Pettus Post

Alright Greg, and any expectant Dad's out there. Here is the uncensored, non-medical, recap of child birth from an uncensored, non-medical Dad! First of all know where the hell you are going. Should not be a problem for you in Swingtown, only two hospitals. But take a tour of the birthing facility to know where you park, what elevator to take, where to get coffee, etcetera. Also, have a full tank of gas. You would be surprised at the fuel mileage and smooth ride the Sequoia gets running at 90 on the freeway. Second, be prepared for the big day, yeah, sounds easy enough but remember that labor does not keep banker's hours. Our day began at 4:00 a.m. (eastern time). The cool thing about the onset of our labor would be the way my wife handled it, she simply said "Honey, I am having contractions, better keep the time of how far apart they are." Then coolly went to shower up for the big day, but turning in pause to let me know that she would try to wait at least until 6:00 a.m. to leave for the hospital because she did not want to wake the kids and our neighbor's who were going to watch over them quite that early!
Once inside the birthing room and your wife is dressed in her best you can probably expect to hang out for a while. The medical staff will resemble a hive of worker bee's around your wife. Take your phone, digi cam, and laptop to record the day's happenings if you can. This will be an experience you will want to capture on film. (Some of it that is.)
Two of the big shockers of childbirth were that my "picture" of the birth was of me standing behind my wife above the head of the delivery bed coaching her along, rubbing her shoulders, stroking her hair, easy stuff! Not even close! They had me standing beside her...the center of my body was in line with her hips. Then I was told to hold her leg under her knee and pull it back to about the center of my chest. If you are not getting the visual...when you look down from this position you are looking directly at the vagina, birth canal, hooey, the "Y", whatever you want to refer to this part of her body. Yes, it would be like having seats on the 50 yard line to the Super Bowl with an above field camera view all your own! Second, nobody informed me that once the little guy comes into this world he would be purple. I will spare you all the bloody details, but keep in mind, they are exactly that. Bloody, gooey, details!
Now if at any time you are feeling a bit lightheaded, the nice nurse will give you a cold compress to place behind you neck and a comfy chair to set in so that you don't pass out in her lap during the delivery. Thankfully, I did not pass out. Now one final thought, I don't know if it is common practice, but our delivery went, according to the Doc, perfectly text book. And when this happens with the good Doc Salley, he will talk calmly to your wife and tell her to ease up on the final push then say "okay, you finish up the delivery". Keep in mind that our little Jackson is only about head and shoulders out of the birth canal. Terri said....what! His reply was to go ahead, finish up the delivery, reach down here and pull him out! And I will be damned, she did, put her hands under his arms and pulled him right out and laid him on her chest. Now my eyes were the size of Zipp 404's I am sure, but what an incredible, crazy, beautiful, sight. Oh yeah, then Jackson pooped and peed on the Doc.
Now Jackson is almost two weeks old. It is amazing how fast time passes by, take time with your newborn, take pictures, video, write silly stories that he can read later in life. Truly enjoy what God has given you. Shane and Scott can attest, nothing is more incredible!
And besides...you can always sleep later!

Thanks for reading, y'all tune in again soon.