The Very First Blog Post

Well, here it is. My very first blog post on my new website. If you are reading this, then you can say you knew when it all started.

Since you made it here, I think you deserve something. How about a few stories?

My first memory: It was autumn. I was 4. My dad was chopping wood and my sister and I were sitting on top of the wood pile eating apples. I hopped down because I dropped my apple and when I tried to climb back up, I banged my knee and started crying. OK, so it wasn’t a great memory but it is my first one I remember. I remember how sweet the apple tasted and that it was mostly red with a little green. I remember feeling the crisp fall air and that my cheeks got a little red. I remember the changing colors of the leaves. The orange, red and yellow vibrant colors were so vivid.

My first movie that I saw: The first movie I remember seeing the movie theater was The Land Before Time. My mom, sister and I were visiting my grandma and we all went out to the movie. I always loved the sense of wonder of walking into a movie theater. I think Dane Cook coined the phrase “cinematic adventures.” Even though he coined it in a joke, I think that is what the appeal is. Everyone loves a story that they can really get into.

My worst memory: I think I was 7. It was a Friday night during the summer and I was excited because: 1) we ordered a pizza for dinner and 2) we were going to our camp for vacation the next day. My mom and my sister went to pick up the pizza and they were hit head on by a drunk driver. When my dad and I found out (I can’t remember who came to our door to tell us), everything after that was a blur. I went to our neighbor’s house while my dad went to the hospital. The next day, my grandma and grandpa took me to camp. I think it was the best thing that could have happened to get my mind off of the accident but I was worried about my mom and sister. I spent two weeks at camp and I never showered the entire time. I didn’t want to shower because the showers at camp used lake water and it smelled awful. I was 7 and oh so proud of myself. When I got home, my mom and sister were both in hospital beds in our living room. My mom had pins in both of her ankles and my sister was in a full body cast. It was devastating to see my mom and sister like that. I wanted to take their pain away. My mom just wanted me to take a damn shower. So I did. In water that didn’t smell like gross lake. I’m blessed to have my mom and sister with me today. Through awful situations, the strong persevere.

My best memory: It was the day our twin girls were born. It was an early Saturday morning right before Christmas. My wife got up to go to the bathroom but as soon as she was getting out of bed, her water broke. There is no wake up call more effective than hearing “my water just broke” at 6:00am. Mind you, this was several weeks before her due date and I did not have “the bag” packed. My wife asked me if she thought she had time to take a shower because she was worried when her next opportunity to take a shower would be. I replied “Sure, you probably have several hours before you deliver,” hoping to buy some time to get “the bag” packed. She showered, I packed…frantically. When we departed for the hospital, I remembered at least 17 things that I wanted to have completed before this situation occurred (e.g. install car seats, test drive to hospital because I never had been there). When my wife asked me “do you know where you are going?”, I knew I was in trouble. Luckily, she’s a fantastic GPS, even when two twin humans are about to emerge from her.

When we got to the hospital, things moved quickly to get us to a room to be seen. The first doctor came in and she was coming off of a long third shift so she was beyond tired. After she identified our situation, she mentioned that a nurse would be in to go over the next steps. We suspected that my wife may need to be on bed rest for a couple days before the twins came but the nurse advised something different. She boldly asked us “are you ready to have your babies?”

It was game time.

They prepped my wife for delivery and made me wait outside the delivery room. I sat in silence, not sure what to think of my last few moments before being just a dude changed to being a dad. I was nervous, I was excited, I had never changed a diaper in my life and pretty soon, I was going to be changing two at a time.

They called me into the delivery room and my body was completely made out of Jell-O. I held my wife’s hand. The doctor introduced us to our first daughter at 9:15am and our second daughter at 9:17am. I cut two cords attached to two beautiful, amazing babies. The nurses immediately took the girls to the NICU so they could get set up in their rooms. There was no danger to them but I do remember everything just being bonkers. They were put in separate rooms but luckily they were across the hall form each other. I was pin-balling from room to room to check on each, making sure to spend equal time with each miracle. My wife was in recovery but I wanted so much for her to experience the first few hours of our daughters’ lives on this planet. When the girls were safe and sound, I went up to check on my wife. I told her how amazing our babies were and that I couldn’t wait for her to see them. The nurses were able to wheel her down to see the girls. It was too brief but my wife needed rest. It was going to be a long next few days. That night, we were my wife’s hospital room. We had met so many wonderful medical staff members throughout the day, each one giving us instructions on what needed to be done. My mother-in-law knocked on the door and it was such a great feeling to see a familiar face. We were delighted she surprised us with flying in from Pittsburgh. She booked a flight as soon as she heard of our early wake up call.

With her watching over my wife, I was able to jet home and get some much-needed supplies for my wife. I also able to put some last important touches on the nursery.

Our girls were in the NICU for 11 days and it was the most amazing 11 days. The staff in the NICU was amazing. It was almost like having an 11 day parent training seminar. It really made the transition into parenthood tremendously smoother than “the next day, here’s your baby, bye” routine with term babies. I learned how to bottle feed, burp and not barf when changing a poopie diaper.

We brought our girls home just after Christmas. The two presents we received that year will never be topped.