An intro into the birth of my son Mason Michael Vielhaber

This first entry into the Mike's Dad Blog is going to be a little history and is being typed as Mason Michael Vielhaber is now 15 days old.

When I was asked to write a blog about being a new dad, the first thought I had was, "What will people think?" I have always been a little obsessive about doing the best job and not allowing people to think I could have done better. With that being said, a lot of being a parent is trial and error, or at least that’s what I've found so far.

Let’s go back a few weeks to New Years Eve. My wife Mandi had a doctor’s appointment at 11 a.m. and going to the office, we both knew that we might be heading to the hospital after the appointment to have the baby. Her blood pressure had been erratic at best during the pregnancy, and if the number was too high on this visit the doctor was going to induce her.

The nurse grabbed the blood pressure cuff and the machine did its job, 155/90, the machine read. We both looked at each other and knew the doctor was not going to let her go home today and the little guy was going to be born.

Pause he’s screaming and I don't know why.

The overwhelming feeling of, "I am about to be sick," rushed over me. We were going to have a baby. A million thoughts went through my head. Did we have everything ready at home? Did we have everything that we needed to take him home?

At 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 31, we walked into the hospital thinking by that time the next day we would have a baby boy.

Mason was born New Years Day, 1-1-11, at 8:21 p.m. That’s right. 30 hours after Mandi and I walked into the hospital. The delivery journey will be shared in the future after she gives me permission to tell it.

With each post beyond this point I hope to share my experiences and the lessons learned, including some of the "eureka" moments. I intend this blog to be informative and also humorous.