Garrett Michael Gaunch

Once upon a time a baby was born named Garrett Michael Gaunch.

This is the story of his first day.

When you say "March 1993" many people remember that we had a terrible blizzard across the eastern part of the US. It started snowing on Friday and continued to snow-hard-for like 3 days. In Huntington, we ended up with about 2 feet of snow. Louie and I lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment near the Marshall University campus. At 4:10 am, my water broke and we were off to the hospital.

Keep in mind that Garrett was our first born, so this was all new. And we were fairly young- I was 22 and Louie was 23. Garrett was also the first grandchild in the family, so everyone was on High Alert. Louie called the family and we figured (according to the vast knowledge we thought we'd gained in childbirth class) that everything would go by the book and we'd have a baby by noon. So naive.

When we arrived, the maternity floor was covered in shamrocks and Irish themed decor... it was St. Patrick's Day after all. All day long, people were asking me if I was going to name him Patrick. (Lame!) By mid-morning, the waiting room was full of family and friends, taking turns coming in the room to peek at me and smile. I remember being really thirsty (and bleary eyed from lack of sleep) when the nurse brought me some ice chips. Louie teases me to this day because apparently I told everyone ,"These are the best ice chips I've ever had!" I was the recipient of some great pain meds and hung in there until about 7 pm. By then, I was exhausted and Garrett was getting into some distress, so it was decided that a C-Section was my only option. This was not what I planned on or trained for in childbirth class but by now, I just wanted Garrett in my arms.

They took me back first and dressed Louie up for the operating room. He looked hilarious in the gown and hat they made him wear. Louie sat beside me and talked to be during the whole thing. Once, he got aggravated with the anesthesiologist because the guy was on the phone in the operating room during my C-section talking about getting green beer after work. Louie 'kindly' asked him if was paying attention. Then, Garrett Michael Gaunch took his first breath. He cried loud as if in protest. Louie went over to the bassinet and started talking to Garrett and he immediately stopped crying.

Later, when I got to hold Garrett, I was amazed at how big he was! He was 8 pounds and 4 1/2 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. He was a chubby baby with big hands and feet. And another thing I noticed right away- his chubby cheeks. I'd had an ultrasound a week prior and they took a picture of his face that showed round cheeks...and here they were in real life! He just looked at me and blinked his eyes as if he were exhausted.

I loved him the minute I saw him. And everything he did was amazing to us. Garrett was a sweet baby, cuddly and happy by nature. That day, we became parents and our lives have never been the same. It's been the hardest and best thing I've ever done.

Garrett is 17 years old today. 17!!! Amazing.