Arrival of Michael Edward!

So there we were. In the delivery ward. A rather strange looking man (I thought he was a woman when I first met him cos he looks funny and has a weird voice) has my wife on her side and is administering an epidural! Dr Z had just arrived and made the call that we needed to get this kid out ASAP.

A nurse lead me out to the Doctors change room and told me to get changed for surgery. Damn I looked good in greens... but I digress....

Into the surgery we went.

Oh shit, no camera.

Then we remembered Chloe, Cath's mate who's son had been born in the early hours of that morning. Sent a nurse to ask for camera. AJ had taken camera home with him. Chloe sent SOS to AJ. AJ jumped up, got dogs out, flew in big 4x4 to the hospital and made it in under 5 mins! Couldn't believe it. What a legend. We just saw his hand reaching into the theatre just as they were about to start. Weirdo Aneasthetist played camera man and took some great shots.

So the operation begun. How had we ended up here 4 weeks early? What had happened that our little boy was having to be pulled from the comfort of his warm cozey womb?

Having seen a caesar video at ante-natal classes, I kinda new what to expect. My emotions were slightly dulled by the few Heinekens I'd had at cricket, so I was able to maintain my composure and watched the whole thing from beside Cath.

It was crazy. Epidural barely had time to kick in. In fact, when Cath said she could feel things and Aneasthitist asked the Docs to wait, they turned around and said, "We have to get this baby out right now... take a deep breath!" And off the went, tugging and pulling. They had to use forceps and pull and push and eventually out he came.

Tiny little limp bloody gooey and gorgeous! Our little boy was born at 9:40pm on 07/03/07.

He was taken over to the baby table by the Paediatrician and immediately they had to clear his lungs for him. Thank God Cath had had the steroid injections the week before so his little lungs had developed.... and then he used them for the first time! What an amazing moment. There was my little baby boy, all pink and wrinkly, face contorted in a cry. It was incredible, hard to put into words.

He was cleaned up, weighed (3.24 kgs), measured (52cms), and then given to me to take over to Cath. He was tiny. We put him onto Cath's chest and he calmed down as he felt his mommy's presence and could hear her heartbeat. What an incredible and emotional experience.

"He's so ugly", jumped out my mouth before I could register what I was saying... Fierce denials from his mother followed, although I secretly know that all babies are pretty ugly when they first arrive...

The hours after that are a bit of a blur. Cath was taken to recovery eventually. I went off with Michael to the High Care Unit. Michael was put in an incubator and monitored for a while to check that his breathing was okay and his heart rate stabalised.

The Grandparents arrived which was awesome. The Irish emotions spilled over as my Dad hugged me and shed a tear. Westie was still there and gushing. She really is an Angel.

And then they were gone and it was just Cathy and me. Michael is definately my son... he latched perfectly straight away. This was a good thing cos I was able to stop the nurses from giving him formula.

And then it was home time for me. I was so pumped after all the excitement. I realised that I didn't have my laptop, which meant I didn't have the sms list which meant I couldn't send out a message! So, I went through to my office grabbed my stuff, went home had a beer and cigarette. I sat up and sorted out the sms list and then just chilled.

Upon reflection of the day's happenings I came to the conclusion that one had to live life to the fullest, embrace every day, and make sure that the people you love in the world know it!

The realisation that I could have lost my wife, the love of my life, my best friend, my biggest support and the mother of my child was huge. It took some time to sink in. Its heavy.

But the great part about this experience is that Michael is here. He is healthy, happy, alive and well. He is so cute (if I say so myself).

I know truly the know the meaning of unconditional love!