I suppose there's a bit of irony in going to a filling station to lose your water.

But that's what the text she sent me read, as mom spent the next few hours wondering if that's what had indeed happened before heading to Providence hospital in Novi to confirm. And yes, two and a half weeks ahead of schedule, a child would soon be born.

Labor would officially begin in room 333 at 1:10 a.m., the feast of Deacon Nicholas Ferrar, with a dose of pitocin, followed by an epidural at 11:30 a.m. with the contractions forcing momma to push at 2:50.p.m.

Little Jack's head prove challenging to fit through the exit and several positions were tried as an escalating heart rates meant that this couldn't go on much longer. At 3:42 p.m. the calm, cool delivery doctor, Dr. Hermann, flanked by two students and three nurses, God bless Wendy for her standout performance throughout, issued a stern ultimatum. “Kathryn," she said,"you get one more chance to push or we go to the operating room for C-Section surgery." Whether this was true or had medical experience proved the efficacy of such threats, I don't know. But armed with a manual suction pump, Dr. Hermann pulled and Kathryn pushed. This winning combination brought Jack into the light of day at 3:45 p.m. to the tearful delight of mom and dad.

After nurses checked him out under something called a Panda Baby Light (acquired used from the Detroit Zoo?) Jack was placed into the arms of his overjoyed mother. Doctors stitched up Kathryn whose blood loss was substantial enough to warrant two transfusions and tack two more days on to the hospital stay. Jack, having spent too long in his ruptured bag of washers, was also under 48-hour observation.

The level of joy Jack's arrival infused into our family made it possible to enjoy the disorienting few days of fatigue and pain that always follows, as his smile, his warm, his voice, his peacefulness, even his scent, all destined to have an even greater effect on the world that awaits him. Mom and dad stand in awe and gratefulness knowing that if these few days are this good, imagine what a lifetime with Jack might bring.