Fiiinally, I matter!
Yes, we have come to the home stretch. The actual birth has begun. Things are dilated. Pushing has begun. The hot water is filing the bath tub. It is ON!
I am now called on to hold my wife’s hand and be close to her, rather than sit over in the corner quietly, trying not to breathe too loud and annoy the star of the show. Who is about to be upstaged, by the way.
We are all so happy to be in the final stage. As I said, 24 hours labor, doing squats most of that time, no drugs, Kim is Wonder Woman.
And our Boy Wonder is arriving.
The production company is right outside now, ready to come in at a moment’s notice.
Kim and I are now lying on the bed. I say almost nothing, I am simply there for her. Then the crown appears. Our son’s head is now getting his body’s first introduction to the world. It’s time to hop in the bath.
Well, I wouldn’t say she “hopped” into the bath, but she made it there. It was only a matter of a few short minutes and “Pop!” there he was. Declan was here.
And he was a frog.
He was bulgy-eyed and wrinkly, and he was healthy and ready to take on the world. He swam right up after exiting my wife and said hello.
We were elated, to say the least.
On camera, you can see much of this, as Ghia has been filming with our iphones.
Looking nice and bulky, I had towels stuffed inside my shirt, to warm up for him, as I cut the umbilical cord. Then Kim held him and cried. A wonderful happy tension releasing cry.
We are parents.
There is now some post birthing maintenance that Kim needs to undergo, so it is now daddy’s turn with the boy. My shirt comes off, as skin on skin contact is very important as soon as possible.
I hold my son for the first time. And yes, I cried. It was magical. I was so insanely happy. 48 years old, and I thought I had been cheated out of ever being a father. Kim changed all that.
She is looking at me, smiling, while an Eastern European mid-wife is elbow deep in her uterus, scooping out birth goo.
The crew was now allowed to come in. I ran out to let them know, and did my best Olympian pose. My pale pasty doughy Olympian pose. It had been awhile since I was in prime shape. Going to have to change that if I want to keep up with a kiddo.
Lights, camera, action. There was no direction, as none would be taken anyway. They just hung on the outskirts and captured everything they could.
Even after 24 hours of hard labor, Kim is glowing. See for yourself.
The rest is kind of a blur, to be honest. I know the crew interviewed me a bit outside in the hall. I know the birthing center ordered up some tasty Mexican food. I know we drove home.
The production was basically over. Though they did spring for a lovely professional photo shoot and I had to go into the studio for a final interview.
Then we were to spend the next few months waiting to hear when the show would air. It was very exciting. Our first docu-series!
The show finally came out. And it was awesome.
I don’t know if you have ever been on camera. But being an actor, means there is a very good possibility that you are your own worst critic. That is definitely the case with me.
I rarely watch anything I have done, except to get clips for demo reels, or marketing, etc.
A couple interesting points.
Understanding the power of editing can really help you see what the media does to a story on the news. If you watch the opening of the show, the narration says something about different dads, different places, different religions…. And on the religions part, they show me doing yoga.
You know, the yoga that Kim has never ever “coached” me in. The yoga that I have woefully ignored for years, to my less than stretchy detriment.
It doesn’t say it, but it seems to infer that I may be a Buddhist, or something of the Eastern philosophy. I am not. I am definitely a fan of Eastern philosophies, but not a practitioner.
And, as I said, we had to film at Kim’s parents house, since our apartment apparently had a “no filming” policy that we were unaware of. Oddly enough, a couple years later, we did move into that house. Grandparents are great live in babysitters.
And we thank God for them (not Buddha).
Other than that, the only real interesting thing that happened, was the whole storyline of my injured back.
Shortly after his birth, I was introduced to the work of Dr. John Sarno, and his “Healing Back Pain” books. A fellow voice acting friend of mine was looking at a possible neck/back surgery and they would have to go through his throat.
He said no frickin way and started researching a ton. He read the books and his pain disappeared.
Skeptical as I am, I checked it out. And, I’ll be damned. I read the books, and my 20 year + intense back pain, all but disappeared as well.
I pick up my now 3 year old son with no problem 90% of the time.
So all the “drama” that was so carefully crafted, was no longer a storyline at all. And I could not be happier.
As I am writing this final installment, my boy is sitting next to me, with one finger up his nose, while we watch 101 Dalmations together, at our airbnb in the Gold Coast of Australia.
He is gorgeous. My Kim is gorgeous. The weather here is gorgeous. The beach is gorgeous. Life is gorgeous.
Every day, I am reminded of just how incredible life is. And the fact that our story is available forever is just magnificent. Some day Declan will see his story and how much he is loved.
And hopefully, our story will be interesting, maybe even enlightening and inspirational for new parents.
One thing I understand now as a daddy, every day is a new installment in the series. The story is ever evolving, unfolding, and expanding.
I never know what is coming next. And I’m okay with that.
Cuz, I’m a dad. Every morning, it’s showtime!