We had just finished watching a western, one of the best genres of film to be sure, when Jess gave me a telling look. Its a look I had only seen one other time in our four and a half year marital history...labor! We continued with the evening's proceedings, even to the point of getting in bed, but there would be no sleep.
It all began at about midnight; Jess looked at me and asked me to locate a stopwatch. We began timing her contractions and within a half an hour we called our midwife who quickly hopped in the car and made way to our home. At 1:45 she arrived and took the vitals and assured us things were progressing nicely. So what's the next logical step for a woman 2 hours into labor and her husband? Easy, go for a walk.
Now, Tremont, IL has never been mistaken for a metropolis nor is the night scene what one would expect in say, Chicago. Jess and I know this with utter certainty because we walked the streets of said town and found out for ourselves - from about 2am to 4am. Each half hour we returned to our home for the baby's vitals like a golden retriever with a stick.
The details get fuzzy when sleep is absent but here are the majors: at 8:39am Jessica gave birth to our baby son(or toddler if general size is to be taken into account), at 8:40am we informed the midwife and her assistants that he would be called Oliver (with Biblical symbolism of the olive tree which signifies fruitfulness and dignity) Benjamin (after my deceased youngest sibling) Rumbold, at 9:00am he tipped the scales at 9lbs. 8oz. and was measured at 19.5in.
