a brave new world

i am sibling number 3 out of 4, i've been an uncle for slightly over a year, i have no young cousins, and i therefore have no experience in the thing new dads dread most...changing diapers. so it didn't take long for my wife, who knew my lack of diaper-changing skills, to offer up my assistance when things started to stink.

and so it was, that on the 3rd day of october, in the 7th year of the 21st century, the year of our Lord, that i doth changeth a diaper.

it wasn't so bad. at least not the first time. or even the second and third times. with little grace being quite prolific - she does 'number two' eight to ten times a day - i was provided an ample amount of practice attempts. by the time day 4 rolled around, i achieved diaper-changing mastery.

and as is with most stories, it's just about the time that you start to feel comfortable when the truth hits you like a back-side linebacker.

my wife was itching to get out of the house. she and her mom were going to to take a "quick trip to target - 2 hours at the most." with my newly discovered prowess in diaper-changing, i told them that i would have no problem holding down the fort.

less than 15 minutes after they were gone, a now distinct aroma filled my nostrils. i knew it was time. with no help, and no reinforcements within hearing range - save our 1-year old yellow lab (who would have loved to help) - it was time for me to take on the dirty diaper. up the stairs, into the nursery, and onto the changing table. when the onesie came off, i got a true whiff of what i was up against. and judging by the yellow wet spot in the back, the diaper didn't hold up its end of the job. this is what people in the world of parenting refer to as a 'blowout'. it's a fairly self-descriptive event. 4 wet-wipes later, and an additional one for my own hand, i was starting to think the job was over. then came the flood. after all, what better time to relieve yourself than when the diaper is off and the body free?

with much humility, i accepted defeat from the combined efforts of the fearsome 'one and two'.

it is evident to me that i am in a realm of unfamiliar territory.

amazing grace

from a male perspective, knowledge of the childbirth process is often only what we gather from eavesdropping (and pretending to be uninterested) on conversations among the women-folk. we know tales of 30-hour labor, things ripping that weren't meant to rip, and wives screaming at husbands, encouraging them, as if they haven't noticed, to "look what you've done to me?"

i have a new perspective.

childbirth is the most amazing experience i have ever been a part of. emotions reach new levels. the body is tired, but quitting doesn't even enter your mind. i wasn't planning on 'watching', but my curiosity took over. what the woman's body goes through to deliver the baby is nothing short of a miracle.

i am thankful to God that all has gone well. He has truly blessed us with a life-changing surprise. i know He will continue to bless us in our new adventure.

it's 11:23 pm. the cool, refreshing diet coke going down my throat is the only thing keeping me awake. tonight, october 2nd, 2007, will be the first night that i go to sleep as a daddy.

welcome to the world, grace elizabeth benedick. your daddy loves you.

the envelope of life (and the night before)

let me give a quick recap. about 9 months ago, january 16th, i had just finished my second day at a new job with the small software company called mobiledataforce. i get home long enough to grab my workout clothes and head off to the gym where i'm meeting a friend to get in some (still) much needed exercise.

i get home expecting to see my wife vegging out on the couch, watching some prime-time crime investigation drama love story. she's on the couch, but the t.v. is off. she hands me an envelope with a card inside, a fairly normal occurrence, but her tears were a fair indication to me that something was different with this card. what could be different about this particular little card? two words: pink line. and i could tell by the faint aroma of ammonia that it wasn't marker.

it's times like these that force me to take a step back and laugh at God's sense of humor. you see, about a month previous to this "incident" i had purchased a puppy for my wife. it was, subconsciously, in effort to fend off the looming question, "when are we going to start trying to have kids?"

it was also two days after i had started a new job. a job that i wanted when my job hunt started 8 months earlier. a job that paid enough that, as a family, we decided i would be making enough money for my wife to stay home with a child "in case we get pregnant."

so here i am, 9 months later. due date of october 2nd, and it just so happens that my wife will be induced tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. this will inevitably turn out to be the most life-altering, and rewarding, accident i will ever have caused. she is a gift, and even though my emotions of fear and excitement are a water-and-oil mixture, they manage to exist together.

like a game of hide-and-seek, entirely independent on whether or not i am ready...here she comes.