New Life

“New life is given to us through the blood, sweat, and tears of someone else.” –Ethan Burmeister

After a long and grueling labor of 24 hours with the help of the midwives from the Nebraska Medical Center, we welcomed Justin Nouwen Bayne into the world on July 29th.  Later that day, one of the midwives that wasn’t at the birth stopped by to say she thought Heather earned “rockstar” status for enduring so much before allowing medication.  I couldn’t be more proud of my wife, and it gives me confidence we’ll be able to tackle whatever challenges parenthood may throw at us.  Of course, we couldn’t of done it without the help of our family and their untiring support.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the wonderful blessing our families (and extended families – Justin has 13 grandparents and great-grandparents!) have been and are still giving to us as we settle into our new roles as parents.  Our friends and clients have been great too with visits and lots of facebook/twitter love.

I’m not sure if I can put to words yet what the most significant part of this experience has been for me….  When Justin came out, he was blue, covered in blood and goop and was totally limp.  My heart stopped with the thought he didn’t make it… I held my breath watching him laying in the arms of a nurse when he casually opened his eyes, blinked a couple times and breathed his first breath.  I lost it in a flood of emotion I’ve never felt before and still can’t describe.  Tears of an incredible joy spilled down my face as I realized our son was alive.  There’s nothing like it, and for the first time I was able to capture the significant moments of my life (and the life of my growing family) with the camera. This I will always treasure.

PS – I wrote this blog post while listening Jon McLaughlin‘s song “Proud Father” (which I highly recommend downloading it from iTunes!) and found this live performance on YouTube to share with you all.