Guardian Angel Store - The joys of Children

Wednesday I had the honor of handing my wife our new baby boy. This was the most wonderful experience in the world. We have 3 children now, and have had them all at home. This time with help, I delivered my baby boy. It was such a great mix of emotions. He is so amazing.

As I said, we had 2 girls before him. So, I thought I would know how things go by now, and I thought I would know how I would feel. Nope, it never gets old, and a father can never be fully prepared for what will happen next. It is so great to see how the girls interact with him. They love their baby brother so much. They just want to play with him and help us out in any way they can. Being almost 2 and 3 1/2, it is hard for them to understand what is really going on, and that they need to be gentle. But both are proving to be great big sisters.

Before we had children I could never have imagined what it would be like. I remember making fun of a friend who's wife had a baby in the hospital. He cried like a baby. Well, I am here to tell you, even being the manly man I am, I cried when all three of my children were born. Tears of such sweet joy, and maybe a few of such utter exhaustion.

My wife did so much work, and was in so much pain towards the end, she was taking naps in between pushing. She started the “pre-labor” Monday about 1:00 PM and the baby was delivered Wednesday at 12:38 AM. During that time, she spent most of the time on her feet, pacing up and down the hall, getting in and out of the shower, and eating a little here and there and sipping water as she could.

While not trying to down play the mother's role in this, most people tend to forget about the father and how much work it is for him as well. I am sure that in the hospital the father has some work to do, but when you do it at home there is so much more. I had to worry about pushing her to eat and drink, pacing the floors with her, and holding her up in some cases while my fingers turn purple. I did not spend nearly as much time on my feet as her though. I was even able to take about a 2 or 3 hour nap somewhere in there.

When it was over, I looked at my wife and asked her if it was all worth it, she nodded her head and the three of us fell asleep. After all the excitement, we managed to get in about 4 hours of sleep before the baby woke up screaming for food. Soon after my parents brought the girls back. They got to go spend some time at their Grandparents house and my Sister helped to take care of them while we were having the baby and resting. The whole ordeal lasted so long they had to do some juggling to accommodate work and school, but they did a great job of taking care of my girls. I lay here now, my wife and son sleeping beside me and the girls at the foot of the bed watching cartoons, and I can't imagine a life without any of them.