Waylon

Remember how last night I said that this week was going to be weird? Excuse me for saying so, but....HOLY SHIT. I woke up at 4:30 Eastern time to shower and drive to the airport. At 5:40,  just as Dad and I were driving down the pre-dawn Downtown Expressway, I got a surprise phone call from Mom, who had been sleeping when I left the house just a few minutes before. As it turned out, Jonathan (my brother) had just called and told Mom that DebraLee was in labor, and was being admitted to the hospital at that moment. They had been planning on using a midwife for a natural birth, but it's a scientific fact that reality always trumps well-laid plans. The baby was in danger of being a breech baby, which was something that the midwifery wasn't prepared for. Hence, the hospital.

We got to the airport as fast as we could, went through the check-in without hassle, and at 7:30 I boarded the plane to my layover in Newark, New Jersey. A little over an hour later, immediately after I landed in Newark, I called Dad to check the situation. While I had been in the air, DebraLee had undergone a successful C-section and gave birth to a healthy, red-headed, teeny tiny baby boy. His name is Waylon Cole Meadows, and he's the coolest baby I've ever seen. Of course, the problem was that the I still had a long flight before I could get out to see them; also, since Jonathan was at the hospital, I didn't have anyone to pick me up at the airport in Denver.

After a very long, very stressful flight west, I finally touched down in Denver at 13:00 Mountain time (which is 15:00 Eastern time). It had already been a long day, but now I had to find my way out of the airport (not easy since Denver's airport is the largest in the United States) and meet up with Scott and Natalie, two of Jonathan's friends who had been dispatched to pick me up. After running around the airport for twenty minutes, I met up with the two of them and together we hit the road to the hospital for our first look at Waylon. I should mention that Scott and Natalie live in Denver, just two blocks from Jonathan and DebraLee's house. I mention that because we unexpectedly got lost, meaning that in all the chaos it was over two hours from the time I touched down to the time I reached the hospital.

After spending most of the day traveling, I finally got in to see the baby. I was pretty travel weary, but immediately upon entering the room Jonathan thrust Waylon into my arms. I don't know how long I held him, but it was quite awhile. Not much needs to be said about the next few hours, which consisted mostly of sentimental family moments. It was nice.

Once DebraLee and the baby were ready to sleep, I finally got to go and relax. Jonathan gave me the keys to his Jeep, and I set off down the unfamiliar freeways of Denver to their house, where I'm currently hanging out with Dixie and Irie (their dogs). One last thing: tacos!!!! Before I left the hospital, I asked Jonathan where I could grab a bite to eat. He and DebraLee shouted in unison that I go to the Mexican place around the corner and get some tacos to go. They told me exactly which items and in what quantities to order. I took their advice and, wow, they were right. These were the best tacos I've ever eaten. I loooooooove Mexican food, and I've never had Mexican that good. It's not TexMex either, which is the most common brand of Mexican in the U.S., if not in much of the world. This was real Mexican, and was insanely delicious. Needless to say, I will be eating more tacos. Hopefully many more, if I'm being honest. And now I bid you goodnight. I've been up for most of the day, traveling and handling babies and tacos and whatnot, and now I just want to finish this beer (Denver is home to a huge amount of fantastic microbrews) and go to sleep.