Baby Chilton was scheduled to arrive around May 11th, 2009. That being said on April 29th Kate and I felt we had at least one more full weekend of preparation for her arrival. Little did we know that there where other plans for us........

I got a phone call on my way home from work around 5:30 from my wife, with some hesitation in her voice she informed me that she was pretty sure her water just broke. When I arrived I found a young lady calm and collected, not what I expected. Our doctor suggested we meet him at the hospital just to make sure that in fact her water did break. We calmly gathered our belongings and proceeded to the hospital. Once again, this was not the drive that we had replayed in our head so many times. That drive consisted of deep breathing, unbearable pain and the knowledge that a baby was coming into our world. The fact was that we where incredible calm, with no pain, and talked about the fact that if they did send us back home this was a great practice run. Little did we know......

Once at the hospital we where admitted to our first room where a very polite resident proceeded with her procedures for checking Kate as she had been taught. During set up a veteran nurse also came into the room to observe Kate. In a matter of seconds she told the resident that she could put up her testing kits because there was no doubt that Kate was getting ready to have a baby. Myself being very naive asked "does this mean we are not going home?" Her response was "Not without a baby!"

We now felt that we had the information we needed to call the, soon to be, grandparents. First was Kate's mother, currently living in Denver, CO. Kate calmly proceeded to tell her that we where in the hospital and we where going to have a baby, then Kate smiled and said "Yes, I am telling the truth but hold on I will let you talk to Eric" She did not believe her! (this would be a reoccurring theme)

Next was my mother who was studying for a big final for her class. We joked days before that the baby would have to wait until after her final so she could make the trip. Once she answered I told her that baby Chilton did not care about her final and she was going to be arriving very soon. She too did not believe me! So out of one side her mouth she continued to tell me that if I was messing with her she was going to kick my ass and the other side of her mouth she yelled into the background for my father to get his damn bag and get the car ready!

Once we where admitted into the labor ward they started all the necessary lines and equipment on Kate to track her progress. It became clear the Kate was having contractions and to the nurses surprise Kate was not feeling them. She stated that Kate must have a high tolerance for pain, a fact that would soon be tested to the max! After several hours of mild contractions and little dilation the doctor wanted to induce labor. Soon the contractions would more than double in strength and consistency, this would go on for hours! Around 3:30 in the morning they highly suggested an epidural due to the length of time she would be laboring. She welcomed the opportunity for reduced pain that would allow her an hour or so of rest before the main event. For the people that know me, you know that I have little tolerance for needles and blood for that matter. Not that I make it a big deal because I am fascinated by the medical world and it's many marvels. It's just that my body has another agenda. I was doing great until I became fixated on a dime size spot of blood that had hit the floor during the epidural. It was not long after that that Kate looked my way to find a man with a ghost white face and tears in his eyes sitting in a chair about to launch the dinner that I never got to eat! I was able to pull through and we laughed about it shortly after.

Kate and I tried to get some sleep but it proved to be short lived. Around 8 am we all talked about the timing for baby Chilton and we felt that we had about 6 hours due to Kate's dilation. You will notice that I refer to Ella as baby Chilton because at this point we where unsure of her name. I then felt safe to go get a coffee and some breakfast. I came back into the room and began to give her dad, Tom, an update and made mention that we could have another 6 hours of labor. They where going to get Kate up and put her on a bean bag to create a different position that would help her with the labor. They checked her once more and turned to me and said "dad, you may want to call her dad back and tell him that 6 hours was a lie because she is fully dilated and we where having this baby!" So there I sat with my yogurt and coffee while on my computer changing my work e-mail status to "Out of Office". It would be seconds later that I was at Kate's side and fully involved in the pushing. Nurses and Doctors rushed into the room and began preparing for the delivery of our little girl. As Kate began to push with her contractions I joked with her that I wanted her to entertain all our guest with an on slot of profanities to see how they would react. She smiled politely and declined but appreciated my approval for such an act. Kate spent the next two hours following commands of pushing and breathing. Now, I always new my wife had unexplained strength and tolerance for pain but even I was taken back by the amazing calmness and strength that she displayed during this whole thing. As baby Chilton began to crown, she took a deep breath and looked at me, I prepared myself for that on slot of profanity that I thought would be so funny. I was not prepared for what she was about to say......... she looked at me and softly said......are you ready for this? she said "Holy Cow!" Holy Cow? Are you serious! That is it? How are we going to shock these people with Holy Cow?

Two hours later the doctor asked if I would cut the cord, I told them earlier that if I was still standing that I was their man! To my surprise I had NO issues with the whole labor, that included what I was supposed to see and what I was I was to avoid in order to stay up right.

I have been witness to many amazing things in my life...... the birth of kittens, my wedding day, Michael Jordan's shot on Greg Ello to win another NBA championship, but nothing could compare to when then took baby Chilton and immediately placed her on Kate's chest upon delivery. The image of baby Chilton and Kate being introduced for the first time grabbed my heart so strongly and I found myself lost in the moment. I was quickly brought back to reality by or nurse yelling "DAD, CAMERA.....DAD CAMERA!"

After counting her toes and fingers we where able to bring in the first set of proud grandparents for an introduction. We figured after sleeping in their car in the hospital parking lot this was the least we could do.

We spent the next couple of days in recovery trying to get a grip on what had just happened. I tell people that in three days I NEVER caught Kate sleeping. Since her arrival Kate had gained supernatural hearing and never missed one noise that was created by that little mouth.