It is with great joy that I today let my fellow YNAI-nudies know our first little guy was born late last night (on Flagday
), without any drama, without any complications! Jennifer's obstetritian had told us last week our baby would be due today (Monday; obviously they're not that fond of "weekend jobs"
). Anyway, my mom who is a physician, told us yesterday afternoon if we wanted to play it safe we'd better go to the hospital sooner rather than later (and believe me, we wanted to play it safe
), so after four hours there, a nurse came in to take Jennifer's vitals again, and said, on the way out, "I better call the doctor now!" I was holding Jennifer's hand and was a little distraught to see her in pain, but before I knew it, we heard this scream and saw that tiny little guy hanging upside down. Before I could even get up to welcome him into our family, and say a prayer, they rushed him away to clean and weigh him. Then I saw a sign of fear on Jennifer's face, like she thought the nurse was shlepping him away (for good
, to sell him to the highest bidder
), but the obstetritian said they'll be back soon. So I kissed my beautiful Jennifer, and we both cried a little bit with joy, relief, and gratitude, and renewed our commitment to do our level best for the little guy, rain or shine, and stick together, no matter what, until he's 18 years old. Before we know it, Jennifer's mom steps into the room, Noah in her arms, followed by Jennifer's dad and my parents, and puts the baby down, on Jennifer's belly. He has this big head, with some blond hair, and everything else looks so small and tiny. The youngest baby I ever saw was maybe four months old, this one about half an hour
, and fully dressed! He started like rowing with his arms, and I just couldn't help but kiss him on his little forehead. Then I said our prayer thanking G'd for the grace He had shown us. The two grandmas and two grandpas were all smiles now! I carefully touched Noah's right hand, and I couldn't believe it: he opened his fist and grabbed my index finger, and it was just amazing to feel the pressure this little guy was able to transmit. But his face remained like he wasn't really here yet, with his eyes closed and very light breathing. All of a sudden, my dad said, "let's surprise him by singing, 'G'd only knows what we'd do without you'" (which was the Secret Song when Jennifer and I got married), and we did. Well, I guess we'll have to tell him later about this first serenade in his honor, he didn't hear it yet
. So, that's the story of Hour One, and I think we'll postpone for at least a week our worries whether he's going to be a lifelong nudie, but we hope he will, in 17 years from now, write his own intro post to become a new YNAI-member, the way I did in 2007
! Aaron
