Welcome my son

What an amazing last week. Yesterday at 7:37pm, Marni and I welcomed John James Plesko into the world. He is doing wonderfully and so is Momma who is a rockstar. Us bike racers have nothing to brag about, labor is incredibly hard and I feel humbled by comparison. At 8lbs 0.2oz and 22" he is a big boy for a little Marni but she did spectacularly. The birth story is hers so I won't steal it but 5 days of contractions led up to a sleepless night complete with full moon midnight walk (Turbo's favorite) and more than 12 hours at the hospital until birth. She's a bit sore today but otherwise upbeat and doing fantastic. JJ had a great night is feeding and sleeping well already. Plus he's a poop machine and I'm proud to say that I've changed every diaper save one where I was gone getting his car seat inspected. We're overjoyed to have so many family and friends come to see him already and it's great to know we'll get to see more tonight and this weekend as we settle in at home. Grandma Judy gets to come visit very soon as well which we cannot wait for.

Like all good things in life, this one did not come easy from start to finish. From fertility treatments and miscarriage to yesterday's birth, JJ gave us one heck of a ride. About the pregnancy we cannot complain much. Well I can complain none since I wasn't toting JJ around for 39 weeks. But as pregnancies go we were lucky. Other than some minor scares and an extra meeting with a geneticist, we enjoyed it as much as we could. While it's not all roses growing a human, Marni was all smiles and we both tried to experience all we could about an only couple times in a lifetime experience. Now that he's here of course we're thrilled. Lucky again to have decent insurance, I sit here writing this watching small storms roll across the foothills of the Front Range while wifey and baby sleep in our quiet private room. Nurses and doctors have been poking their heads in all day offering checkups and assistance where needed but generally it's been happily quiet. And tomorrow we should get to go home where we can bond and recover in peace, introduce Turbo to his new brother and even have JJ's first pediatric checkup in a few days. Life is grand.

I'm sure JJ's photos will grace the pages of my blog many more times from now on. After 4+ years of waiting I cannot stop taking pictures of him. And little by little he'll grow into his own man, where I can teach him to be a good and kind person and show him the wonders of this world. Surprisingly I haven't cried yet but my eyes have welled with tears dozens of times in the past 24 hours. There is nothing in life like labor, working so hard to take care of the two people you love most in this world at the same time, in a situation where total success is not guaranteed. Racing bikes nor alpine climbing can even come close.

Someone asked me yesterday if I was scared or overwhelmed and I said no. I've wanted a baby for as long as I can remember and being able to share this with my wonderful wife of 6 years is incredible. As hard as it has been to get here, I wouldn't trade a second of that time for anything. Sleep deprived nights and poopy diapers are cheap payment for the experiences to come. From his first bottle I get to feed him (hopefully in a month) to his first bike, his first race car bed and maybe someday his first Tour Divide I cannot wait to see what happens.

Better than any television, I have to get back to watching my son sleep.