Turns Out I Missed My Son's Birth

If you already know the full story of my fourth child's birth and how I came to miss it, don't bother with this blog and wait another four months for my next one.
Let me open by saying I think I've been a pretty good husband overall, particularly when it comes to my role during our children's births.
For Addison, I drove us from Lawton to Oklahoma City in a hard, freezing rain on Christmas night and then rubbed Missy's back for 10 hours until Addie got here.
For Maddux, we spent 24 hours at the hospital because Missy's water broke a few weeks early and he wasn't quite wanting to come out yet.
Myra's "labor" was the longest of them all, because we got her as foster parents when she was 3 months old and it took almost a year from the time the state of Oklahoma said we could adopt her to the point when it actually happened.
Needless to say, missing the birth of our fourth child wasn't even on my radar.
Missy's due date was Sept. 19. On Sept. 12 I drove two hours to Winstar casino on the Texas border to play poker. Missy's family was in town and I was only a two-hour drive away so Missy was in good hands. I told her to call me anytime and I'd head back home.
I ended up playing poker most of the day and night on Sept. 12. I checked in with Missy several times and she said she was feeling good. I ended up not going to bed until 5 am, at which time I left Missy a voicemail specifically telling her not to go into labor until I had gotten a few hours of sleep. But you know women, they never listen.
Turns out, the early labor had probably already started at that point. Missy said she had some contractions through the night, but they weren't necessarily intense enough or regular enough to make her think this was definitely the real deal.
By 7 a.m. on the 13th, she was starting to think this would be the day Hawk would be born. She called her friend Katrina, who lives 3 hours away and has helped with all of Missy's births. Katrina headed from Kansas to Oklahoma right then, but Missy thought she had a long day of labor ahead of her and wanted me to be fresh, so she sweetly gave me a few more hours of sleep before calling me at 11 a.m.
By then, Katrina was here and they decided it was time to head to the hospital. I hopped in the shower, grabbed my stuff and was on the road at 11:30. It took Missy awhile to gather everything for her labor bag and head to the car. She was stopping every 30 seconds and having long, hard contractions. She said she stopped every 3 feet on the walk from our bedroom to the car, so it took her 10 minutes to walk that short distance. Obviously, this baby was coming fast.
Missy's mom drove her and Katrina to the hospital, and they called to tell me to head straight to OU Medical, where Missy works as a labor nurse and where all of our kids were born. They arrived at 1 p.m.
Missy's mom dropped her and Katrina off at the front door and looked for a parking spot. By the time she got to the room, Hawk Harvey Franklin had already been born. Missy barely made it to the room when she had a big contraction and immediately felt the urge to push. She had Hawk in the doorway of the bathroom while our awesome midwife Deb caught him and Katrina captured the fleeting moment on video. Everyone else missed it.
I was pretty shocked when I got a call at 1:20 and heard a baby crying in the background. I arrived at the hospital at 1:30, just a little late, although Missy and I agree that we preferred the quick birth to the long labors she'd had before.
My life has changed quite a bit since Hawk's arrival. Since Missy hasn't been able to get regular sleep at night yet, I've been waking up every morning to take Addie to school and get Myra and Maddux up and fed. I've really cherished those peaceful mornings with my kids.
The early mornings also mean earlier nights. I'm finishing my poker sessions earlier and haven't had time for three of my favorite hobbies -- bridge games, guitar playing and blogging. But I'm slowly working those things back into my schedule.
It's crazy how fast the time flies. Seems like just yesterday I married the love of my life. Seems like just yesterday I was holding Addie, Myra and Maddux when they were Hawk's size. Seems like just yesterday Missy surprised me with a present when I got home from work. I opened it and it was a positive pregnancy test. Seems like just yesterday we were on a Spring Break trip to Houston when I threw out the suggestion of Hawk as a name. It's both the nickname of one of my favorite baseball players growing up (Andre Dawson) and an homage to Missy's maiden name, Hockett. Harvey was Missy's grandpa's name and we both loved him dearly so that was an easy pairing.
Seems like just yesterday that I was holding two-month-old Hawk when Missy surprised me with another positive pregnancy test. (Just kidding. We're planning on being done.)
We celebrated Thanksgiving by eating a lot of great food and playing games at the house. The only time we left from Thursday to Sunday was a quick trip on Friday to pick out our Christmas tree. That gave me a lot of time to think about my blessings, the newest of which came in at 9 pounds 10 ounces on 9-13-15.