Introducing: Samuel Bryan Neves!

At 3:38am Monday morning we welcomed the latest member of our family into the world! Here is a minute by minute account of that happy morning:

1:30am - Missie waddles into the den and tells me I should get some sleep, she thinks the baby may be coming soon. I turn off homestarrunner.com and hit the sack.
2:00am - A voice from the bathroom pulls me from my slumber. Missie thinks her water just broke. I'm secretly hoping it's just bladder control problems.
2:01am - It's definitely not bladder control problems. I quickly try to employ the coaching techniques I learned over the past twelve weeks of Bradley training - encouraging words, back message, relaxation techniques... I know exactly what to do. She says "Stop talking and don't touch me." I go downstairs and start to load the car.
2:07am - I check in on Missie to see if she wants that massage yet. She gives me 'The look' and I scurry downstairs to get her a glass of water. Mr. Bradley, I want my Thursday nights back.
2:12am - I call Missie's mom Debbie and she picks up on the first ring sounding alert and composed, like the woman in the movies who wakes up with her hair nice and her make-up already done - weird. She will later tell me I should have called her an hour earlier.
2:13am - I call Angie and leave a message letting her know we're dropping Adam off and heading to the hospital. She is sound asleep and oblivious to the excitement.
2:26am - I continue loading the car. I stop in the kitchen and hear Missie moaning upstairs in the bathroom. I grab a couple extra towels and a tupperware container to hold the placenta in case we don't make it to the hospital and we have to deliver in the car on the side of the road. Not that that would ever really happen. Right?
2:27am - I check in on Miss as she bears down for a hard contraction. I consider reaching over to console her but think twice. I might need both my hands later and I don't want to get one bitten off. She finishes the contraction and thanks me for not doing anything to help. Anytime, hun.
2:35am - I carry a groggy Adam out to the car and he doesn't put up a fuss. He's so calm and content that I later wonder if he was in on it.
2:45am - We head over to Angie's (they gave us a house key for just such an emergency) and I quietly put Adam down in the nursery. I could have stolen the TV while I was there - no one heard me coming or going.
2:46am - I get in the car and Missie is struggling. She is clearly in active labor. I'm looking forward to breaking many traffic laws in the next few minutes.
2:47am - I run my first red light.
2:48am - I run my second red light.
2:50am - Missie asks if I'm running red lights (she's laboring with her eyes closed). I say, "just focus on the labor, I'll get you there safe." I hope she's more convinced than I am.
3:05am - Missie starts making very load howling noises. I tell myself it's her way of dealing with the pain. In between contractions, she tells me that when she's howling, it's because she's pushing and there's nothing she can do to stop it. I try to look calm, but it's officially panic time.
3:15am - We're 15 minute away when Missie tells me "The baby is coming NOW!" And I thought 3:05 was panic time!
3:30am - We roll up to the emergency room door and I run in to get some help. A doctor and two nurses come out with a wheel chair. I think to myself "We're going to need a gurney."
3:31am - The doctor tries to check the baby while Missie is mid-contraction in the front seat. Missie denies him like a goalie in a playoff game. He looks over at the nurse - "Go get a gurney".
3:35am - After getting Missie on the gurney, the doctor checks her and finds out the baby is crowning. We rush into the first room in ER and park next to an elderly woman who has no idea what is going on. The attending doctor prepares to catch the baby and I hear him say 'It's been a few years since I've done this'. I briefly wonder if we would have been better of on the side of the road. I look down and see the baby's head crown hard and stop wondering.
3:38am - The doctor tells Missie not to push. She ignores him and pushes with all she's got. The baby twists out in one big rush, two minutes after we got into the room. I'm thankful I didn't stop to go to the bathroom before we left the house, otherwise the baby would have been born in the Volvo!
3:40am - I hold our new son in my arms as all the ER nurses give him googly eyes. From behind the curtain, our elderly roommate asks in a shaky voice "Can somebody get me a drink of water?"
3:41am - The nurses continue to hover over the baby - they don't get many newborns down in the ER. From behind the curtain, our elderly roommate asks again in a shaky voice "Can somebody get me a drink of water?"
3:42am - "Can someone get me something to drink?"
3:43am - "Would somebody please get me some water?" The nurses aren't fazed.
3:44am - "Can I get a drink of water?" I tell the nurses "I think someone should get her something to drink." She smiles at the baby and says, "Oh, she'll be fine." I decide to get the baby out of the ER before the poor old lady dies of dehydration.
3:45am - We're reunited with Missie upstairs in labor and delivery, in a daze from the amazing turn of events. It was exciting, it was terrifying, and it wasn't like anything I've ever experienced. Glory to God, our family of three is officially a family of four!

BTW - His name is Samuel Bryan Neves, and he weighed 8lbs, 7oz. Pictures to come.