Maggie

Today I had the distinct honor of expanding my patriarchy when my lovely wife had our second child this morning.

Maggie came into this world at 8:14 a.m. and something struck me about that time as the nurse called it out while I watched the rest of my first little girl (actually, the first girl on my side of the family) slide into the doctor's hands. A baseball analogy crept in to my mind and I actually thought, "SAFE!"

At first I thought 8:14 was the time Pearl Harbor was attacked but then I remembered it happened before colors (raising of the American flag on all US Naval ships, subs, and bases at precisely 0800). I Googled that moment in time and came up with the time the shuttle landed last week and the time Flight 175 took off that fateful morning on September 11, 2001.

OK, so much for having something really cool to relate to my daughter's birth hour.

I won't go into the details about the delivery because people just don't want to hear that, unless of course it is your mother, mother-in-law or little old ladies at church.

Our 3-year old son was in the room while the whole thing was going on but was preoccupied with Cartoon Network to really grasp the significance of the process of bringing his baby sister into the world. He finally came over to the bed where the nurses had strategically maneuvered to block the NC-17 show going on at the foot of the bed. He helped the head nurse count to 10 as the contractions came and even held his mother's hand to comfort her.

I did cut the umbilical cord that separated my daughter from the comfort and self sustaining environment she has grown accustomed to and in one quick snip was brought into a world in which most areas have a dubious future.

"I study war and politics so my children can study economics, so their children can one day study literature and art." - President John Adams

As the cord separated, the air of wonder and emotion was broken by my son who had snuck between some nurses, saw his sister covered in goop and uttered the only thing a 3 year old could say upon witnessing that age bracketed horror show-

Eeeeew, gross!

That Hallmark moment was followed by my son introducing himself to his sister.

This will be my last time witnessing the miracle of birth and the associated miracles of witnessing all major excretory functions of the human body kick in. I just hope my children will have the same sense of awe and elevated reverence for their spouses as I do each time mine brings a new child into the world.

I have quoted form memory to each of my kids, as they lie on their mother's belly, these verses from Psalms 127:3-5. Including mine, hers, and ours there are 6 children total. Truly my quiver is full.

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of oneÂ’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full.