June 12th, 2010

McKinley apparently loves 12's. Today is June 12th and at the strike of midnight, she figured it was time to really muck up our world. I was playing a riveting game of Modern Warfare 2, probably talking back to a 12 year old when Lins pops down the stairs with that face of "I got an alien inside me, and it's ready to come out".

We whip out the iPhone to calculate the contractions, because yes all you smart ass people, There is an App for that. I'm no baby genius, but all the movies say when they are close together and the women you love looks like midgets are punching her square in the gut, it's go time. Luckily, intuitive thinking from the previous day provided us with our bags already packed and the car seat fully docked like an X - Wing fighter ready to attack the deathstar.

Foggy drive down 315, the whole way Lins handling the contractions like a champ, one after another, like clockwork they come. I can't help but to be honest at this moment and say that I was nervous. I don't get nervous. I played a position in football that allowed for guys to rip your face off, and you are still supposed to sit there and make the throw. This made me nervous. Not because a baby is coming into our life, we'll handle that life altering change. What made me nervous was the fact that I am now involved. For all those to be dad's you will see one day that the first 9 months of this pregnancy you're like the fat kid in dodgeball, not an intricate part. Now all of sudden as I speed down this windy road next to the mighty Olentangy river, it's about to get real for me. These flood into my mind and I am sucked back into reality by my wife's pain and the oncoming set of headlights.

This is when I notice for the first time the song that is playing on the radio. Kenny Chesney, There Goes My Life. Take a listen while you read the rest.

How ironic and yet downright magical. We continue down this road lost in the images created in my mind by the song. Yellow Lot. Yellow signs. Don't screw this up. Pull in. Waive down the guy with "Valet" on his back. Gives me a weird look, like I could possibly want something other than this clown to move my car. Yellow Elevators. Floor 3. Didn't screw it up.

Monitors are hooked up to Lins, everything is great, 1 cm dilated. Which means, we are 9 steps away. Nurse says we need to walk around the hospital for an hour. Mind you it's 12:40 a.m. and we are both exhausted, not mention she is having contractions every 3-5 minutes. We walk the halls, in a strange silence. We talk some, but more so we are lost in our own thoughts of what is to come. We trek the halls for the hour. No change. The green suits decide to send us home at 3 a.m.

This is where the fun begins. We stop for gas on the way home. I'm sure I'll never live that down. The next few hours are very hard on Lins. Sever pain, vomit, and a sense of helplessnes on my part.

After vomit number 3, we decide to come in for an IV. Green suits have good news this time. 4 cm dilated. It's go time. So now we sit in the labor delivery room, lins numb from the waist down, me on an awful chair that is posing as a recliner in equally bad flower print. 6 cm, now 9 cm. it's almost time to meet the daughter we have been anxiously awaiting. It's funny all of those pre-conceived thoughts you have about her being an athlete, a singer, etc....doesn't matter at this moment. What matters is that the women I love more than anything in this world is about to give me/us the other girl I will love more than anything in this world. McKinley, your father is ready, and I'm happy to say, there goes my life.