Baby Ender has been doing well. He is feeding regularly and sleeping a little too well. His sleep schedule is about 180° off from ours, so we spend all night awake and all day sleeping...in two hour shifts. It occurred to me that it is strange that fathers are so proud of having a child. I'm happy, but I don't think that I can take much credit for it, certainly not enough to be 'proud'. The only part of the process that I actively participated in was the step at the very beginning of the rollercoaster ride, you know, the part that was fun and enjoyable for everyone involved. After that my wife did all of the work. The only thing that I contributed was ample amounts of fear and nervous anticipation. She grew a person inside of her body. She grew a new organ that didn't exist before. She managed to pass a 3.8kg child out of her body after 22 hours of contractions. She is now providing nourishment for the child from her own body. What have I done for the kid so far? I've cleaned his bottom a few times and held him while she went to the bathroom to attend to the stitches in her bottom, the result of passing a 3.8kg child out of her body. I'm proud of my wife for not only accepting this enormous task, but for wanting to undertake it. I don't think that I would have been so willing. God bless you dear. I'm proud of myself for choosing you. For that, I'll take the credit.

Andrew Rainier Hieber was born at 03:57 on 7/26/09. He weighs 8lbs 9.2oz. He took his sweet time joining us, but he is here now.

We're up to about 4-5cm dilation. Kodiak is a trooper. She is pushing through the contractions. It isn't easy, but she seems to be doing really well. I'm impressed. Our doctor says that fewer than 5% of her patients do it this way anymore. I'm just in awe of my wife.

MapMyRide.com - General Road Cycling: iMapMyRide Jul 19, 2009 3:57 PM on 07/19/2009

MapMyRide.com - General Road Cycling: iMapMyRide Jul 19, 2009 3:57 PM on 07/19/2009

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6 years ago today I married my wife. I don't remember things the way my wife does. She remembers details. I remember the moments, moods, the big picture. It was blazing hot and time stood still. 1 guy passed out from the heat in the back. That is about the sum of the details that I recall. I remember that she was beautiful, but I can't explain why. My family and friends from afar were frolicking on the lawn of the arboretum, but I don't remember who. I felt like I had tunnel vision that day. Everywhere I looked, my wife was in the center of my field of vision. Even with my head turned I caught her reflection in the glass as she danced with her father. Someone talked to me and I watched her in the reflections of their sunglasses. She looked tall and ethereal as I watched her dancing through the bottom of a wine glass. Not much has changed since then really. We're still in love, and everything I see is framed by how she fits in the picture. She's going to need to move over a bit to the side though. Our baby is due TODAY. I'm not sure what I did to deserve her, but I'm glad she thinks I'm worthy of being her partner in life. I can't imagine it any other way.

MapMyRide.com - General Road Cycling: iMapMyRide Jul 15, 2009 7:28 PM on 07/15/2009

MapMyRide.com - General Road Cycling: iMapMyRide Jul 15, 2009 7:28 PM on 07/15/2009

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My poor wife has been pregnant for almost 14 consecutive months. We had a miscarriage after about 3 months the first time. She is about 1 week from her due date so any day now there will be a new 'little me' to blog about. I'm anxious, nervous, scared, and just about every other emotional adjective you could think of to describe how a feel right now. We're really looking forward to the rest of our lives.