Chapter 1: D-Day

Long Story
When we were getting ready to go the hospital, my wife Jennifer, asked me if I had my camera, the memory card, and a battery.  This was not without warrant—last time we were in this situation, I forgot my memory card and realized this after we were in the hospital and Jenn was being wheeled into the operating room for an emergency C-section (I ended up rushing home to get the memory card).  But, I still rolled my eyes at the comment and said begrudgingly, “Yes.”

This time, when Jenn was taken into the delivery room, I was told to wait outside and soon was given a bright florescent yellow gown, a blue hairnet, blue mask, and matching covers for my shoes.  I passed the time reading a book on my iPad.  At some point, I thought I better check the camera.  And yeah, I should really have done this when Jenn asked me initially when we left the house, but you know what they say about hindsight.  Anyway, the camera wouldn’t turn on.  It didn’t take me long to realize there was no battery.  You see, in an effort to make the camera a tad more mobile I had taken the off the grip which gets screwed into the bottom of the camera, but neglected to take the battery out of the grip and place it in the camera.  Stupid stupid stupid.  I paced back and forth, cursing myself up and down.  How can the same thing happen to the same person twice—I felt like John McClane in Diehard, only instead of dealing with terrorists, I’m dealing with camera parts.  I went to the nursing station to ask if someone would be able to let me know how much time I would have before I would be called in to the room.  My plan was to rush home if I had enough time.  I know, I know, déjà vu all over again.  They responded by telling me I needed to take a seat and they would get me.  I explained the situation and they said I only had about 15-20 minutes.  I told them I was going to go for it.  They said I wouldn’t make it back in time and suggested I use the iPad to take the pictures instead.  I decided to stay, despite the fact that I thought the image of me running to the car with my fluorescent gown and blue accessories would almost be worth it by itself.  So I ended up using the iPad to take some pictures..the important thing was that I was present and accounted for when it mattered the most…I even have the grainy pictures to prove it.

I’d like to say this kind of thing will never happen to me again, but who knows…we might have another baby someday.

Long Story Short

I’m still an idiot.

Chapter 2: Gender Bender
Long Story
Once again, Jenn was all baby.  She was carrying the baby all in front.  And again, based on how she was carrying, complete strangers felt the need to predict that she would be having a boy.  This time, I didn’t put much stock into their predictions.  They were wrong before and there was a 50% chance that they would be wrong again.  I thought it was going to be a girl.  Last time around, Kayleigh was presented to us after the suctioning, cleaning, basic measurements, and the Apgar test.  We liked that we were both able to see firsthand the gender of our baby.  But this time around we weren’t so lucky.  With me on the other side of the sheet that separates Jenn’s top half from her bottom half, we heard the doctor take our baby out and exclaim, “And it’s a…girl!”  We were both a little disappointed to have been told the exciting news in this way.  I said, “I don’t believe you…show us.”  To this, the doctor soon responded by lifting the baby above the sheet so we could see for ourselves.  Seeing the babe with purple skin dripping in blood and other fluids I don’t care to think about was not my idea of a good time.  “OK we believe you, just put her back on the other side!”

I wouldn’t consider myself an emotional guy, but this kind of thing really touches me in a profound way.  It’s hard to put into words, but in that one moment, when you lay your eyes on your baby for the first time, everything stops.  Nothing matters but that moment.  Everything is put in perspective.  The miracle of life is a beautiful thing to see, a beautiful thing to be a part of.  I also realized, that despite my verbalizing the opposite, somewhere within the recesses of my mind, I thought it was going to be a boy, because my surprise was both palpable and unanticipated.

We would spend the next four days going over names until we finally came upon two that we liked and that best suited our new daughter—Chloe Rielle.

Long Story Short
It’s a girl and her name is Chloe Rielle.

Chapter 3: Sisters
Long Story
For the past couple of months, Kayleigh would point at Jenn’s belly and say, “There’s a baby in there.”  Then she would run to me, point at her own belly and tell me that there’s a baby in there.  She got a baby doll, aptly named “baby” as a birthday present which she carries around with her everywhere.  So, on Thursday, after day care, I told Kayleigh that we were going to the hospital to see mommy’s baby, her brand new little sister.  In retrospect, I think she was expecting a plastic doll that makes no sound, with stickers for eyes, and appendages, that while unrealistically flexible, do not move on their own accord.  She definitely was not expecting mommy to have the deluxe version of her baby doll.

When she walked into the room, she saw Jenn and then this creature, lying on the hospital bed.  It was moving and making noises, all at the same time.  Kayleigh stood about 6 feet from the bed (a safe distance in her mind) and wouldn’t budge, her eyes darting back and forth between her mom and the creature.  She soon came to the realization that perhaps six feet wasn’t enough space and retreated back to me.  She wouldn’t touch the baby or get too close but did peer at her, but never for too long for fear of the unimaginable harm that might be bestowed upon her if she did.

Driving home from the hospital that night, in between her singing of songs, Kayleigh made an astute observation—“Little sister…cry…so much!”

In the days since, she is no longer stand-offish.  She has decreased the safe zone from 6 feet to six inches and sometimes even risks a touch, be it ever so brief.  But she always wants to see her little sister and even likes to share her toys.  A beautiful, albeit somewhat tentative start to a life lasting bond.

Long Story Short
Kayleigh has a little baby sister.

Chapter 4: Strength in Numbers
Long Story
So at 4:14pm, on Wednesday, June 6 (06.06.12), exactly two years and 10 days after Kayleigh was born (but 10 minutes earlier) and 103 years to the day after the birth of my maternal grandmother, we were blessed with our second beautiful, healthy baby girl, weighing in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces.  She has a length of 20.5 inches and a nice round head with a circumference of 13.5 inches.

Long Story Short
She’s a “ten”.

Temporary Epilogue

As I’m writing this letter and I can hear the rhythmic tap tap of the keyboard as Jenn tries to get some work done while baby is sleeping in her arms, I reflect on the last few days and the miracle of life, all the chapters left to write, the “firsts” we are about to encounter, some all over again and some for the first time, the tears of joy, the tears of sadness, and then I think to myself, right here, right now, there is no other place that I would rather be.