A gift.

A new life named John Samuel has entered the world from the Source of all life, Jesus Christ. And what an awe inspiring event birth is - it is the power of the physicality of love - love emptying itself to bring life into the world.

I would look at Cheryl at the peak of a contraction and feel afraid of how far she was emptying herself to bring John into the world - a holy fear gripped me as I beheld a pure love enduring everything for the sake of another.

And I say this after what the midwives called a relatively short labour for a first child; I can't imagine what a long labour would be like.

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I feel as though I am forever indebted to the Mother of our Lord and St. Elizabeth mother of John the Baptist for the health of this child. Monday night, after playing a few rounds of darts, I arrived home at 12:00 am and had to work he next day but I decided to pray the Supplication service to Mary and stay up later than I should have. In the middle of the service is the maginificat and when I read it I simply couldn't control myself. The Mother of God and St. Elizabeth let me know that they was looking out for us.

The next day, the beginning of Cheryl's labour, Cheryl got an email from a friend with simple recording of "O Virgin Pure." We listened to it a number of times during early labour and the song stuck itself in my head.

Labour was progressing very well. 8 centimetres dilated ... fully dilated .... head coming out ... and the heart began to slow down. Little John's heart wasn't recovering as fast as the midwives would like. It should only go down to about 90 bpm and bounce back to 110-120 but his little heart was suddenly down to 6-70. They decided to go ahead and intervene to give the baby a bit more space. The midwives told me to call 911 to play things safe. I called 911 and urgently requested an ambulance.

The 911 operator had to ask me a number of questions about the condition of the baby, what was happening, etc. At this point I was extremely upset and swore at the poor lady and then apologized. After speaking with the operator for a while in the hallway, I reentered the bedroom where Cheryl was labouring. I saw John's head coming out and the midwife pulling him out. The midwives calmly but firmly encouraged Cheryl to push hard for at least 5 seconds at a time. Before John had fully exited the birth canal, the midwife cut the umbilical cord. Then, John came flying out of the womb looking a bit grey and very purple. In the words of Cheryl, "He was purple and larger than life as he flew across the room. He filled the entire room at that moment." Indeed, he did fly across the room. With absolute calmness, the main midwife, Kim, quickly passed John to Val, the second midwife, who suctioned his lungs and airways, gave him oxygen, closely monitored his heart rate, cleaned him and warmed him. During this time I sat beside John talking to him and asking him to breathe. I heard someone saying, "Please God!" in the room. Suddenly John cried and I knew everything was good.

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Many thanks are due our midwives who - with stillness and focus - delivered John into the world. Kim, the main midwife, radiated stillness during the entire birth.

I will always be grateful to Cheryl for her total giving of herself. I will always praise the Mother of God and St. Elizabeth for their powerful intercession. I will continually thank our Father in heaven for his tender compassion on all he has made.