The day started off like every other day. I got up around 6am and relieved Sue from her nightly duties. When I went into the babies room I found her out cold on the couch and when I tried to wake her up she didn’t even move. So I grabbed Eve and headed downstairs.

As we started our morning rituals of making coffee, having a bagel and settling her down I was filled in anxiety. I wanted to take her to mass this morning but hadn’t left the house alone with her to this point. The questions raced through my mind… What if she fussed too much and I couldn’t calm her? What if she ate but didn’t get enough and mom wasn’t there with us? What if, what if, what if… To this point in her 8 days of living Sue and I have been a team and we have been there for each other.

As the time clicked closer Eve decided to have a small freak out and I ended up giving her ½ the bottle I was going to give her for lunch. NOT GOOD. Sue had only pumped so much, but it would have to do.

We headed off to St. Mary’s, my home away from home. I walked in nervous (unsure why), excited (to show off my daughter) and so very proud. I was greeted by smiles and love from so many friends and parish family members. My only worry now was that she was supposed to feed at noon and well, if you know St. Mary’s, our masses are never that fast.

Noon came and went and she was an angel, even as we went up to receive communion and a blessing she was perfect. Afterward I was able to introduce her around to friends and she still slept. Praise God!

After mass we headed over to my sister’s place and had an opportunity to introduce her to her Uncles and cousins. We had a great afternoon visiting. I got to experience the first of, I’m sure many, explosive poops (right up the back) and my sister taught me how to use the bottle I was feeding Eve with. Geessh!

After we got home and settled we had another great surprise as Sue’s cousin came by and we had a fun night with pizza, football and good company.

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Friday November 7th started like every other day. The alarm clock went off at 5:45am and got up and went into work. It was the last day of work until Monday December 22nd. We had just moved into a new house the week before and the place needed a lot of work to get everything organized.

That evening we were invited to a friend’s home for dinner and after cancelling or not being able to take them up on their last invitations we made a point to be there. Little did I know but Eve (my daughter) had started the process of being born.

As we sat and enjoyed dinner and the company of friends I didn’t realize that she would get quiet for a second or two and then our hosts asked, “Are you having contractions?” Susanne quickly said, “Yes they started at 6pm”.

We left dinner and got home around 10pm that evening. I decided to go to bed and Susanne stayed up to watch some TV. At 11pm she came into the bedroom, waking me up said, “My contractions are 4 minutes a part”. In my hazy state I asked if we needed to go to the hospital, and I was quickly told no. I rolled over and told her I was going back to sleep.

I tell that bit of information knowing how it looks and yes, I was a complete ASS. I don’t think… No, I didn’t know what all that meant and 30 minutes later when Susanne busted into the bedroom, said “WAKE UP!” my water just broke we are going to the hospital it really clicked.
We arrived at the hospital just before midnight…