn't see coming," she writes in "The Next Day," which was released last month. "During this season, I've seen my life change in ways I hoped for, ways I fought against, and ways I never could have imagined."
It's not the story of a tech titan's wife sitting at home—it's the story of a woman who made space for her own identity, one chapter at a time. And on that first chapter? A good book, some quiet time, and one very unwanted burger-scented sweater.
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