So none of my loyal readers guessed the right birth date of my youngest son. If you got it right, I would have your face plastered here and I would be lighting the fire to blow smoke up your ass. Since you all missed it, well, you are all awful people.
That said, last Thursday on 6/12, at 12 minutes to 6, my baby boy was born at 6 pounds 12 ounces. People tell me, "Whoa you should play the lottery." But why? What two number lottery is there? I could play Guess The Number with 6 and 12 as my answers but I may be very wrong.
Bo is the first person I have ever seen enter the world. Leading up to that moment was intense. My wife had the painful contractions that pained me to see her hurting. Well, I had watched several birthing shows with her and seen examples of how I wanted to be and what I hoped I would not become.
Before her epidural kicked in Kim followed my voice and instructions on breathing and all that jazz. I hate jazz. It's lame. Harry Connick Jr? More like Harry Connick Snorer. I digress. When the doctors could get the look of the baby in the womb, I noticed a change in the nurses' urgency. The doctor, Dr Shima, was cool and calm. They made my wife flip around only to reveal Bo had the cord wrapped around his neck. At this point they told us they would need to use the suction cup to get him out. In that situation you have no choice but to put it in the hands of the doctor.
So came four strong pushes and I slowly watched Bo enter the world. He looked like the perfect mash up of me and Rocco. I was denied the chance to cut the cord, but I can deal with that.
When Bo broke free I made a disgusting cry face. No tears were shed, and I may have just cried inside myself. They whisked Bo away to the cleaning table. They asked me to see the baby two times, but I wanted to wait to meet him with Kim. The third time I denied them again, but the Dr said, "I THINK YOU SHOULD COME SEE THE BABY." Whoa. I went and I learned his vocal chords didn't open. He couldn't take in air and he couldn't get the fluid out. I was upset. Kim was just about on her last emotion. I was visibly upset.
I had to move to the other side of the table to be out of the doctor's way. I came to the side that Bo had tilted his head to. He made a struggling whimper sound with his eyes closed. I started talking to him as if he was a man. I just coached his mom to breath right so I tried the same to him. His eyes slowly opened and the whimper got worse. They were supplying him with ambient air to open the chords. He looked at me face to face. Then the whimper began to die down to no sound. I watched my baby's belly rise and fall with every breath. The doctor slowly removed the mask and he continued to look at me.
I talked to him and told him how I waited for him my whole life and it was time to see his mother. The doctor said she couldn't believe how quick he turned around. I told her, "I'm freakin' awesome."
So our little guy was in our arms finally. He had a scare that put him in the NICU but he quickly recovered again with no signs of turning back now. So, let's review this baby, shall we?
Length: at 19 and three quarter inches, Bo fits snuggly in my forearm clutch. My forearm measures just over 15 inches in length. When you consider a baby curls himself up to maybe 11 or 12 inches, it is easy to hold his head in my forearm pit and cradle his butt with my hand. It is perfect for detecting that massive and forceful baby poops.
Weight: 6 pounds 12 ounces. If the baby was up to 30 pounds I think I could comfortably hold him. That is a great weight as I can confidently hand him over to people of all ages and strengths. That will equal more attention and more bonding time.
Looks: cross of Rocco and me, heavy on the me side. I was not part of Rocco's birth, but I saw his newborn pictures. When I saw Bo waltz his way out I saw most of my face with Rocco's mouth and eyes. It was cool.
Strength: very strong: Bo keeps his legs suspended in the air during all diaper changes. He tends to kick himself right in the jewels every time as well. He nearly does a pushup already when placed on his belly.
Hair: Plenty. And if he is to take after daddy, there will be plenty more. I was a little let down that he didn't have a unibrow but it is a good thing he didn't have a unibrow. I always felt like you could tell a person's expected balding pattern based on how they looked as a baby. He may take on the receding hair line in the future.
Manners: Polite for 23 out of 24 hours. He is great with company thus far and we hope to encourage that with him. He gets fussy but other than the first night home (which was mortifying) he has handled his new home and surroundings well. He has only spit up on me and his mom so we are keeping it close to the family.
Color: Pinkish white. Well that was when he was born. Now he is the blend of me and Kim. Everybody says he has prefect color. I think I would only have an issue if he was black. (That's just a joke, and not a racist statement)
Fashion sense: Trending. That's the word Kim uses whenever she does something out of the ordinary or unexpected or standoutish. She certainly has tried to do the same to Rocco with his faux hawks and neon clothes and now the baby. His recent shirt said "I'm kind of a big deal" with a rainbow behind the letters on a blue shirt.
Name: strong, meaningful. We originally picked Jameson, but after a month of me talking to the belly and speaking with Jamey Kim didn't think it fit right. After all his brother is named Rocco. So she liked Bo. I liked it too but I said there was no way my son would only have 6 letters in his name and that Bo had to be short for something. So, we Googled the name and found long form names of Bo. I liked the name Bowen. When I clicked the name, I learned that the name was Irish and on this website only it translated to "son of the small victorious one." Boom. Bowen. Carl, his middle name, is for my grandfather who was my childhood hero.
Nickname-ability: several. Bowie. Bobo (Kim hates this one, but I call him that when I need his attention). Bojangles (not our favorite). Boseph. Bochacho (I like using variations of using the word bro in common words). Unbolievable. Botastic. Bo-mbbastic. And my favorite, coined by Kim - Bowinkle.
Overall: he's a baby, you animals. Let me love my perfect son.
