On the afternoon of Dec. 19, Erin and I picked up my mother-in-law, Eileen, from the airport. She had flown in from San Francisco to be with my wife during her last days of pregnancy. We were due on Dec. 25, but my wife had a feeling our son would be coming a little sooner.

On the ride home from the airport, my wife and I spent quite an amount of energy trying to convince Eileen that the reports of an impending big snow storm were wrong. We assured her that while Colorado weather folk were always warning about possible blizzards, Mother Nature rarely lived up to the hype.

In the late hours of Dec. 19, at about 11:30, a sweet little lullaby began playing in our bedroom. I had no idea where the sound was coming from and hoped my wife would get out of bed soon and turn it off. She was hoping the same of me (foreshadowing the months to come?).

The noise turned out to be emanating from a music box on our bassinet that neither one of us had turned on. I thought it was a little strange, turned it off and expected to go back to sleep. My wife had other ideas. Her contractions had begun.

We drove to the hospital at about 3:30 a.m. Dec. 20,and told Eileen we would call her when the baby was close to coming. It was a little cold and there was no snow on the ground. For the next six hours my wife proved to me that women who go through the birthing process are tougher than any man. No contest. She was amazing.

At 9:29 a.m., Alexander Peyton Henry came into the world. He had a full head of hair and weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces. He was 20 inches long. The baby came more quickly than expected and we called Eileen and my mother, Patti, after the fact. Erin wanted the grandmothers with her. We heard a little something about some snow outside, but dismissed it as a typical Denver snowstorm.

Patti drove to our house in Thornton, picked up Eileen and then came to our hospital, the Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette. They visited the baby and provided valuable support to my wife and me. Later in the afternoon they decided to chance the storm, hoping to check in on our two spoiled dogs that were still at home. After traveling less than 1,000 feet in an hour on the road outside of the hospital, the two grandmothers returned.

The staff at Good Samaritan was amazing. They cleared out a conference room and made a place for our mothers to stay for the night. Because other staff members couldn't make it in, many of the doctors, nurses and other personnel were working double shifts and sleeping in empty rooms when they had the chance. Still, they were responsive to our needs and helpful throughout.

Our neighbors also proved to be Good Samaritans when they came together and helped shovel our driveway in anticipation of Alexander's arrival home.

Since Alexander's birth, we have had to battle with a bout of jaundice, a Bili blanket and a Bili bed. (If you don't know what they are, consider yourself lucky.) Otherwise, Alexander is a beautiful baby boy who has already given us more joy than we can imagine.

Mama Erin is doing well and Lauren and Joel love their new brother. After several of his flights were canceled, Erin's father, Jude, arrived on Friday. We were able to have a wonderful Christmas with Eileen, Jude and the Henry family.

We are looking forward to some sleep, but realize that may be years to come.

Oh, and that "big" snowstorm predicted for this Friday? I'll believe it when I see it.


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