November 15th 2 11:52 p.m.: Welcome Logan

Logan,

You were a record setting boy for both sides of the family. As you can tell from the blog, you kept a lot of people anxious about when you would be arriving. In the end, your timing was perfect. It must have been a plan between you and mommy.

In our baby pool, most people guessed that you would be a week or so early (because your sister was early and because you're the second kid and apparently second kids come sooner i.e. your Uncle Ian). However, mom continued to work all the way until the last day she could (Nov 14th) and I think that subconsciously the combination of being relaxed from being off of work (finally) and having Popo arrive (with Gong Gong and Uncle Kirby) on the morning of the 15th really put her at ease.

I'll share some of this story, as mom is triple busy with you-your sister-and trying to get some sleep (i"m not trying to steal her thunder, I know she'll do an entry at some point). When your mom got up on the morning of the 15th, she whispered to me "I think I'm having real contractions, but don't tell anyone because I don't need people asking me every 5 minutes if I'm ok." So sure enough, we attempted to go through the day with some normalcy. At first, your mom could do everything, but by mid-day there would be the odd contraction that would come where she would stop whatever she was doing and just brace herself. Today would definitely be the day she went into labour.

Ong Noi and Ba Noi had already been visiting for two weeks and were getting ready to leave in a few days. Your Ba Noi's birthday is on Nov 16th and she kept saying that "the only thing I want for my birthday is to have a chance to see the new baby." No pressure.

On Nov 15th at around 10:00 a.m., Gong Gong, Po Po, and Uncle Kirby pulled into the driveway with a truck full of stuff (a bunk bed, gardening tools, handyman "stuff" - you'll learn that i'm useless at that stuff, toys, clothing and more). You could see the look on your mom's face (and you must have felt it), she was so happy and relieved and relaxed. I told Po Po later that there are two people in the world that your mom really trusts and loves as people that she can rely on, that's me and Po Po. And the defining way that you can tell is that your mom can rip into us (i.e. insults, verbal jabs, yelling etc) and be merciless because she knows that we love her unconditionally.

The day consisted of unpacking and unloading a lot of stuff, eating lunch in (scroll down on the blog for sydney's lunch with her grandma's), sydney's nap time, catching some sports (CFL western and eastern final, NHL games including the Canucks and the Oilers), and cleaning up as we knew you would be coming. SIDEBAR: here's a weird coincidence if you do through the blog. Sydney was also born the night of an Oilers game, where they lost, and Dwayne Roloson was in net... bizarro.

Anyways, later on it was off to dinner at Happy Valley with the entire family (we need two cars now) and #11. Mom and I started timing her contractions at dinner. From 5:45 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., mom's contracions were steady at every 5 minutes and about 25 seconds to one minute long, but averaging 30s. Your mom had a rule. Everytime a contraction came along, she would squeeze my leg for the entire about of time and with the same rigor that the strength of the contraction happened. I was sitting between Ba Noi and mommy, and there would be times during a conversation with Ba Noi where I would be talking and in mid-sentence I would yell "OWWWW!!!".

Everyone started to figure out what was going on. Of course with our family, Ba Noi started to get nervous and ask questions (oh Ba Noi... you'll see what she's like... she's so loving and at the same time SOOOOO loving ;) ) and Po Po would just make sure that geneva was ok (because like myself, no one wants to ask too many questions and get yelled at in public). :) btw, dinner was fantastic. Daddy scarfed down a lot of lobster, crab, appies, fried rice, etc while mom sipped on soup and chicken. We'll definitely go back knowing that we have good memories (though funnily enough we didn't stick around for fortune cookies).

Mom was patient and as always, very "Kids-first" so we went home so that I could tuck Sydney in with our regular routine. Our routine is that mommy wraps up Sydney in her blanket, takes Sydney to kiss everyone good night, turns off all the lights, and then passes Sydney to me. Sydney and i will drink her bottle together, and as she drinks I'll tell Sydney that she's "Mybeautiful baby girls, my super smart little kid, my special little angel, and that I love her more than anything in the whole world"...(although that will be a three-way tie now)... and then we'll recap what we did together that day, laugh about random things, and then I'll sing her a lulabye. Mom insisted that we go home so that when Sydney woke up without us, she wouldn't be as freaked out (keep in mind that she now had both sets of grandparents and Uncle Kirby there to keep her company). As one last step, we posted a picture of us outside of Sydney's crib.

We then all gathered in the living room, packed up our things and were ready to go. The Oilers game (versus the Avs) was now Oilers 2- Avs 1. The Oilers then got hit with two penalties immediately and it was going to be a 6on3 with 30s left. We were watching when Geneva said "you guys really aren't going to make me stay and watch this are you?" hahaha... mommy was hilarious. Needless to say, we left immediately.

Off to the hospital, where we parked the car and walked the same route from the parkade to the meergency entrance that we did two years and a few days before with Sydney. Mom had more walking power this time, but had to stop once for a contraction. During that stop, I got a text msg "ping". Geneva still had the sense of humour to ask who it was (usually txt msgs are one of her pet peeves). I checked, and it was a message from Jade (a la Stephen) reminding me that the Oilers are terrible as they blew their lead with 10s left and lost in a shootout. :) Geve laughed.

Off to the hospital. Emerg admitted us immediate (as Geneva looked a little pregnant). They said that something must be in the water because we were the four couple admitted that night. Later that night we would find out that all four couples delivered boys. :)

We were off to the Birthing Area. They ran the standard tests for conttractions and baby's heart rate and everything checked out. Our nurse (Shirley) was the opposite of our previous nurse. Our last nurse was a drill sergant, which suited Geneva well. Shirley was a softy and a constant joker... which actually turned out to be ok. The nurse kept saying that they were surprised at how light-hearted and jovial Geneva was during passive labour. Mommy was in very good spirits and very self-aware and confident.

After the tests were done, we moved into the birthing suite at about 10:30 p.m. Geneva had been in passive labour now for 4 and a half hours. We ended up in the exact same birthing suit as the one we were in for Sydney (something that we lucked into... and that I referred to as "home field advantage." Geneva and I went about the same routine of walking the hallways, chatting about stuff, sipping water (mom, not me) and taking it contraction by contraction.

I'll spare everyone the rest of the details and let Geve decide on what to share. Net-net, active labour came on fast and furious around 11:30 p.m. (after Geneva's water broke, which neither of us saw the first time with Sydney until literally a split second before delivery). At first it was looking like November 16th would be the day (which would have been nice for Ba Noi) but Geneva's urge to push was coming on really fast and strong. Overall, her labour happened much quicker than the first time with Sydney, so it really didn't give her as much of a chance to slow down and thinking about what was happening with her body... things were just moving so fast. Shirley at one point said "the question isn't 15th or 16th anymore, it's when on the 15th is this baby coming?"

Logan arrived at 11:52 p.m. HOORAY!!!

At first when he was about to come out, I could tell that he was bigger than Sydney. When he was out, the first thing that the nurses said was "it's a boy!" I was shocked. the first time with Sydney, the baby pool was 80% boy and I thought that Syd would be a boy for sure. When she came out a girl, it was a surprise... but it was wonderful too. This was the same but different. For months I had talked myself into baby #2 being a girl partly because a lot of people were guessing girl and partly because it would be great for sydney to have a sister so close in age. When I looked at Logan to get visual proof, yes... his wee-wee was there... but he was also HUGE.

Logan weighed in a 8lbs 7 oz with a 35cm diameter head (big) and measuring 21 inches in length. Sydney was already a record setter in my famile at 7lbs 4 oz; Logan was a record setter for the Le's and the Chan's.

The rest of the night was a blur. Mom got some much needed rest for only an hour or so. The amount of work that your mom goes through in labour... if you guys are ever ungrateful to her I will slap you silly. I'm sure she'll have some scientifically graphic stories for you one day. Logan went to mommy first and laid down on her chest. I knew that second he would continue a long standing Le tradition of being a mama's boy. There was a special bond between mother and son that you could see immediately. Again, the same but different and unique from our experience with sydney.

As mom continued to rest and warm up under layers of blankets, I held Logan in my arms and sat in the same chair that I did with Sydney. With Syd, I really welled up at the enormity of the moment and how much life changed. This time, I really was absorbing the weight of now being a father to a boy... my son. I told Ian that I felt what he felt. Having a son feels like a different experience and emotion as a father. Moreover, I think I was more shocked at Logan being a boy than I was at Sydney being a girl, and it took some time to sink in. What a wonderful experience it is to have a girl and a boy. We're truly blessed regardless of gender, and I doubt in the long run that gender combination wil make a difference (though between, me, Ian, and Ben we'll have all the notes to compare).

In his first day, Logan was a very relaxed and easy going. I don't remember Sydney sleeping as much as Logan did. He was very easy to take care of, didn't fuss, and could be passed to everyone. He also had a lot more family visiting as Gong Gong, Uncle Kirby, Po Po, Ba Noi and Ong Noi all came by.

Our heart felt thanks to the grandparents and Uncle Kirby. You were really there when we needed you, and I think that mommy and Logan felt that on a deeply subconscious if not spirtual level.

As I sat with Logan on that first night, I again went deep into the archive and questioned the meaning of life and of my life and purpose. I truly believe that I should have died at least two already in my life (ski accident off a cliff and one if not two car accidents). Having that experience then being rewards with things like the Eggos, Titans, Ippssy, Christina growing up etc only convinced me that there must be a reason that God left me on this Earth. When I'm with Sydney and Logan, i realize that I may have the opportunity to do some interesting, fun, exciting and cool things with my life. But I firmly believe that the two of them are destined for great things, and that my role is to keep Geneva happy and to create an environment for our kids to grow and learn. There was a sign in Burnaby Hospital that said "Give Light, Give Love, Give Life" that really meant a lot of me right at the time I saw it.

Geneva and I are blessed to have such wonderful family both near and far, travelling here and us there, who are wise, intelligent, funny, selfless, spiritual, and rich in the love that they share with us and our kids. Sometimes we forget to tell them that day to day, but my life and our lives are incredibly special because of the people around us. Welcome to the family Logan.