Good news!

Good news! After working hard for about 14 hours, Heather and I have a healthy, beautiful baby boy.

Our son, Gabriel Reagan Denis Juenemann, was born Monday at 2:20 p.m. He weighs 8 pounds, 13 ounces and is 21 inches in length. He has a head full of dark brown hair.

It has been a long day and I need to get some sleep. I spent 14 hours at the hospital. I would have preferred to stay at the hospital with Heather all night, but came home to take care of our zoo. I will post more information soon. Our website will be online within the next week once I put the finishing touches on everything.

Tonight, I am a father. Wow.

Life as we know it is never going to be the same

Well, this is the last post I will make as a father-to-be. I finally figured out how to correctly install that, ummm... blasted car seat. Heather really wants to have Dr. Leland deliver our baby, so I hope he can make it. Heather's contractions are lasting 60 seconds or longer, and coming every 90-120 seconds so I decided it was time to stop torturing her and take her to the hospital. Actually, she told me that it is getting to be that time, and we have medical reasons such that we want her to be where expert assistance is readily available, just in case. Therefore, it is time to call this post complete and get out of here. We will have news soon. Stay tuned.

When I make my next post, I will be a daddy. Oh oh... I gotta go. I think the stork is knocking at the door.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

The "times" a-changin' in this case are the things we have gotten used to in our lives. Heather woke up at 3 a.m., having her first "true" contractions. Certainly, it is early and the contractions are irregular, from 5 to 13 minutes apart. We aren't making a mad dash to the hospital. We will make sure we have everything in order here and feed the birds and other animals so that they are in an orderly state during our absence. The hospital isn't more than three miles away, in the middle of Brainerd. The menagerie will be fine for a day or so, however long I need to be absent until our young one comes into the world. When the opportunity comes later, it isn't an impossible time commitment to feed and clean up the zoo. I will come home for that when the baby's schedule allows.

One thing Heather will tell you about me is that I detest tardiness. It drives me crazy to be anything short of punctual. I don't care if there is a whiteout snowstorm, because I will account for that and alter my activities or travel or whatever. Reliability and presentation are so important and nothing but the most extreme circumstance is going to stop me from being on time. Perhaps I should work for the postal service. I just do not like to be late.

Our baby's due date is today. I couldn't be more proud... our firstborn (soon-to-be born, that is) has already learned how essential it is to stay on schedule. =)