The Fishing Crew just got Bigger.

Wow, going back and looking at my old posts really puts into perspective just how fast life moves.  My last post was about the amazing experience that I had donating stem cells in June 2014.  What I didn’t mention was that about two weeks before the donation, Amelia and I found out that Amelia was pregnant.  Talk about some life changing things happening all at once!!!

The next few months were some amazing and beautiful months of growth and learning.  As Amelia slowly got more and more pregnant and the ultrasounds began to show more and more detail my heart continued to melt more and more for my beautiful wife and the precious precious cargo that she carried.  When we went in for our 17week appointment, we found out that we would be having a little boy!!!!!! Wow, words can’t even explain the feelings and thoughts that race through your mind when trying to comprehend the fact that you are going to be a parent.

Of course there were still fishing trips mixed in with all this experience!! Especially one very memorable trip just my dad and I went on to Donkey Lake in the Boulder Mountains….. that is one trip that will go down in the history books!!!

The months waned on and the baby and Amelia continued to grow and we slowly prepared ourselves to the best of our ability to welcome our new joy into our home.  The only problem is, there is no owners manual or set of surefire instructions for this kind of stuff!!!  Everyone and their dog has a million ideas of how/when to do things and there are “scientific” studies proving that everything in the world is both dangerous and the best thing for your baby all at the same time!!! It is a confusing and stressful time, and all I can say is go with your gut, and pray really really hard!!

We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and then settled in for the last few weeks of pregnancy.  At the same time a new semester started at BYU and it just so happened that this semester was the most content heavy and difficult semester I’ve ever had!!! And of course we were sitting at about 34 weeks with a baby on the way any day now!!!

Sure enough, the start of February rolled around and with it came the greatest and the hardest thing that Amelia and I have ever faced!!! (I have to interrupt my post because as I’m writing this I’m listening to music and George Strait’s “A Love Without End Amen” just came on….. if you’ve never heard this song and you are a Dad or you have a Dad you should give it a listen)

We went to the doctor on Tuesday, February 3^rd and he told us that with the baby’s size and the fact that Amelia had consistently higher that normal blood pressure, he thought it best if we schedule an induction for the next day.  WOW!!!! 9 months suddenly felt like it passed without any warning and neither of us knew entirely how to handle it.

So, just to settle ourselves down (and celebrate a little)…. We went to Olive Garden for dinner J  

That evening and the next day were spent getting the house ready, talking to professors, and making any final preparations we needed before we headed to the hospital.  At 6:00 pm that night we went and checked into the hospital….. and oh buddy, we had no idea what were getting into!!!

That first night wasn’t too bad…. Amelia was given some drugs to help the process begin and we settled in. The next morning  Amelia began to feel some real contractions and by about 7:30 am (probably 10 min before the doctor showed up to do it for her) Amelia’s water broke.  After the doctor checked on her, they called in the anesthesiologist and got her epidural all hooked up and running. At the same time, they also got her pitocin drip hooked up and running (Pitocin ups the level and intensity of contractions to help the birthing process along).  We knew that labor could last a while, but we had been there since 6pm the night before, Amelia’s water had broken, the Pitocin drip was running, and I think both of us figured we’d be meeting our little guy in just a couple more hours…… We were wrong.

By about 5 or 6 pm Amelia had still only dilated to a 6 or 7 and we were wondering if this thing was actually going to happen.  Amelia had now been hooked up to an IV for 24 hours and had been laying in the same bed with nothing to eat or drink beyond some ice chips.  Needless to say she was sick of it and sore as all get out, and that’s not even taking into consideration the contractions.  Yeah she had an epidural, but she could still feel them and I think it was definitely getting old!!!

Around 9-10 the nurses told us Amelia had only progressed to an 8 and we still had a while to go.  By 11:00-11:30ish Amelia was at 10 and the doctor said she could start pushing.  Three very intense and painful (especially for Amelia) hours later our beautiful and amazing little Benjamin Roy McGuire made his way into this world.

The first few moments of Benjamin’s life were the scariest and most amazing of mine.

When Benjamin first came out he let out a beautiful little cry and the doctor wiped him off and handed him to his mommy.  He then handed me some scissors and had me cut the umbilical chord. All the while this was going on, Benjamin hadn’t made another peep.  When I looked up at him and Amelia, he was grey as could be, completely unresponsive and obviously not breathing. 

After a few terrifying moments of waiting (it felt like minutes but I’m sure it was less than seconds) the nurse grabbed baby Benj and rushed him over to the baby station. I held Amelia’s hand and watched as a whole team of nurses and attendants started working Benjamin over. They rubbed him up and down with towels, moved his limbs and did everything they could to get a response….. nothing.

After again what seemed like hours but was only seconds, the respiratory team arrived and hooked Benjamin up to a little teeny tiny baby breathing mask.  And finally our precious baby boy began to breath.  Within minutes his coloring had returned and he was making noises.

Those few moments were the most gut wrenching I’ve experienced.  The love of my life was in a bed next to me, having just passed through the most physically traumatic thing she or I had ever faced and I was completely helpless….. at the same time….. this tiny human who I had never before met but for whom I instantly had more love than I could ever explain… lay not breathing in a tiny bed next to me….. all I can say is…. At that moment I was the most scared I’ve ever been, and I know if the Lord hadn’t been watching over us I’d have probably lost it all right then and there.  But thank heaven HE was there, and everything turned out great. 

The most amazing part of that crazy story is that the backdrop of fear and worry made for the starkest juxtaposition of joy that I could ever imagine!!!!

I WAS A DAD!!!!!

            There was beautiful baby boy in my wife’s arms and he was ours!!!! Words cannot explain…. They literally cannot.

Whew….. that was a long story, but I’m not done yet!!!  The last few months have been some of the most amazing of my life!! I have a super hero for a partner and best friend and she consistently blows me away every single day!!! She is currently working on a masters degree from UC Denver in Public Administration while simultaneously being a full time mom while I try to finish up my bachelors and work at my internship.  Benjamin gets cuter and bigger every single day.  He has the most amazing little smile, these laughing eyes, and a light that literally fills the entire room!!!! It is impossible to ignore him or leave him be because he just draws you to him and you can’t help but love every last inch of him!!

We have had some awesome past few months and we continue to fish, play, and just enjoy life!!!!

My Family is my entire life…. If I didn’t have these two…. My life would be worthless, but because of them I am richer than the richest king…. As Michael J. Fox said “Family is not an important thing, ITS EVERYTHING”.