"Hey, my water just broke"

Hoover Dam

5:47 in the morning on September 1st, 2014 I hear my wife get out of bed, head down the hall, and flush the toilet. Now if you are a soon to be dad or a dad already then you know that this is an every two-hour occurrence for a woman in her third trimester. 5:50 A.M. my wife falls into bed, but yet she doesn't shift around like she normally does to snuggle up close. Yet I feel her looking at me and hear her say "Hey, my water just broke."

Now in the movies "My water just broke" is full of excitement, screaming, and more. My response was a cool calm "Are you f*ckin' with me?" The ongoing joke for the past few weeks was my wife to go into labor on Labor Day as a joke instead of September 2nd; which was her scheduled C-Section date. Although it was no joke, it was real and I was about to become a dad.

Now What?

Many movies portray the water breaking like you need to grab your bags and floor it! Here's a little FYI, unless your S.O. is starting to have contractions take your time. This fortunately is what happened for us. It is a GREAT time to do the below:

1. For you to snag a shower, you'll be in the hospital over night most likely so why not? The hospital showers are a little awkward and have some really crappy water pressure. 
2. For your S.O. to snag a shower. In my wife's case, she felt gross after her water broke and a shower was fantastic before continuing her journey to become a mom.
3. While your S.O. is in the shower feed your pets, change any litters, take out the trash, mail out any bills, etc in case you aren't home for a day or so.
4. Go over your checklist! Snag cell phone chargers, iPads, Kindles, and whatever doodads you need; especially a camera!
5. Leave a spare key for a friend or relative to get into your house in case you need anything or forgot something important.
6. Make sure the hospital bags, diaper bags, spare clothes, your clothes, etc are in the car.
7. Head to the hospital.

My wife - Sorry if you ever see this babe!

Driving to the Hospital

Alright now Dale Earnhardt. Take your time, I know you're scared and excited but this isn't the time to try to make the fastest time from your home to the hospital. You don't want to get into an accident while your S.O. is in labor, and you also don't want to potentially injure pedestrians if you lose control of your vehicle. I know this section is short, but please be careful and drive safe. Sometimes getting to the hospital fast just ends up being "hurry up and wait."

Your S.O. is Heading into the Delivery Room

Each hospital is different, and ours was a C-Section so we had to head into an OR. They took my wife into the OR and told me to sit in this empty delivery room. As I sat there in my scrubs, my camera around my neck, and only my thoughts to occupy me. In that time, I took a few deep breaths and thought about how my mom wasn't going to be around to see this moment (She passed away to cancer in 2011), and if I was going to be a good dad. This moment, if you are to get it, is the most surreal moment of your life. Take it all in and get ready to be a dad. After this moment of serenity I was called into the OR to see my wife laying on the table with a big blue drape in front of her. I was instructed by the assistants to sit on a stool by her head and wait for instruction to stand up. I held my wife's hand and shared a few smiles back and forth (even though I had my mask on). After a few moments and looking into my wife's eyes I saw her start to get a little emotional, she had her moment too. We knew we were about to become parents, and great parents to boot. 

The time came where I heard "OK, stand up!" I stood up and my jaw dropped. I saw her, my daughter, the person I've been waiting to meet for nine whole months; I was looking at Akeyzia Eris Myers. The moment you lay eyes on your child will be a moment that you never want to forget. I never felt such nirvana before in my life like I did on that day. Take it all in, make sure to get pictures, and if you get to cut the cord cut above the clamp away from the baby. I nearly made the cut below the clamp and possibly caused a huge mess. Thankfully the doctor caught what I was doing before I made the cut.

There will be more to follow about the post surgery, recovery, the first diaper change, and more in the next coming week or so! The goal of this blog is to post two times a week. Once on Sunday and once on Thursdays.

Purpose of this Blog

This blog is really meant for me to document a lot of things going on as I learn to be a dad. I wanted to share my experiences with the world just in case any new dads need some pointers, want to laugh, or even have some questions about my experiences. Feel free to email me any questions or concerns you have about becoming a dad. I will be covering a lot of things in this blog and I hope to see your emails! My email is: dadsdiaperbag@gmail.com. If you submit a question let me know if it is NOT OK to feature it on my blog. I will love to answer questions publicly in case people have the same questions you do!

Thank you for reading!