I can’t believe I made it a year!
Roughly 365 days ago, exactly, my wonderful wife birthed a beautiful 8lb 1oz baby girl at 5:27am on Tuesday, May 12th. It was wonderful? I mean, it was wonderful! Sure the entire experience wasn’t equal to what Disney Land can offer but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. However, before I get into that, lets step back at bit. I’ll make it quick though, I promise.
One day I came home from work and immediately grabbed something to eat as I most frequently do. Mid bite my wife told me she had something to tell me to which I replied, “cool, what’s up?” She then told me to put my food down which meant it had to be something crazy important because few things come between me and my food and typically it’s only the piece of silverware I’m using. As I began to set my plate down, I realized the gravity of the news to come and with a slightly misguided excited voice I said, “You’re pregnant?!?!”
Although this wasn’t planned, clearly we weren’t doing our part to prevent this. I mean, we are adults who understand how such an event comes to be. Knowing that, it still wasn’t in our immediate (and perhaps not even our distant) plans to have a child. At that point we were already caring for two dogs and ourselves who were all seemingly healthy, which was nothing short of a miracle. If not for any other reason, it didn’t seem safe or legal to trust us to care for another living being, more-less a tiny human! But as fate would have it, surpirse!! With nothing more to do than plan for what’s to come, we charged ahead into our? her? pregnancy.
At this point in our lives, we had recently relocated over 300 miles away from our immediate support group of friends and family which meant it was the ideal time to need them now more than ever. Luckily, with technology these days we were never more than a call away from any answer we needed. After all, my family is relatively fertile having populated this earth with 8 (soon to be 9) other tiny humans. On top of that, Emily’s sisters each have their own kids (2 and 1, soon to be 2 a piece). Last but not least we also have developed a great network of friends in our immediate area who were more than supportive and helpful as well. Overall, we were never short of help if needed and believe me, we needed it.
Throughout this pregnancy we had a lot of fun with it. We enjoyed working out together, chatting with my wife’s belly, singing (poorly) to our daughter and most other typical soon-to-be parent things. Even with that going on, perhaps the one thing I enjoyed the most was the increase in food in the house (just kidding-kind of). As a typical pregnancy would go, the first few months crawl by until you can tell everyone. Then the next few months crawl by as you watch the baby grow from a grape to a melon (and whatever other fruit they draw comparisons from). Until finally the last few months cruise to a grinding halt as you anxiously await the arrival of your brand new-high price tag-batteries included and typically overcharged-doesn’t come with an instruction manual-no assembly required but daily maintenance recommended-NON REFUNDABLE baby! And thus, everything changes.
Fortunately for us, we did our research as parents and studied up on this new fad. Me personally, I dove head first into what many believe to be the greatest parenting book of all time. After much reasearch, I decided to download the audio version of, Go The Fuck To Sleep written by Adam Mansbach and narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. Even if you aren’t a parent or don’t plan to be, this is a great book to listen to. Wait a second, I’m getting ahead of myself. I first wanted to drag you through the horrific birth experience.
On the morning of Monday, May 11th I was out and about in my vehicle when I received a call from my all to pregnant wife. She informed me that she was heading to the hospital as she thought her water may have broke. Apparently hers wasn’t quite like that in the movie Coneheads (I was slightly disappointed). Literally mere minutes after I was off the phone with her and pointed the nose of my truck to the hospital, my phone rang. On the other end, my mother:
Mom: “How’s Emily today?”
Me: “She’s doing well.”
Mom: “Anyword on the baby yet?”
Me: “Yes.”
Mom: “Ok????”
Me: “She’s heading to hospital now because her water might have broke.”
Mom’s van: ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
Keep in mind my mom is nearly 5 hours away but of course that wouldn’t stop her. She made the trip which made a huge difference! Let’s fast forward to the nitty gritty. 4:19 am hits on May 12th, 2015. My wife, still awake from the night before, finally decides to call a nurse as she thinks she might be going into labor or the final stage of labor- I’m not too well versed in this part. The nurse stops in, gives Emily a once over and calls a code blue, hits a button and immediately the room is filled will all of the hospitals staff. (At least that’s how I remember it.) I pick up the phone and call our doula who makes it to the room with dozens of minutes to spare. After a short session of breathing and pushing and all of that fun stuff (although I’m sure it didn’t feel too short for Em) we were gifted our beautiful daughter at 5:27 am. Emily was a straight bad ass through it all and never complained, not even once! (Again- that’s how I remember it)
Since that day, 365 more have passed. A lot has happened but I won’t bore with the details. So, take a deep breath in and before exhaling, speed read the next pargraph for a 100 MPH recap of Cami’s first year with us.
She started out as great sleeper then took a step back- Rolled over early, first steps at 8 mos, walking mid 9 mos, climbing on things at 11 mos-great teacher as she has taught me patience- how to function with less sleep (eh, mostly Em)- when trying to change a diaper size does not matter as she will wiggle her little body away no matter how hard you try- she hates medicine- matching girl clothes is hard for a dad- the more you smile the more people around you smile- and most importantly what true joy and love really is!
NOW EXHALE- that’s the first breath I’ve taken in a year.
As I mentioned, that is a 100 MPH overview. Much more has happened as she has provided us with so much joy. I cannot express the feelings that come over from me when she walks up to me and gives me a big hug (and a kiss last night!). Seeing her smiling face is undescribeable. For those with kids, I’m sure you understand. For those without, I’m sure you are just like I was before Camille came along- perfectly happy and content without knowing this feeling. Neither is right or wrong, it’s all about what you prefer. For me, knowing this feeling she provides me everyday, I wouldn’t trade it for the world! (Cliche, I know- get over it)
With all of this gooey stuff being said, I’m not finished yet. I have just one more tiny, little thing I want to discuss. It’s something Cami has done which has blown my mind that was not foreseen. It has literally, blown my mind- figuratively speaking of course. Without further ado…
For over 20 months Emily has known she will be (and now has been) a mother. For the decade in which we were together before this, she has always been introverted even though she was a star athlete. She was more likely to sit back, relax and quietly kick ass in whatever she was doing than say “fire” in a crowded room of strangers if there was in fact a fire. She was never a push over but she was never the one who would care to argue much. She knew what she had to do and she always accomplished it. She helped carry me at times and me, her. She has always been a great woman to have by my side.
As of May 12th, 2015 she has been 100% mom (in a good way). Less sleep? No worries. More laundry? Yup, got it. Food? I’ll cook that. Anything else??? I better do more just to make sure. She has transformed into this superhuman being called mom. It’s really fucking crazy! You always hear, read or see it with your own mother but you think that is just how your mother is. When you experience and see the change first hand, it’s a whole different story. She never complains, rarely asks for help, is always the first to stand up and take control when baby cub is around and never expects anything from anyone else. Nothing with Emily has changed negatively since the day she brought Cami into this crazy world (insert Donald Trump for president headline here) and she continues to grow as a better human being each day. I can only hope Camille grows up to be 99% like her mother. (The 1% difference is I hope for her to marry up, not down.)
With that being said, I need to thank my wife for keeping Camille alive for the last 365 days and I look forward to seeing what you can do to shape her life for the 400,000 more! And rather than thanking her in person or via phone, I figure what more 21st century way to do it than the interweb! So, Emily Hendricks- THANK YOU! I love you!
Signed,
Seth
