IT'S DADDY'S TURN!!

Now it's my turn to write on the blog. The pregnancy flew by. From the day Angie told me we were pregnant at 1 or 2am in the morning after I just returned from yet another Ram's butt whooping, and I was so shocked because that was the last thing on my mind, but in about 2 seconds my whole life changed, so incredibly for the better. Then Ang decided she needed to take 5 pregnancy tests just to make sure she really was pregnant. On top of that the doctor told us we were pregnant, but she still had a hard time believing it. We had another pregnancy test she never used, honestly to my surprise. I think it finally set in that she was pregnant during the first 4 months of the pregnancy because she had morning sickness, all day long every day. Then came what I call the work out phase of the pregnancy. Angie worked out like a mad woman, in fact she scared the people at gold's gym, they told her to quit climbing all those mountains on the stair climber, before she gives birth to our child right there at Gold's. This was from about month 5 to about month 8 of the pregnancy. Angie didn't look like she was pregnant for a long time, then about week 24 I looked at her one day and I said, "Wow Ang, you look really pregnant." She had finally popped! After about 8 months the babies head had turned so Ang had a ton of pressure between her hips. It was like this for about the last month. Dr. Puckett told her she couldn't work out anymore. He even threatened her with bed rest. I think that was what finally got her to quit working out, was the thought of bed rest. It became hard for her to even walk. Then about 2 weeks before the baby was born we stayed up for 6 hours with Ang having false labor pains until 4am. This lead to Ang being put on medication to keep her pregnant. After 2 weeks she quit taking it and well, you know the rest of the story.

Now let me give you my perspective. The day our baby was born was pretty calm until about 8:40 pm. As you know Ang had labor pain starting about 10 that morning. Well let me tell you everything picked up when they broke her water at 8:40. The contractions obviously went from being a 2 or 3 on a scale of 1-10 to about an 8, 9 or 10 on the pain scale. She was grabbing the bed, turning, grabbing my hand, borderline screaming her head off and I was about a foot from her the whole time. Did I mention she took no medication and gave birth the natural way, if I didn't, well let me tell you, there is no doubt in my mind that she did. The next hour there wasn't much I could do except stand and watch, helpless, as my wife said over and over I don't want to do this anymore. Then 10 pm rolled around. That was when she started to push. That was also when she decided she wanted an epidural, well this is the point during the labor process where you can no longer be given an epidural. This did not please Ang. Supposedly when you start to push it's supposed to help with the pain. Not so in our case, our baby had become turned inside her and was causing unbearable back pain every time she pushed. The next 2 hours was filled with blood curdling screaming, incredible pain, frustration and comments like "I WANT AN EPIDURAL!" Not to mention Dr. Puckett seemed to be taking his sweet time getting there, and the doctor that was there has the people skills of a social retard. Also Angie's friend Jenna was there to take pictures, and if after hearing what she heard while she was there I seriously doubt if she will ever give birth without an epidural. The birth process was unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life. I was a foot away from a woman who was passing a human being through her. Around 11:30 I could see the babies hair coming out. Also, Ang had put Dr. Puckett (who finally showed up) on a time table. She better have this baby by midnight or else. As the time got closer to midnight I was beginning to wonder how we were gonna get this baby out. I was having some serious doubts. The hair had been showing through for a while but we were stuck. So they used the vacuum and they were able to pull the head out. I was like, "Holy crap! I can see it's head, Ang you have to push!" And push she did, then out came our baby boy, Jacob. I didn't know how I would react when our kid was finally born. Would I cry, would I smile, would I just be checking on Ang to make sure she was ok. Well, I cried, yeah I cried, wanna make something of it?! Just kidding. I informed Ang that we had a baby boy, checked her to make sure she was ok, then I just stared at Jacob in amazement and disbelief. The whole time I just felt like it was so surreal. I immediately texted or called anybody I could think of. By the way I apologize to anybody I woke up. Jacob was born at 11:58 (not 11:56) and I wanted everyone to know I was a proud Daddy. It's funny because my Grandpa'a mom always said he was born a day earlier than his birth certificate says. He always said "I sure think my mom would know what day she gave birth to me on." Well, I'm pretty sure Daddy knows what time his baby was born. Anyways, we spent the night at the hospital. Amazingly enough I slept pretty well on the little bed they provided for me.

The next morning Ang took a shower and afterward asked me dry her legs off, when I looked in her eyes I could tell something was wrong. I caught her just before she passed out. I put her on the shower floor and rang the nurse, I heard a noise in the bathroom, and I was like crap, she got up (take it from someone who passes out 2 to 3 times a year, if you pass out, don't get back up for a while). So I ran in the bathroom and sure enough, there she was standing up, and I caught her again before she passed out, again. By this time the nurse got there, and she was absolutely no help whatsoever, so I picked Ang up and took her to her bed. Immediately she came to and had no clue what happened. I should let you know, my biggest fear going into this pregnancy and labor was something happening to my wife. I was scared to death to lose her for some freak reason, like you see in all those stupid romantic comedy/chick flick movies. So needless to say, this freaked me out. But they said she just needed to rest and eat and she would be fine.

The next day we came home. It's so surreal having him here. It's like he's just temporary, I think partly because I can't believe I am a dad. I told Jacob, "You made me a Daddy." He is so awesome and other than Monday afternoon where we think his stomach was a little upset, he has been extremely easy. I think that must be the Carriker in him. Whenever he's fussy, I say that's the McBride in him. Lol, you know I love you guys.

The pregnancy seemed to go really fast to me. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I showed pregnancy symptoms as well during that time. I had cravings, I was tired and I didn't sleep well. It's funny how what happens to one partner affects the other partner as well. The labor was something I will never ever forget. I haven't told Ang this, but when we went to Colorado to visit my sister and brother-in-law Mark after they had their daughter Aleah, Mark just looked at her totally differently than he ever had before. Before he looked at her like he loved her, but when we were there I noticed there was something different in the way he looked at her. It was almost like how a little boy would look at his favorite super hero if he ever got to meet him. Well, after watching my wife give birth naturally, I know why my brother-in-law looked at her like that, because that's now how I look at Ang. Like the song says, "And I thought I loved her then."

The amazing thing about all this is, Jacob is so worth it all. Jacob, I promise you I will be the best Dad I can possibly be. I'm not gonna be perfect, but I'm gonna show you this world just like the song says, "With arms wide open."

Side note: His name is Jacob Ryder Carriker
Mom's nickname for him is, "Peanut"
Dad's nickname for him is "My little man"
The general nickname for him is "Jr", because his initials are JR, which equate to Jr. and also, he is a little us or a Jr. of Ang and I. So feel free to call our new bundle of joy Jacob or Jr., whatever you prefer.