I'm a dad...

On 26 October 2010, at 12:59 pm (I know this only because there was a nurse in the delivery room whose sole job, from what I vaguely recall, was to yell out the time of birth) Henry Brent Mayberry made his grand entrance on to this kooky stage we call Life.

It was an amazing, incredible, exhausting experience, and the Sweetie™ and I can't wait to do it again!

It all started on the 25th...wait, let me back up. So, you know I've been in Africa since April, right? Deployed with my National Guard unit keeping tabs on pirates and insane Islamists and African dictators, and my mid-tour R&R (uh, I think that's for Rest & Relaxation?) began on the 23rd. I made a 36-hour trip from Djibouti, where I'm based, to Ethiopia, to Paris to Dallas(?) to Salt Lake. I got home on the 24th...the very next morning, at like 3 am, the Sweetie™ wakes me up telling me, "Honey, my water broke, we have to go to the hospital!" And I'm thinking, "OH. MY. GOODNESS. THE BABY IS COMING RIGHT. THIS. SECOND! EVERYBODY PANIC!" Until I look around and realize my dear wife isn't having those killer contractions, yet, so I can uh, take a shower and brush my teeth.

We got to the hospital around 5 am, and the nurse tested for amniotic fluid (because some ladies have false alarms, I guess.) Anyway, the test came back positive, and we were admitted. We had a nice, big room, and the waiting game began. Little did I know that this kid wasn't too eager to come out, but it wasn't all his fault...

We learned a few hours (and many pitocin-induced contractions) later that the Sweetie™'s water hadn't broken all the way, so the doctor proceeded to break the water to get things going. The Sweetie™ was really having a painful time with the contractions, and the baby wasn't progressing all that much. Eventually, the wifey got an epidural at about 1 am on the 26th. We got some sleep and later, around 8 or 9 am things started moving along at a quick clip. After over 24 hours of agonizingly slow progress, we were zipping right along, descending, dilating, effacing, contracting, all that good stuff.

The Sweetie™ started pushing at around 9 am, and three hours later didn't have much to show for it. We were gonna need forceps or a C-section, so our sweet grandpa OB, Dr. Parker, used the forceps for just one contraction, and the baby crowned right away. It was INCREDIBLE to see the baby's head, with hair! (jealous!) And after a couple more contractions, and some super-human effort from my dear, sweet wife, Henry was here! He had a GIGANTIC head (not gonna lie...he looked like an alien) and the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck three! times. Dr. Parker whipped that cord off from around Henry's neck super quick to give Henry some air. He had the most pitiful, heartwrenching little wail, and I was instantly in love.

Despite the weak cry, the kid weighed 9lbs 2oz and was 22in long. He was skinny, but just beautiful. The alien conehead started changing almost immediately, and the nurses had to help get some gunk out of his lungs he had aspirated while in the womb.

So, that's the quick and dirty.  Now, some pictures!

Henry's first photo.  Blurry, I know, but that's okay.  The kid is cute!

Here's Henry at two days. Adorable, yes?

Henry's "no bueno" face.  I love when he makes his mouth into what the Sweetie™ calls "cheerio lips".