I’ve decided to blog my thoughts and memories from the last few days…

I arrived home from work on the afternoon of October 15th at about 3:40pm.  When I opened the door Jennifer instantly told me she thought she was leaking something.  Come to find out, her water broke right as I walked in the door.  A few days prior, Jennifer’s OB confirmed that she was 2cm dilated.  We were also having some mild contracts the 3 days prior so it was only a matter of time before this little boy decided to make his arrival so we were waiting impatiently.  So after Jennifer’s water broke, we started getting things together and made our trip to the hospital.  We got checked in around 4:30ish (3cm dilated) and in our room by 5PM.  At that time, Jennifer was having some mild contractions.

As things progressed we went through a period of nervousness as the doctor talked to us about the option of C-section.  Unfortunately, Jennifers blood pressure started dropping after she received pain medication.  Luckily, our guardian angel (Lein - LeAnne) came to our rescue at around 11PM.  Lein is an L&D night nurse at Kaiser Hospital.  She calmed us down and started repositioning Jennifer to take the stress off Ethan.  Shortly there after Jennifer’s blood pressure and Ethan’s heart rate stabilized.  Jennifer was also able to get some rest so that was good.

By 12:30AM Jennifer was 8cm and we thought it was only a matter of time before we started pushing.  We were even making jokes about how Ethan would make his arrival by 2AM.  Well he decided to take his sweet time.  He slowly made his trip down the birth canal and by about 6AM, Jennifer was ready to push.  We pushed in the labor room for about an hour.  At around 7:10 Jennifer was wheeled into the delivery room and at 7:23AM I met my beautiful baby boy.  As a daddy, a couple thoughts rushed through my mind earlier that morning.  I wondered if Ethan’s birth would be as impactful to me.  When Emily was born my lifetime dream of being a parent was fufilled and I cried like a baby.  I wondered what the birth of Ethan would be like.  As we rolled down to the delivery room I looked into Jennifer’s eyes and I saw love.  As Ethan’s head crowned and I watched Jennifer’s last push, I fell into pieces.  As to how impactful the experience was… I cried like a baby.

Both mom and baby are doing wonderful and I remain the most blessed man in this world.