By Timmy Johnson
Follow me @timothy_owlfeed

Last December’s episode “The Birthday Synchronity” was a big event in the lives of us die-hard fans of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. In this Season 10 episode, the Wolowitz couple, Howard and Bernadette (played by Simon Helberg and Melissa Rauch, respectively), finally welcome their baby daughter into the world.

Bernadette was first mentioned to have been pregnant in the Season 9 episode “The Valentino Submergence”, which premiered all the way back on February 11, 2016. “The Birthday Synchronicity” aired on December 15, 2016, and the episode was full of tons of hilarious surprises which made it the most memorable episode to end the year with.

The episode picks up from where the previous episode, “The Property Division Collision” (aired December 1, 2016) left off, where Bernadette is rushed to the hospital to have her baby, while accompanied by Howard, and their friends Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) and Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).

Meanwhile, it is Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik)’s birthday, and she tries to spend some time with her boyfriend, the comical Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). However, they are repeatedly interrupted when they are alerted about the news of Bernadette’s baby, and can never seem to find any time alone.

Eventually, Bernadette finally has her baby off-screen, and everybody congratulates Howard, who is now a father. In a comical twist, the baby’s cry sounds similar to the loud, obnoxious voice of Howard’s deceased mother Debbie Wolowitz, played by the late Carol Ann Susi.

In my opinion, this episode was awesome. It is interesting to note that Howard Wolowitz, one of the creepiest characters during the show’s earliest years, was the first to get married, and later the first to become a parent to a child.

Bernadette, as a character, pulled through her pregnancy perfectly. Although it was probably hard for her, she did get a lot of help by Howard, Raj, and Stuart. Having one of the couples on the show become parents is a huge change in the overall storyline. I am looking forward to seeing the Wolowitzs’ crazy antics while raising their new baby!

Speaking of the baby, her name is Halley Wolowitz, named after the famous Halley’s comet. As a tribute to the aforementioned Carol Ann Susi, the baby will never physically appear on-camera, and instead her presence will be made known to the viewers by the sound of her crying in the other room.

One of the most interesting aspects of the show was the fact that Howard’s mother never physically appeared on-screen, and instead she always yelled from off-screen. Sadly, her actor died on November 11, 2014, and later, the decision was made to have her character pass away as well during the show’s eighth season (specifically, in the episode “The Comic Book Store Regeneration”, which aired February 19, 2015).

Because of Carol Ann Susi’s death, we will no longer get to hear the hilarious voice of Mrs. Wolowitz in the show anymore. However, the show decides to pay tribute to Carol Ann Susi’s character by having her granddaughter be invisible to the viewers as well. I give kudos to the creators of the show for finding a way for Mrs. Wolowitz’s spirit to live on.

Due to the character Bernadette having such a realistic baby bump in the show, many fans begin to think that her actor, Melissa Rauch, may even be pregnant as well. Sometimes, when an actress becomes pregnant in real life, it is written into the show so that their characters become pregnant as well, explaining the visible baby bump the actresses have.

Melissa Rauch has denied all of the rumors about being pregnant in real life, She even called her parents and told them “You’re TV grandparents. That’s all!”. In an interview with Vine Report, she has said that her pregnant appearance was nothing more than the prosthetic she wore while playing her role. She joked “You’ll see my belly enter first,” in any scene where her character enters the apartment.

In the show, Bernadette was actually pregnant for about eleven months, which references how long real-life pregnancies take. Until the birth of Halley in the winter finale, many people were getting antsy about when the baby would actually arrive. Many thought the baby would not appear until late Season 10 or maybe even Season 11.

Last summer when the creators and cast were planning for the show’s tenth season, the executive producer Steven Molaro told Variety that “We figured she [Bernadette] ought to have this baby pretty soon”, which somewhat gave us fans hope that the birth would happen sometime no later than the tenth season.

In “The Birthday Synchronity”, Bernadette going into labor was never shown at all, and many people pondered why. Molaro also said “That’s an arena that’s been covered fairly well on many shows over the years”. The reason as to why the baby was never seen being born in the episode is further proof that, like Mrs. Wolowitz, this baby would never be physically seen on camera.

Overall, the birth of Halley Wolowitz was purely amazing, and was an interesting, extraordinary way to end the 2016 year. Having the Wolowitz couple taking care of their new baby will open up brand new storylines in the series, and us fans can’t wait to see what happens next in the season. And who knows: maybe sometime before the show ends, we might get a slight glimpse of the baby – much like we did with her grandmother Mrs. Wolowitz.