Now that our story has been told, it is time to let you in on the true meaning and origin of Kinkmas.
So, Jessica and I bought our first house and had stable jobs for the first time in our marriage and we think we are ready to start a family. Our plan was to have a baby in the summer of 2011. Which would mean we need to get pregnant in late August or September. Planning never quite works out like you want it to.
The first week of May was an extraordinary week by all accounts. May 1 and 2 of 2010 I rode in my third MS 150. I completed the ride to see Jessica and friends cheering me on in Fort Worth. It was great. But that wasn't the highlight of the week...
Cinco de Mayo is one of my favorite days in the year because it means I have an extra excuse to eat good Mexican food. Well, I arrived home from school that day and tried to push Jes out of the door so we could make it to Chuy's before 7:00. She had other plans though. She diverted my attention from food to other things quickly and had bought me a present. Inside were baby sized Chuck Taylor style socks and a Coldplay lullaby CD. We were going to have a baby!
This sudden change in plans was the most amazing Kink we had ever experienced in our plans. On Friday we went to the doctor to get a sonogram to check up on our new little Kink (which is what we came to call our little miracle while in utero). The baby was a healthy one and seeing the heart flutter on the screen hooked me for life. I am not sure there was another person on the planet who had ever been happier. (Except maybe me on my wedding day!) That experience completed the best week of my life to that point.
Our due date was set for December 27. Time would go by too fast.
The summer was spent traveling and being busy. I was working football camps and coaching. We went to Orlando and New York City. The summer of 2010 was the first one that I didn't have to study and work on school and could spend time with Jes. Making that summer perhaps my favorite.
After returning from New York, we went to get our sonogram to see how the baby was doing and find out if we were going to be meeting a girl or a boy in December. Kink didn't want to cooperate for the sonogram and decided to sit still for the most part. So when it came time to make a determination our doctor said he would say that the baby was a girl. The Doc told us he was 98% sure we would be welcoming a baby girl to our home. That was good enough for us.
When football and school started back for me, I knew time would fly by too fast. I was right as my students will tell you I usually am. Jes had a great pregnancy and really enjoyed the experience. All of it except when Kink seemed to kick her in the ribs and sit on her bladder to the point she had to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes.
In fact, on our flight home from New York City in July, she got up 9 times in a four hour flight. I am sure that wasn't her record, but it did impress me.
Jes and I began in the Fall making preparations for a girl in our new home. We were thrilled and fought hard to keep the secret. In fact, we told most people that we didn't know what we were having. I put together the nursery and Jes worked on the bedding and clothes. Despite my protest, pink colored items kept showing up as gifts from friends and family.
As we neared the middle of December it was becoming apparent that our baby wasn't going to make it to the 27th. Not only that, I was getting impatient to meet my new baby girl. Back in August I had hopefully predicted that Kink would come through for me and be born on December 20th and give me two weeks at least with her because she would be born during my Christmas break.
Jes and I's anniversary was the 17th and we knew we didn't want Kink to show up then, but once we made it past that point, it was all systems go to try and get Kink to come to center stage.
We walked, we talked, we ate spicy food, Jes used any and every natural method possible to get Kink on the way. I stayed up late trying to clean the house up for a baby to come into it. On Sunday, we took a 3 mile walk in which she experienced her first real contraction. Looked like game day was going to be the 20th as I predicted!
We got up the next morning to go to the birth center where the midwife said we were progressing nicely but wanted to give us something to speed the process up. We wanted Kink to show up as soon as possible so we agreed. We had no idea how quick things would happen.
We left the birth center to go labor at home. We were joined by our Doula, Autumn, who would be instrumental over the next 10 hours. Jes began to experience more significant contractions after a 30 minute walk starting around 12:30. At 2:00 we were heading back to the birth center for the big show.
We labored in our room at the center with the help of Autumn and our midwife, Beverly, for a couple of hours. Jes was moving quickly through labor. While we were at the center, Beverly routinely checked the Kink's heart rate and I remember her saying, "if I didn't know any better, I would say this was a little boy." But we knew better. We were going to have a baby girl. Our doctor had said so. Around four, we went outside to the park next door to walk around and make sure that Kink knew it was time to vacate her short-term lease on Jessica's uterus.
It was amazing to watch my wife walk around that park, not caring what anyone thought, but focused solely on the game at hand. It was Kinkmas day. She went through her transition period in that park like an Amazonian woman. Grabbing nearby trees for support every 30 seconds or so, moaning and swaying like she was the only person in four city blocks, until she announced that it was time to push. My heart was racing and the level of my excitement was something I had never felt before despite all my life experiences.
We went back upstairs and began the big push to the finish line. The next hour flew by. Jessica and the baby was the only thing flashing through my mind. At 5:37, I reached in to deliver our baby and immediately placed her on Jessica's chest. The staff moved quickly to cover Kink with towels to keep the baby warm. Jessica and I were in happy shock. Kink was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and Jes was the most amazing woman I ever hoped to know.
The baby's second act, after crying out, was to pee. Jessica looked over at Autumn and Beverly and asked if the baby was a boy or a girl. Beverly, smiling, instructed me to check it out. I lifted the back end of the towel and immediately cried out, "OH Shhhh! It's a boy!" The extra equipment on Kink was definitely not that of a girl. Jessica couldn't believe me so I told her to check. She lifted him out and had the best surprised look I had ever seen. Our little girl turned out to once again throw another Kink into our plans, because Kink was in fact a wonderful baby boy.
My first instructions from Jessica were to call my mother-in-law, Carla, to tell her as she was on her way with Jessica's dad. The conversation went as followed:
Carla: Hello.
Josh: Hey Carla, its a boy!
Carla: No its not.
Josh: Yes. Its a boy.
Carla: No. Its not.
Josh: Yes. Kink is a boy, not a girl!
Carla: No its not.
Josh: Yes it is.
Carla: Oh my.
Apparently everyone was going to be in shock over this little curveball.
After getting off the phone I began the process of texting everyone in my phone and posting to facebook and taking all the pictures I could. Kink became Beckett Levi and he was wonderful.
Beckett was born at 5:37 PM. He weighed 8 pounds on the dot and was 20.75 inches long. He was healthy. He had the most hair I had ever seen on a baby. He was OURS!
It took me 20 minutes to get the carseat set up and I was so nervous I was doing it wrong. Jes and I, with our new addition, got to head home around 1:00 AM. I may have been glowing like I had ingested all of the glow necklaces from a Vegas rave. My heart was full.
I learned/was reminded of many things during my first Kinkmas. One, I married the most amazing woman in the world. Two, it is possible to cry and laugh and have my face freeze in a permanent ecstatic look. Three, God loves me more than I can imagine and his plans are far better than anything I could dream up.
The next three weeks at home were amazing. They went too fast. Sleeping on the couch with Beckett resting soundly on my chest and Jes laying at the other end is a picture I will never forget. I am a blessed man, and I am happy to tell whoever wants to know that God knew me and knows me better than I could ever imagine. Oh, and I LOVE my wife.
I am looking forward to many more Kinkmas Days (December 20th) in the future. I am also excited to see what happens with our next adventure, but that can wait because I am enjoying these moments too much.
