Well a lot has happened since those tomatoes tried to ruin my hoagie. On September 1st, 2009, Nikki gave birth to a ten pounder! I started to get a little nervous the night before we went into the hospital because I knew he was coming and I hoped he would be healthy.

I could give a complete play-by-play of the day he was born, but that would bore you. It was about 9 hours into Nikki's labor when I was awakened from the most uncomfortable sofa by the doctor discussing with Nikki that a cesarean section would be necessary. That stubborn boy wasn't coming out on his own. Immediately, I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. I tried to keep calm by taking silent deep breaths. It seemed to work as they brought in scrubs for me and her mom to wear into the delivery room.

I think that the time between the doctors wheeling Nikki into the delivery room and the time we were actually allowed to enter the delivery room was the longest period of time I've ever imagined. I'm sure that if I had a stopwatch, it would have read like 15 minutes, but it seemed like 15 hours.

We finally got to go into the room and I felt like I walked into a refrigerator. It was maybe 50 degrees inside and I could feel it on my feet. See I wore size 13 flip flops to the hospital and the little booties didn't fit over them so I just wore the booties over my bare feet. Nikki was strapped to the table like Jesus. The combo of nerves, two epidurals, the cold room and other sedatives left her shivering like a Mexican in Alaska.

We made a b-line for two stools seated at Nikki's head and behind the curtain as to obstruct our view from the sawing and organ moving that was about to commence. The G-D anaesthesiologist had some of the worst 80's music playing on the stereo. Islands in the Stream doesn't calm me down ever. It makes me emit rage in normal settings. When my wife is strapped to an ironing board having people escort her abdomen out of the way, I definitely don't want to hear Dolly Parton's twang. It's not folksy, it sucks. The whole procedure took about 20 minutes to get baby out and 20 minutes to stitch Nikki up.

The doctors wouldn't let us leave the OR yet, so I was trying to show the throng of supporters in the hallway our new addition through a window that you couldn't squeeze a dictionary through. We finally got to go out in the hallway and everybody took turns drooling over him.

I know it's taken me ten months to write this blog, but I've been busy. Hayden is the best thing that Nikki and I have ever done and I cannot imagine my life without him. Oh, by the way, the stereo was playing "I Wanna Know What Love Is" by Foreigner when he was born. The picture below is of him (9 months) and I.