Hour Zero

I'm a first time dad but a long time infant caregiver (more on this later) so my "first" experiences are a mixed bag of profoundly new and ho hum routine. But that first hour after Gabriel was born - that was a whirlwind blur of emotion and excitement and joy overflowing. One moment I am concentrating on my wife who was out of breathe and pushing to exhaustion and the next moment our son is entering the world with a scream...

From that moment on things get blurry, but in a good way. I recall snippets. Nurses wiping him with towels as he screamed under the warming lamp, scrambling to get my camera out to take pictures, getting the first weight and length in the Labor and Delivery room, helping the nurse to hold his feet to get footprints for the birth certificate, checking on my wife still in bed, watching him fuss as he was swaddled and then carrying the bundle of happiness to my wife. My adrenaline is pumping just thinking about it - the most intense experience in my life to date. As a dad I recommend you have someone else in the room in charge of taking videos and pictures, because life is far to distracting at that moment to let you document it. But afterward you will want those precious moments recorded for posterity.

This is my new happy place. This is the place in my mind where I can go to channel joy and excitement and energy into my daily life. This is turbo-charged bliss that breaks the scale of daily experiences.



I am a Father and this is my family.