It all started after I’d brushed my teeth, nestled into the comfortable little memory fold of my Tempurpedic and found myself looking forward to some REM’s… 
About fifteen minutes later, I hear the bathwater running. Then a splash. Then a bigger splash. I sit up (an unpleasant action when dealing with memory foam) and I’m like, “What’s going on?”
A giant red birthing ball is bobbing in a filling bathtub. And Alicia is hanging onto the tub’s side like Stallone in Cliffhanger.
At this point I make rookie mistake #1: I ask a question during a contraction. “So, what you doing in there?” Then, “Huh? I can’t hear you over the running water.”
She tells me what she’s doing, and I’m thinking Braxton-Hicks, or the baby’s in a funny position or something. After all, her due date isn’t for two more days, right?
I fall back asleep. Sort of.
“Nick, I might be going into labor.”
“Sounds good. When you feel like you need me, let me know so I can help out.” And a minute later,
“…ZZZzzzZZZzzz…”
In retrospect, I feel a lot like the apostles in the garden of Gethsemane. What were they asked to do? Stay awake. Pray. That’s all.
But did they do it? No, they fell asleep. And now, until the sun burns out, people everywhere are going to read the story about how Peter and John opted to have a catnap rather than help during one of the most important moments in human history. They can’t blame their narcolepsy on tryptophan–I’m pretty sure unleavened bread at the Last Supper didn’t have any. Maybe it was the wine. That’s possible, I suppose.
My point is really this: Dad (or soon to be Dad), don’t be an idiot, like me. Act like every contraction is an earthquake, and you alone are responsible for keeping your wife from falling objects. Even if you’re pretty certain it’s only indigestion.
Because it might not be indigestion. You’re wife might be at five centimeters. And then you’ll be wrong, like I was, forced to humble yourself in a blog post like this.
*****So many people wished us well after the birth of Ruthann. I want to say thank you. We feel very blessed that so many friends keep our family in their prayers!*****
