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On behalf of the Knoll Family, jon me in congratulating Greg and Vanessa on the birth of their first child. Great job Vanessa!


"Friends,

Yesterday morning started for me much like any morning would - I had an early morning dental appointment to get my teeth serviced, so I could get to the office by nine. All was going smoothly with my routine cleaning and checkup and I was nearly done, waiting a consult from the dentist when the call came.... Vanessa's beautiful voice came on the line - not panicked or sounding stressed, though I know she was, to tell me that her water had broken. This a full 6 weeks early. Fortunately for us, the doctors had already planned on an early arrival - though not quite this early for baby knoll. As a result they had given Vanessa a course of steroids about two weeks ago to help baby knoll develop his lungs more quickly. When we agreed to the steroid course, we were informed that diabetics are prone to having babies that grow fast in the woum, but develop liver and lungs slower. In bad cases this involves baby being intubated at birth, and living on a respirator for the first couple of days of his life.

And so it was that our ordeal started - at about 6 am on Thursday water broke - meaning that the baby would be coming like it or not.I received my phone call and left the chair telling them to hold my fillings for later, and bolted home. Vanessa was not ready when I arrived but mom and sister were on their way, and plans were already in motion. The suitcase was in the car (it had been for about two weeks) and all was prepared.

There was a lot of sweating and pushing and an epidural that did not work, followed by a second epidural at 3 am that worked a little better, finally culminating in an umbillical cord that was double wrapped around the fella's neck, and a c-section, performed at about 6 am today, and a beautiful wail announcing the arrival of baby knoll. Incidentals - he still has no official name - I simply could not finalize the name during the process - in spite of trying - once she was on drugs I thought it not fair to pick one myself. He was born very healthy with a full head of hair, and a ruddy tan/red complexion almost like he is part American Indian. From the moment he was born he was stretching his arms out, exploring the new space. He had been attempting this maneuver for weeks in Vanessa's belly, but always met with resistance. Baby knoll was born at 6:26 on 4/24/2008 measuring in at 21.5 inches and 8 lbs 4 oz. Vanessa's birthday was yesterday, and her father's birthday was the day before that... Now we have three generations birthdays on three consecutive days.

I was scheduled for an adventure race on Saturday, and a jeep competition practice day on Sunday. I hear that a sink hole opened up on Rt 70 between here and the Cumberland race location. As a result of the sink hole... and maybe a little beccause of the arrival of my perfect boy, the race and the 4x4 practice have been canceled (for me at least). For now, I am off to the hospital again where Vanessa and baby are resting. It feels very strange coming into fatherhood at 38 years old, and in part I am still overwhelmed by the adventure I see coming... One I had not thought would be a part of my experience many times.... When he wailed, I could never quite describe the experience of seeing my boy all covered in slime and blood and goo, Truly one of the most incredible moments of my life.



Incidentally, I am fairly certain from looking at him that he is ready for mensa induction, has the legs of a hiker / sailor, and that his arms are extremely well suited for competition driving and throwing a football with precision.

Love you all,
Greg"

Congrats Greg and Vanessa on the birth of your wonderful baby boy

Congrats to you both!
I'm sure he'll be asking for the keys to the Jeep in no time!