Happy 6th Birthday, Katie Jo

Katie Jo came into this world a bit differently than the other three kids. I’d always been rather grossed out by the whole childbirth ordeal – placentas and amniotic fluid are just not my thing. So I was always scared to death of the whole process. I can even recall with the Lamaz class I took with the kids mom that they asked all the dads and partners what they feared. My response? “All the gross stuff.”

However, somewhere down the line I matured to the point that when our Ob/Gyn asked if I wanted to participate in the delivery I said yes. So with Katie, I actually delivered this child!

Of course, the doctor was right over my shoulder giving me directions and reassurances every step of the way. I have to tell you, it was one of the most dramatic and wonderful experiences of my life. All of that “gross stuff” was still there. But some how it magically disappeared in the wonder of moment in delivering that beautiful little baby.

Another story that’s kind’a funny about Katie’s birth that’s worth sharing is how she got her name. Her mom and I had been looking through name books and the like, trying to figure out one we liked. When Kelly suggested “Katie Jo”, I said “Great, Katherine Josephine! That way her middle name could be after my mom’s middle name of Josephine.”

Kelly said “No, not Katherine Josephine, Katie Jo.” And that’s how it’s written on the birth

certificate.