Laura’s doctor came in all smiles and asked us if we were ready to have t
his baby… “I certainly can try to speed things along,” he said with his back to us and popping his fingers inside a latex rubber glove. “That is, if you want me to!”
Laura’s eyes were huge and I could basically read her mind…
“What exactly do you mean?” said Laura. “We are ready, but what is speed things along entail?”
“I can strip your membranes!” said the Doctor.
At the sound of this I was totally confused and sure I was not destined to be a doctor… I mean having this baby tonight sounded great, but were we ready?
Bottom line, our Doctor, “stripped” Laura’s membranes and let us know… well more like cautioned us, that doing this “may cause labor within the next 24-48 hours.” We, of course, held strong that Mauldin was still not going to come. We had our hopes up so many times that doing this surely wouldn’t cause “true” labor.
10:00 PM – We are in bed, I thought it would be nice to watch a movie in bed on this Friday night, so I picked “Spaceballs!” We hardly got into where Princess Vespa runs from the alter when Laura insists we may need to head on to the hospital. We decide together not to inform anyone about this, as to not insue or cause anyone to panic and show up at the hospital only for it to be, yet another, false alarm.
At about 12:30AM on Saturday, March 21, the nurse comes into our triage room to ask if she was comfortable.
“You’re contractions seem to be pretty strong and really close together.” Said the Nurse. “Would you like to have your epidural?”
“Epidural?” I yelped with a surprised reaction. “But, I don’t want to pay for an epidural and then be sent home!”
“No, no Sir.” Said the nurse. “If your wife is given an epidural… she will be admitted to a room today… to have the baby.”
“Are you kiddin’?” I said in shocked amazement! “But… we… uhhhh…”
“So, this is, like, it?” said Laura
“Pretty much, yah!” replied the nurse while she was inputting information into the computer next to Laura.
Right then, I whipped out my cell phone to call our family and friends to tell them the exciting news… in between each contraction that is… Laura needed me to count her through her contractions that were now 2-3 minutes apart and all seemed to inflict equal amounts of pain.. So, that meant I had to talk quick… if the person I was calling did not answer on the second dial, at 12:45 AM, then I had to go on to the next person. Thankfully, my mom, sister, dad, mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-laws were all readily available. I called my boss as well to inform her so that she knew that I would not be in on Monday. I had decided early on that I would be taking a week off of work to be with Laura and the little man, so it was very important she was aware of the current events.
Fast forward… 10:00 AM on Saturday, March 21, 2009 and we are in full-blown labor… who knew that in 13 minutes our son would literally pop-out into the world!
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 PUSH…
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 PUSH…
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 PUSH…
I have never counted to ten so many times in my life… but it was totally worth it and I have a whole new respect for my wife. Laura is one of the strongest and most determined women I know… I never left her side… I wanted to make sure I was there to experience every moment, every precious moment that I could never get back… each and every second that went by was something I could file as one of the most amazing life experiences I could ever witness.
And, at 10:13AM he was here… after all this time… after all the singing to a belly and reading to a bump… I get to see what my wife and I made all those nine months ago. The nine months that seem like a lifetime. 
Fast forward to today… I am back at work, after my one week off with my new family… and I know it wasn’t enough time. I woke up and knew I would have to leave them. But, would he remember me when I got back? What if our baby’s short term memory doesn’t work yet and he totally forgets who I am.. what I smell and sound like? Will I just be another stranger who wants to hold him for a bit and then gives him back up to his mom? All during the time I was home I wanted to hold him 24/7… but I knew that was a bad idea because if we did that he would never learn to be alone and sleep alone. We have a baby now… it is just unreal to me. Honestly, during the entire stint in the hospital Friday – Sunday… I thought they were testing us.
“Oh, you didn’t hold him right today, Sir… we are going to have to take him, sorry.”
We are taking things one day at a time. One night he sleeps soundly the other he is up at all hours… the sleep deprivation set in on day two… There is also one tiny... hiccup... he is 5lbs so that means none of the newborn diapers fit him... nor will any of the newborn clothes... so we have had to stock up on packs of premie diapers. Please, I wanna take this moment to thank all of you who have bought Mauldin some new clothes... otherwise he would be hanging out in his diaper and a blanket only!After Mauldin's debut... I cried for about 30 seconds and then the tears disappeared and never returned. What was wrong with me? Why was I being such a unfeeling, unemotional bastard? My son was just born and my emotions were on hiatus! Well, so I thought… until… he peed on me. I remember it clearly… I was sitting next to Laura, on the squeaky, hospital bed trying to burp him from his afternoon snack and I felt a warm, wet sensation in my lap. Right then, on the bed, the tears began to flow… I lowered my face so no one would see…
“How embarrassing!” I said “Here comes the ugly.”
I tend to make really ugly faces when I get emotional and cry. One thing I certainly have noticed, in my son, in the one week I was with him… he gets upset when you change his diaper and makes the ugly cry. But, will this be the only time he looks like me? During the ugly cry? Well, that is just depressing.
It all came out… it was like I had an IV of estrogen attached to me. I couldn’t stop it. Everything I had been feeling… all the happy’s, all the sad’s, all the mad’s, all the good and the bad came out. I didn’t want to be rude or mean to nurses, family or friends… I was having a emotional outbreak with ADD! What was wrong with me? I unintentinally insulted probably everyone... My thoughts were running... they wouldn't stop!
Will I be a good dad to his little guy? Why doesn’t he look more like me? Why??? All his clothes are too small! He sure does sleep a lot! Will he like me? What if I don’t make a good impression on him and he always wants mommy? I would like to learn some stuff on my own… I need help… I can do it by myself… we need help! Why is he still crying? Why doesn’t he look like me? Why are his legs so long? Will he ever fit in his high chair? Why doesn't he look more like me?
Please understand… my mind is a complex thing and it fluxuates in five million different directions. However, I am incredibly stable! One thing is for certain… We are overjoyed, thrilled and ecstatic to have this little guy in our lives now! He is the perfect addition our family. I love you Laura and Mauldin...
Mauldin, Daddy will be home soon.
Alright... it's gettin close...the birth of Mauldin is upon us!
March 27, 2009 is his official due date... so pick the date of when you think he will arrive!
It’s all in good fun… so start guessin!
Today, at 3 o’clock, is the first doctor’s appointment of our third trimester. (insert Cheers in the background -think surround sound!)
Last night we were sitting in the nursery, as we sometimes do, like we are just waiting for him to walk through the door.
“Hey mom, hey dad! I’m here, change me, burp me, feed me, love me...”
But, of course there is a
lot more to a baby than just that, right? (Rhetorical question) All those things are a big part, but I guess we left off one of the big issue… the birth. He has to be born! Speaking of… my beautiful wife has signed us up to have a “birth class” next month. It is a two-day, extensively long, very long class that we are making ourselves go to! I mean, we are paying to do this… are we crazy? It is like going to work, on the weekend! But, maybe we will learn something.
My fears and concerns are becoming more apparent as the days pass. I don’t want to end up on a lifetime special… “our child, switched at birth.” Is there a way we can maybe ask the nurse or doctor to put a huge RED “X” on his lil’ hand or something to signify “this is Mauldin James Skates,” he is our child and don’t you dare try to steal him. I don’t wanna sound like an overly anal freaky parent, but do people actually do this type of thing? Can we request it? Or am I overacting a little bit?
Looking ahead, Laura mentioned to me last night we need to think about a hospital route. Well, yes, that is a good idea, but what if you go into labor and I am not even around? I am at work for eight hours of the day, and the next few months I am taking classes to finish my bachelor degree so what if I am at school? So, do I need to pack a bag and have it in my car at all times? Just thinking about this sent me into panic mode, so I went ahead and got out a small, black L.L.Bean duffle bag and stuffed a wide array of things I may need at the hospital baby wing.
It feels like a month ago we had so much time to prepare for the arrival of the man-child, but now, I am starting to sweat the small stuff… But, luckily Laura has three showers in the near future (one this weekend) so hopef
ully anything I am worrying we do not have… we will have! I keep hearing, diapers, diapers, you need diapers! Well, the other day we showed off the stack of boxes in our upstairs bonus room, of diapers, and you would probably think people would say,
“wow- that’s enough to cover the kid until the year 2030!” (lets hope he is potty trained by then) But, instead this is what we hear…
“yah that’s a good start, but not nearly enough!”
Insert, OMG and a jaw drop….
Well, prepared or not, we have 81 days to go!
You certainly know you are a fan when you plan your life around a vacation to the sacred place that is, Walt Disney World. Well, that is just what we did… In September 2009, Laura’s family and mine will be going to Disney World at the same time!!! Not sure if it will be the same resort, but… we’ll see if that happens. 
Somehow the stars have aligned and it has given me, oh I’m sorry, us, the chance to experience our favorite vacation spot with our immediate family members!!! We knew we had to plan it or Laura may be at Disney World 8 months pregnant or even possibly we could have just had the baby and how would we swing that??? So, we figured if we didn’t get pregnant by September of this year then we would have to stop trying until this Spring… so that way, Laura would just be pregnant at Disney and not actually about to give birth! But, wouldn’t it be cool to say “I had my baby at Disney World?” LOL! Just kidding, but seriously!
Another reason for thinking ahead is because of Laura’s job… she is a teacher, so we thought if we plan this just right she can have more time with the baby during the summer and that is less time we have to have childcare!!! So, planning ahead is not just crazy… it’s very economical! As you can tell…we are the type of people who like to plan ahead, but this is a little out there, right? Well, not if you think about how many people if effects! You try telling three k
ids under the age of 5 “no, we cannot go to Disney World because you are getting a new cousin!” Drew, Everett & Annagrace would probably never forgive Aunt Lala and Uncle Eric if they were the reason they didn’t get to go see Mickey Mouse!!!
