February 04, 2001

Ah, the magic of the human condition. Whereas I used to be a father-squared, as of January 31st I'm a father-cubed. God's commandment to Adam and Eve was to multiply and replenish... with my second child my wife and I managed to replenish, and now, finally, we've multiplied--by a factor of 1.5, if I've got my math correct. I have to bend one finger in half, but I think I'm right on this one.

Anyway, not only did I get to be in the delivery room, but I got to help my wife "push" (mostly by yelling and counting and reminding her when to breathe). Heck, I even got to cut the cord, which was a real surprise. Doctor Young clamped the cord in two places, and then his assistant handed me a pair of long-handled scissors.

"What... you want me to hold these for you while you go get a towel or something?"

So I cut the cord, held my daughter, hugged my wife, cried a bit ("must've gotten something in my eye... don't mind me"), and basically took joy in the fact that I get a chance to provide a loving home to someone who stands a good chance of being smarter and taller than I am.

Mother and baby are fine, and baby is remarkably alert and well-developed. I was singing her a lullaby just hours after she was born, and she was looking around wide-eyed, waving her arms, trying to figure out how to make the horrible noise go away.