Congratulations to the Gish Family! Jere and Barb are the proud parents of Kate Marie. Jack is the happy new brother. Kate arrived Sunday afternoon...just a few days early. For a member of the FirstNews family, EARLY is standard operating procedure, so Kate is a perfect fit.

When I hear of a new arrival, it naturally reminds me of the four times my wife, Jessica, and I went through the big delivery day. I was out on a story about something going on at the Kansas City Public Library when the photojournalist I was with, Rafael Segura, got a beep on his pager. (I had no cell phone...that was still a rather exclusive sort of technology.) My wife called the newsroom to say it was time. She was watching a morning repeat of The Jeffersons when Alex decided he wanted to be movin' on...well, not up, exactly...but out. Jessica was very calm and, frankly, so was I. In fact, as I began to head home to take her to the hospital, it was only about three miles before I realized I'd forgotten the car. First babies can be lurky...meaning they do things at their own pace. It took a long time for Alex to finally arrive. I was trying to remember all the delivery training we'd gone through and felt I probably should have paid more attention to the coaching duties and less attention to the tray of donuts in the lobby. I did remember to encourage Jessica to breathe. She, in turn, encouraged me to stop breathing...and do a few other things I think are, actually, physically impossible. Alex was vocal from the start...crying loudly until I held him and whispered "Welcome to the world, buddy." He quieted down immediately, marking the first and last time he actually listened to his father.

Our second boy, Taylor, was almost "walked" into the world. Again, I was doing a story with photographer, Rafael Segura. I think Rafael actually qualified for OB/GYN status by this time around. We were at Watkins Mill State Park up near Kearney doing a story about this great resource. Jessica and Alex, now a year old, decided to come along for a walk. After a beautiful day of strolling around the park we got home and it was clear that Taylor was ready. He was a little faster to get here because, I think, he wanted to avoid another nature hike. Taylor, who's arrival was urged on by a day spent outdoors, surrounded by trees, water, frogs, rabbits, is, by far, the least interested today, in being outside. He even avoids windows. His idea of camping is the period of time it takes to run from the car to the hotel lobby. Maybe he associates the sounds of nature with the odd, probably uncomfortable, moments that arrived after his pre-delivery Watkins Mill adventure.

For child number three, Samantha, I was actually on the air...doing FirstNews with guest co-host, Kris Ketz. Jessica called me on the set to say she thought I should come home after the show and head to the hospital. I hung up the phone and mentioned to Kris that I'd be leaving after the show so we...my wife and I...could have our baby. Now, this was the third time around and Jessica knew the routine and even I had become fairly calm with the process. It was Kris who reacted with the most energy and anxiety..."GO NOW! JUST GO! YOU NEED TO BE THERE IN TIME!" I explained that we had some time, yet...but Kris was insistent and excited. I helped him breathe through the contractions and gave him some ice-chips...after we got Kris' IV hooked up, I felt safe in leaving him. Meanwhile, Samantha was an easy delivery (those are Jessica's words, not mine...I may not have learned much over the years but I do know a man must never pretend he knows if a delivery was easy or hard or anything in between...just stay out of the way and agree with everything) and happy baby from the start. She also seemed to talk from the moment she hit the air and hasn't stopped hardly at all for the last 13 years.

It was a quiet Friday night at home when Harrison decided to say hello. With three kids, it wasn't really quiet but we were at home, as usual. Jessica and I were playing Scrabble. I knew something was up when all of her words were along the lines of "ouch" and "pain" and "I" and "need" and "a" and "giant" and "sedative." (The last word got her the 50 extra bonus points for using all the letters and an automatic win for tossing the board 18 feet in the air.) Harrison was not too long in lingering and there we were...four kids. I believe that when there is one baby and two parents, mom and dad are already vastly outnumbered. With four, you just hope they will take pity on you every now and then.

I should mention that all four were early, like Kate Marie Gish. However, we've been late for everything ever since.