Henry VanDyke

Erin and I welcomed Henry Miles VanDyke into our family on Monday, September 21 at 12:02pm. He weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 19.5 inches long. This is part one of the three part story of the hours immediately before he was born.

Friday, September 18

Last minute additions

Yai Yai and Oppa (James’ parents) decided on Friday night that they needed to come down for Henry’s birth. We were thrilled. It also settled a number of bets. Originally they planned to see Henry for the first time in October during YaiYai’s Fall Break from teaching, but several people, including me, were going to be surprised Henry’s imminent arrival didn’t trigger a quick trip to Texas.

Since we were inducing Henry on Monday, they were able to plan ahead for the trip. We were inducing because Henry measured large during his sonograms. The doctors wanted him to come before he got too big to be delivered naturally.

Saturday, September 19

Erin and I did chores around the house to prepare for Henry. We mowed the lawn, washed the dog and cleaned the house. Then we went on our last date together before Henry. We had pizza for lunch at Campisis.

In the evening my parents arrived at our house after a 12 hour drive from Tennessee.

Sunday, Septeber 20

Tiger is blissfully unaware of Henry's coming.

We woke up early and ate breakfast with YaiYai and Oppa at Corner Bakery. Then the four of us drove to the hospital to give the prospective grandparents a tour.

Tigerman had reservations at Erin’s parent’s house to hang out with Butch for a couple of days so we  picked him up from the house and headed to McKinney.

After dropping the dog off, we met Granny and Grandad (Erin’s parents) and Aunt Toni and Uncle Mo (Erin’s sister and her husband) for lunch. We ate at Dos Charos because YaiYai likes sampling Tex-Mex when she comes to Dallas and because we’ve heard spicy foods can help move the labor process along.

New kicks for a new kid

A little post-lunch walking and shopping yielded a new pair of tennis shoes for me. I didn’t want to embarrass Henry in public on his first day with my old worn out shoes.

5 p.m. – Sitting nervously by the phone
We were supposed to get confirmation from the hospital at 5 p.m. to come in at 10 p.m. and start the process of inducing. There was a small chance the hospital would be too busy for the induction. Five o’clock came and went with no call. So, Erin and I took a nap in preparation for the evening ahead.

After napping, we kept the phone close while watching the Dallas Cowboys’ first game in their new stadium versus the New York Giants. None of us really cared about the Cowboys but it was the only thing worth watching on TV at the time.

7 p.m. – Confirmation

One last look at our pregency bellies

Finally at 7 p.m. Erin called the hospital to see if we were on the schedule. The nurse said we were the lucky winners for the evening and we could come in at 10 p.m. After months of waiting the clock officially started counting down to Henry entering our world.

9:45 p.m. – Good bye, Hello

Since YaiYai and Oppa were staying at our house we said goodbye to them and embarked on the next phase of our exciting journey.

We’re almost there. I suited up.

Google says I need 13 minutes, I'm thinking seven.

Erin and I attended a birthing class on Saturday at the hospital where we’re going to have the baby.

My favorite part was the tour of the hospital. Most importantly, they showed us where to park and which door to come in. As the husband of a pregnant wife, it is my responsibility to get her to the hospital. Once we arrive, the rest of the process is pretty much up to Erin and the doctors.

The process goes something like this:

1. Arrive at the hospital: First you fill out a sheet of paper to be examined, even though you filled out admitting paperwork six months ago.
2. Triage: This is the room where they say, “You’re not really in labor, those are just sympathy pains and no, they’re not worse than your wife’s”
3. LDR Room: This stands for Labor, Delivery and Recovery Room (Due to budget cut backs they had to remove the extra letters). This is where Henry will make his entrance to the world. If family and friends come they have to wait in the… wait for it… waiting room.
4. Private Room: After a stint in the big money room, they ship you from the basement to the top floor where, as long as space permits, you get a private room (They tell us that’s never a real problem, they better be right). Depending on how everyone is feeling friends and family can stop by.
5. Go home: After a tiring birth process and two days at the hospital you can finally come home relax and get some sleep. The teacher kept laughing after saying this but I couldn’t figure out why. Sounds nice to me.