The morning after

S leep for two hours, lather, rinse, repeat.

That was pretty much our night last night. Although for Alyshia, I think the two hours was more like one hour. Apparently these hospitals don't come equipped with a "Do Not Disturb" sign.

Isaac made it through his first night. Survived his various shots, circumcision, and spending several hours at a time with his newby parents. Both are actually doing quite well, I must say. But it's still early ....

Our sincere thanks to all for your congrats and kind wishes. We've received plenty of phone calls, e-mails, blog comments and facebook comments! We can't tell you how great it is to have that kind of support system.

We look forward to showing Isaac off in the days and months to come!

Hope to get some pics posted later today.

Isaac Arthur Zimmerman

Born November 11, 2008 at 1:11 p.m., in Room #11.

Seven pounds, 12 ounces, 21 inches long.

And he is absolutely beautiful.

He's got his mommy's eyes. One of the nurses said he looks just like his daddy.

Mommy was fantastic and is sore but resting comfortably, with Isaac in her arms. Daddy was just an observer, but did cut the cord and put on his first diaper.

Grandma and Grandpa Z were here to share in the joy. Plenty of phone calls were made, text messages were sent.

Pictures will most definitely be posted, probably tomorrow.

Thanks for all the congratulatory messages and well-wishes from everyone! We can't wait for you to meet him!

Mmmm ... epidural ....

W e've been here at the hospital for almost five hours now. Still no baby, but things are progressing.

Let me start with the drive here at 5:30 this morning. This could only happen to me.

It was dark and rainy as we were heading down 75. We were going about 75 in the fast lane, when it appeared out of nowhere.

A dog.

A BIG dog.

Right in my lane.

I tried to swerve, but there was just no avoiding it. Kind of put a damper on our morning. And a nice big dent in the front of our car.

But we got here safely. Alyshia is now resting comfortably with epidural (a GREAT thing, by the way), firmly in place.

Stay tuned!

Well, it's 9 p.m. Monday. We'll head to the hospital about 5:15 tomorrow morning. And I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now.

Excitement, anxiety, joy, anxiety, pride, anxiety .... I alternate between being unable to stop smiling to being unable to keep from rocking back and forth and tightly hugging myself. OK, that last part may be a bit of hyperbole, but you get the idea.

I think it would be easier if she weren't being induced ... if we were able to just react as it all happened. But because it's scheduled, it gives us time to just sit around and think about it.

But what I keep coming back to is this: tomorrow I'm going to come face to face with something that will allow me to love more than I ever thought possible. We're going to have a son that we can teach and learn from all at the same time. And I can't wait!

I just hope he looks like her.

The stork cometh!

Just found out yesterday, if our little boy doesn't come by next Tuesday (Nov. 11), they are going to induce!

We will be able to meet our son in four days at the MOST!

Excited doesn't even begin to describe how we're feeling. How are we supposed to function for the next few days?!

More updates as events unfold.

Unfocused

Well, it's now the end of Week 2 since Alyshia's doctor told her she thought she'd go into labor within the week.

Forgive me for being so focused on this single issue, but I'm sure you'll understand.

You see, it's such a MONUMENTAL event in a person's life. I mean, we know our lives are about to change forever. It's coming. And it will happen soon. We just don't know when.

As a result, everything else in our lives just seems trivial by comparison. You want me to actually focus on work? But ... I'm going to be a dad LITERALLY any moment now. I'm sorry my ringing cell phone interrupted this meeting. But my wife is calling. She could be about to tell me that she's going into labor. Oops, nope. She was just wondering what I wanted to do for dinner. False alarm. Please, continue.

Problem is, this has been going on for two weeks now. And it could still be another two weeks, for all I know.

C'mon buddy! We're ready for ya!

Whenever you're ready

My wife's least favorite day of the year is probably Halloween. She hates it. I mean she can't stand it. Any part of it. So, of course, she was convinced that our son was going to be born on Halloween.

Now that we have escaped that tragedy, and November is finally here, we're both ready for him to be born. Really, we're ready for him to come at any time.

Like now!

No? How 'bout ... NOW!

Dangit. Now?

(My apologies if this picture is of your child. I meant no direspect. Just trying to illustrate the point.)