He is finally here! In case you have not yet heard, on Monday morning at 5:39am, we welcomed Nathaniel Elijah Percy into the world. He weighs 9 lbs 3 oz and is, in my unbiased fatherly opinion, as cute as a button. Nathaniel means “given of God”, and he is certainly a wonderful gift.

The little guy kept us waiting until the last possible moment. With Julianne’s pregnancy extending beyond 41 weeks, her doctor had scheduled an induction for 8am on Sunday. But, around 4am, Julianne woke me to tell me she thought the baby had decided to come on his own. Some of us just work better with a deadline.

After 28 hours of labour, little Nathaniel was born. Joining us in the room for the birth were Julianne’s mother, as well as our incredible doula, Angie, who provided hours of support and encouragement throughout the process.

Caleb and Micah have been thrilled to welcome their little brother into the family, showering him with love and taking very seriously their job of teaching him all about the world. When he first arrived at the hospital, Caleb walked up to Nathaniel, pointed to himself and said, “This is called a ‘kid'”. Micah is already making plans to teach him about all the essentials: baseball, outer space, and really big numbers like a million.

As we sat in the hospital room together, enjoying our first moments as a family of five, Micah turned to me and said, “Daddy, I think a baby being born is kind of like magic.” I completely agree.