Early delivery was the surprise of the season

Monday, Dec. 2, 2002, is a day I remember vividly.

It was a cool, overcast day in Longmont, Colorado, where I lived and worked. As the community reporter for the Daily Times-Call, my schedule was slammed. I was the guy who reported on all the community events, especially those involving churches and nonprofit organizations. Early December is a very busy time for holiday activities. I had more going on than I could handle and was very busy writing stories.

We learned that two Longmont teenagers were going to be on the cover of Newsweek Magazine to promote abstinence until marriage. I contacted them and set up an interview for that evening, not like I had anything else to do. The cause was one I support and to have something with national exposure was enticing to write about.

Meanwhile back at home, Sandy was busy taking care of three of our children while carrying our fourth, due Dec. 22. She was equally as busy getting the older two to school and taking care of things around the house while having to give a lot of attention to our 18-month-old boy. Luke had to be carried around because he fractured his leg two weeks earlier. We were living in a rental house because we sold our home before our new one was built. It was under construction, but still months away from being ready.

That afternoon Sandy went grocery shopping. When she got home, she called me at work. I normally love talking with her and don’t mind brief interruptions while working, but today I was too busy for idle chit-chat. I had deadlines to meet before I went out to do the interview with the teenagers.

“It’s time,” she said.

“Time for what?” I responded, probably sounding a little more irritable than I should have.

“It’s THAT time,” she said.

I didn’t have time for games and asked her what she meant.

“I’m having contractions. The baby is coming!”

All of a sudden, I wasn’t so busy anymore. She had my full attention.

Of course, I asked her all the usual stupid questions that an expectant father asks.

“Are you sure? How can you tell?”

She politely assured me that the baby was definitely coming today. Worried that I wouldn’t be able to get my work done, we tried to estimate how much time we had before we needed to go to the hospital. We figured I had enough time to meet my deadline and come home, but the interview with the teens had to be pawned off to a colleague of mine.

I got home, ate a quick dinner (for some reason Sandy wasn’t hungry), got the kids ready and called my dad to see if he could come over and watch the children while we went to the hospital. I’d normally ask Mom, but she had medical issues that kept her home. When Dad arrived, Sandy and I gathered up her things and walked to the hospital.

Yes, I said walked. Yes, I made my pregnant wife in full labor walk to the hospital. And she was happy to do it. After all, we lived a block away and it would have been more strenuous to get in and out of the car and walk a similar distance across the parking lot. So you see, I’m not a total cad.

Once we were settled in the delivery room, the wait began. We watched Monday Night Football as the hated Raiders beat the Jets. Sandy had to keep the nurses from turning off the game because she was watching it too. The game was depressing because our beloved Broncos lost to the Chargers the day before and were now sinking lower in the standings to division rivals.

Not long after the game ended, the big moment arrived. I positioned a video camera off to the side to record the blessed event. I don’t think Sandy was too happy about that, but she was rather preoccupied and didn’t complain much. Finally, around 11 p.m. (and 20 days before he was due), Colton made his grand entrance into the world.

Oddly enough, he would be the sixth member of our family and the only one to not be a first-born child. Sandy and I are first borns. My daughter from my previous marriage is a first born, as is Sandy’s son from her first marriage. Luke was our first together. Poor Colton was always destined to be the baby of the family. It’s a role he came to relish and take full advantage of.

As I write this, we are in preparations for Colton’s 21st birthday party. Our baby is a fully legal adult now. He is a junior at Texas A&M and we are extremely proud of the man he has become. He is a Godly man, fully dedicated to his faith. As parents there is not much more we could ask for.

All of our children have grown up to be great adults and we are so happy and proud of all of them. No parent could ask for more than that. And if you think I am bragging, well, you wouldn’t be wrong. I’m a proud dad and a happy husband and feel immensely blessed by God.