Forever Changed

On September 27th at 3:12 AM, my life was forever changed! My daughter, Madelyn Grace entered the world. I still struggle to find the words to express what I felt and continue to feel.

Christine's due date was Thursday, the 22nd. The day came and went without very much excitement. It seemed that most people thought she'd be later, although mentally, each day after the 22nd grew increasingly difficult. Physically, Christine felt better than I thought a pregnant woman ever could. The Saturday following the due date, we decided to try all the possible things to induce labor. We began the process by getting a good hike in. We knocked out 5 miles and 1650 vertical feet and I must say, Christine seemed to do it with ease. We finished off the day with some spicy pizza from Proto's. The next day, we headed back to Button Rock for another 5 mile hike and that night I made some especially hot enchiladas. I thought for sure these would do the trick!

The next morning, as I kissed Chistine goodbye on my way to work, she mentioned that her Braxton-Hicks contractions, which she'd had throughout the pregnancy, had been especially strong through the night. I didn't think much of it and headed off to work. Christine had acupuncture early Monday afternoon and called shortly after to tell me she was having "real" contractions. She continued texting me so that I could keep track while I was at an evening meeting.

When I arrived at home, things progressed quickly. I actually thought I pushed things a bit too far, as we didn't leave for the hospital until her contractions were approximately 3 minutes apart and lasting 60-70 seconds. We got to the hospital without a problem and landed in the room at 8:20 PM. To make a long story short, Christine did amazing over the next 7 hours. She went through the labor and delivery with grace, having a completely un-medicated, natural birth.

The next 48 hours passed by with virtually no sleep. We kept a watchful eye on Maddie and rushed to her side with the slightest cough, sneeze or even coo. We decided to leave the hospital a little early, must to the surprise of one of the nurses. We were just too excited to take Maddie to her new home and begin what is now our normal routine.

Since coming home, we've had a couple doctors appointments showing that Maddie is gaining weight and showing no signs of issues. We've taken her on her first walk, which has quickly become a daily routine for her and Christine. I actually got her out for our first run together, but we were rained out within the first mile. We're looking forward to all the firsts that come along with having a child. Just one of the cool things is that you get to expose your children to all the things you love and, in turn, they often force you to get out of your own comfort zone, see the world in a new light, do things you never thought you'd do and be surprised and overjoyed by the entire process.

I'm only 12 days into this crazy journey, but I couldn't imagine being anywhere else in my life. Thus far, I'm absolutely loving being a Dad.....who would have thought?!!