A labor story
“[Watching a baby being born] is a little like watching a wet St. Bernard coming in through the cat door.”
— Jeff Foxworthy
“The old system of having a baby was much better than the new system, the old system being characterized by the fact that the man didn’t have to watch.”
— Dave Barry
I am not about to give a blow-by-blow account of the labor and delivery of my daughter. There are literally billions of labor stories out there, each unique in its own way. In retrospect, our labor story is exceptionally unexceptional. Both mother and child [and father] escaped the ordeal relatively unscathed. And the experience itself is eclipsed by the aftermath of raising a baby. Still, several moments from that day stand out for me, as a soon-to-be-anointed father and a concerned husband. My memory has also been fading of late, and the details are still relatively fresh in my head. Plus, some people requested that I chronicle the event. So I’d like to submit a retraction (of the first sentence of this very paragraph): below is a blow-by-blow account of the labor and delivery of my daughter. Enjoy.