I feel a bit like today is the first day of the rest of my life. Nine days ago, my second son, Roman Lucas, was born at 10:43 in the morning. He’s a handsome, sweet, strong little guy and we are so thrilled to have him.

There were some complications during the induced birth. When the cord tries to exit the birth canal before the baby, it gets squeezed during contractions, cutting off the baby’s blood and oxygen flow. This is very dangerous and calls for an emergency c-section. When the nurse noticed the problem, the room came alive with doctors shouting orders at nurses, IV tubing being flung in every direction, and several other processes that I will not mention. In what seemed like a mere instant, my wife was quickly wheeled out of the room and hurried to an operating room, where the doctor expedited delivery of Roman Lucas. My mother-in-law and I were left worried and wondering for the next 30 minutes, a feeling I can only describe as absolute intensity.

My poor Tina had another painful birth, enduring the un-anesthetized emergency c-section. It was all over in less than 15 minutes and she was rolled back into the room sleeping and heavily medicated. One was now two and three was now four.

As if that wasn’t stressful enough, one week prior to the birth I found myself in a hospital bed in the ER. Silly gall bladder. With the impending arrival of our son I chose to delay the surgery. What occurred over the course of the next 12 days I can only describe as hell inside my stomach. So with the help of some amazing new grandparents, I went back to the hospital to have a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal).

My mother took me back to the hospital very early Friday morning where I stripped down, wiped myself with warm antiseptic pads, and had an IV inserted into my vein. I remember a few flashes from inside the OR where the happy gas was being pumped into me, then everything goes black. I woke up abruptly, feeling very heavy, as if gravity had become much stronger while I slept. Within a few hours I was able to walk to the bathroom, and within a few more they wheel-chaired me to the car where my Mom drove me home.

As of today, five days and a half-bottle of narcotics later, I feel great. I’m well into recovery from my surgery, Tina is doing fantastic, and baby Roman is happy and healthy. Even with surgery pains, I feel better than I have in years.

The family is complete. Lovely, loving wife. Two boys, two years apart, with so much to learn. And now, I’m able to teach them. The moral of the story is never expect anything worth anything to come easily. And also, don’t wait on gall bladder surgery.