Hard to believe our oldest son Dylan is 15 years old today. I remember when my wife (then girlfriend) and I were at the old maternity ward at St. Mary’s in Lewiston up on the 4th floor just like it was yesterday. None of Lynn’s deliveries were easy and Dylan certainly didn’t fit the mold of a textbook birth.

Lynn was in labor for almost a full day from start to finish. On top of all of that, Dylan was in meconium and had the umbilical cord wrapped around him not once but twice. The Doctor on call the night Dylan was born, Dr. Tardif was looking at everything through an ultrasound machine and delivered Dylan as a healthy boy like a pro without fear.

I didn’t faint but I did cry when he arrived. The hardest part I think being the father in the delivery room at birth is seeing your wife, girlfriend, child’s mother in such extreme pain and not being able to alleviate it.

I will probably never live this down but in the heat of delivery I had to go to the bathroom because of all of the coffee I had waiting and walking the hall with Lynn during contractions.

Dylan was born at 8:46 and on a Sunday so afterwards when things calmed down a bit, Lynn and I were both hungry, the hospital cafeteria was closed, so I went out in the mist in search of food in the Lewiston, Auburn area.

Pretty much every place aside from the fast food restaurants had closed at that point. I ended up getting two Subway Clubs from Subway on Center st. in Auburn, no not both for me but bought one for each of us and brought them back to the hospital. They used to have two subs on Sundays for $6.99 back then, good eats and a good deal.

Because of the meconium Dylan and Lynn had a slightly longer stay than a normal mother and newborn so I’m not sure which time leaving the hospital this happened but I was leaving for work and ended up hitting a midwife’s car. The woman who started the delivery but gave way to the Doctor as things started getting complicated. She was cool about it, no damage or noticeable marks, we just chalked it up to the nerves and spaciness of being a new daddy.

I still think of how worried I was as the Doctors were all reassuring of his health at birth with everything. I can’t thank Dr. Tardif and Dr. Linda Glass and the medical staff enough for their attention and expertise 15 years ago today. Today, Dylan is an amazingly bright, talented and social teenager.

Happy Birthday, Dylan!

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