Warning: This Is Us spoilers ahead.

For weeks, the cast and producers of This Is Us have been teasing tonight’s episode as a game-changer, and now we know why. After a season of anticipation, Kate finally gave birth to her son, who she (unsurprisingly) named Jack. The wait is over!

Actually, waiting was pretty much the theme of this entire episode. Appropriately titled “The Waiting Room,” most of the 41 minutes was spent watching Rebecca, Miguel, Beth, Randall, Kevin, Zoe, and even Madison waiting in the hospital as Kate goes into premature labor. The waiting room was basically a character in itself—which makes sense, given the episode was written in an actual hospital waiting room. “Bekah Brunstetter [the writer] wanted to get all those weird little details that came across in the script by actually putting herself in the real situation,” This Is Us executive producer and co-showrunner Isaac Aptaker says.

But much of the episode doesn’t involve Kate as much as it centers on each character’s own crossroads in life. Rebecca and Miguel contemplate moving cross-country to be closer to Kate and the baby. Beth fears giving up her new teaching job to suit her family’s needs. Kevin continues drinking…and lying to Zoe about it.

Ultimately, Kate and Toby’s son is born 10-12 weeks premature. While he—and the rest of the family—prepare for a tough fight ahead, executive producers/co-showrunners Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger fill us in on what’s to come, and how tonight’s episode came to be.

Glamour: Kate and Toby’s baby looks extremely lifelike, but it’s very difficult to film with a baby so tiny. How did you manage those scenes?

Isaac Aptaker: We brought in a very talented team of artists that create incredibly lifelike, accurate-to-size premature babies that are operated by a variety of animatronic and puppeteering devices. It’s great for our actors, because it’s not done afterward on computers. They’re able to look at this baby, which really looks like a baby, and emote off it.

The baby was born at 28 weeks. What can you say about any physical or developmental delays?

IA: We don’t want to give anything away, but when we’re telling a story like this we are aware of how sensitive it is and how triggering it can be. We know many people have dealt with experiences like this, so we’re trying to be realistic and sensitive to that. Nothing is going to be drawn out just for TV’s sake. There’s going to be lots of answers coming very, very quickly, and we’re just trying to respectfully and accurately tell something that isn’t seen enough on TV, in our opinion, because of how many people it affects.

What kind of team did you bring in to make sure you were accurately telling this story?

IA: My girlfriend’s aunt runs a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) in Pennsylvania and has a ton of information to offer on this. She got on the phone with us for hours and answered all of our questions. Then, on the day we filmed those scenes, we had medical technicians and consultants. We also wanted to hear the personal stories, so we brought in a couple of moms we knew personally who gave birth prematurely to hear what it was like, emotionally and anecdotally for them.

Kate and Toby name the baby Jack. Will we see Rebecca’s reaction?

IA: We actually don’t see the immediate reaction because of how the timing works in next week’s episode, but I think we can assume that Kate checked in with Rebecca before she made it official, and Rebecca feels really good about it.

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