It was a Wednesday afternoon and he just dropped his wife off at home after their appointment. He still had to return to the office. The sun was shining and the sky a clear blue.

The cell phone vibrates.

“You should bring her in now. We feel like the time is right.”

At this moment the adrenaline started to kick in. He knew what was about to happen, but he didn’t know how he would feel about it or how it would change his life forever.

He surprises her while she is drying her hair after a shower.

“What are you doing home?”

“It’s time. Let’s grab our stuff.”

There was nervous anticipation the entire time they were in the truck together. As they settled into their room, people were shuffling in and out, taking tests and checking charts.

“OK, maybe you aren’t as ready as we thought. Let’s see what happens in the next few hours. You may have a hard time sleeping, so take this Ambien.”

In the early hours of the morning, the silence was broken with sickness. She had never taken drugs before, so no one could’ve known how she was going to react to it. The reaction led to the reason they were there.

For the next 10 hours they worked together through pain, emotion, and contemplation. He fed her ice chips and held her hand while a CD of harp music soothed the ambiance. She never stopped pushing. Never.

Finally, it happened. You could start to see the head. She pushed, he coaxed. And she was born.

7 pounds, 13 ounces. Leah Riley.

The instant my daughter was born, I knew that life as I knew it was over. This would be the beginning of a new chapter for both Sandy and I. We were responsible for the well being of someone other than ourselves.

We both bawled our eyes out. She was beautiful. Leah wasn’t bad either.

The days following her birth are a complete blur. A constant line of visitors interrupting a limited amount of power naps. In an instant, Sandy became a mother. I could tell she was going to be a good one by the way she held Leah as they slept together.

Since then, we’ve devoted ourselves to growing her. Growing a little person. Taking a little girl and teaching her to be a little lady.

We gave her life, and she gives it right back.

Happy birthday shorty. You’re my greatest achievement.

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