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But here is the full story from my view…
We woke up on the morning of the 21st, I rolled over and looked at my beautiful wife and said..
“Good morning pants (my affectionate term for her) Happy Birthday, I love you”. when I asked what she wanted for breakfast in bed she said “I want to go to Marmalade in Malibu and then sit on the beach”.

So it was a beautiful day at the beach that day (always do what a pregnant lady wants) with a slight bit of wind gently lifting the sand and scrubbing our skin for what would be an incredible adventure to come. I had no idea at the time, but this would be the happiest day of my life.  We sat and talked about the baby and what we thought it would be like and how much we were looking forward to tonight’s party for Robin’s Birthday. We planned to have our immediate family and Robin’s set of girlfriends over for a small celebration.

Jesse (the massage therapist) arrived around 1:45 to give robin a pregnancy massage while Joyce and I went out to get some groceries and pickup a cookie cake.

2:30pm - “Hey honey, whats up?” “I dont know I just had some fluid running down my leg” she reported calmly.. “It’s probably just your bladder relaxing from the massage” I wrongly guessed. “Are you ok?”. “Yeah, it happend about a half hour ago.” “O.K. we are on our way home, go lay down.”

We got home and Joyce started making dinner for the group, I was her sous chef while Robin sat at then end of the island. we talked about how funny it would be if she went into labor during the birthday celebration, should we cancel it? No. What’s the worst that could happen, besides if she went into labor it would be a nice distraction to have family and friends with her. Jon and Debi Weiss showed up first (they are like the marines, first in, last out) then Julie and Sydney: “Hi mama”, “Hi Strouvey Revvi”, come on in have a drink… the party had started.   So had something else…

6:30 - “Honey, im feeling a little crampy”. “Ok babe go lay down” (my mantra for the last 3 weeks of pregnancy). Robin sat in our bedroom and started to get some cramps. By 7pm the ”cramps” were more frequent.  Out on the couch with all her girls around her like a scene from “Fiddler on the Roof”: “Robin, how often are the cramps coming?” I inquired. “Im not sure” she said. “O.K. here is a watch, start timing them, write down the time they start and how long they last. Sydney can you help her? “sure, lets go lay down in the bedroom”.

I kept looking at the paper, the list read:  7:10, 7:15, 7:20, 7:25, 7:29, 7:33, 7:37, 7:42, 7:44, 7:46, 7:50, 7:53, 7:55, 7:56 (called the doctor after that one) 7:57, 8:00 hmm…

Although it really hadn’t dawned on us yet (believe it or not), Robin was in labor.

I walked into the room at one point to one of the most profound things I have ever seen. Robin was laying on our bed with her head up.  On her left was her mother, Joyce and my step-mom Evelyn, on her right on the bed and behind her were some of her best and closest, Julie, Sydney, Daleet, and Joanne. It was like we were in Anatevka and the entire village turned out to help this woman in labor. Her best friends were really doing mid-wife duty, it was profound to see and Robin keeps talking about how amazing it was to have these women with her.

As it turned out, the Birthday Party was turning into a Birthing Party in grand Levitt/Spector style.

The contractions were anywhere from 2 to 4 minutes apart, we talked to Dr. Entin and he said we should come into the hospital.  Robin really didnt want to go, we were concerned that we would be turned away due to false labor.

We arrived safely and they checked Robin…. 7cm she got to frickin’ 7cm at home surrounded by friends and family. The nurses were so surprised by this they had to re-check her to be sure. Yep, its true. I knew how strong Robin is, but this really renewed my sense of awe in her.

So the nurses setup the Labor Delivery Room and started all the prep like you see on the tv show ER. After an Epidural, Robin became very jovial and funnier, started cracking some jokes with the Doctor and nurses. After about 30 minutes the nurse Aimee who was pregnant with twins and had the same BDAY as her monther, said “ok lets practice pushing”. Joyce, Kimmy and I were there coaching and encouraging her.

Meanwhile, the entire party was gathered outside the delivery room, they all came to the hospital from our house. Everyone was on their cell phones with loved ones around the country, it was a total scene. Robin had a chance to relax and started cracking jokes with the Dr. and delivery nurses. Only my wife…

After about 30 minutes of practice pushing Joyce and I were able to see the baby’s head and hair. The nurse said “O.K. stop pushing”. Dr Entin came in and put on the “BLUE GOWNS”.

So we had been watching “A Baby Story” on TLC and there is a part in every show where the doctor puts on the blue gowns and then they deliver the baby, so we knew it was close. A couple more pushes and his head was out. One more push and Ethan was out. Dr. Entin looked at me and said “only you, only you say what it its”.. I looked down and saw male equipment I let out the most amazing scream ever.. I felt every part of me buzzing with Joy, Love Excitement, Pride, i had met my son, the young man I have waited for and dreamt about for so long….. “ITS A BOY!!!!” Robin, Joyce, Kimmy and I erupted in screams, applause tears and laughter. Ethan was laid on Robin’s chest and we just stared into his eyes.

So at the same time I heard the above, I heard this guttural yell “Oh god” Joe and Lisa were right outside the delivery room and they heard me scream, but then again so did anyone within a 10 mile radius. there was clapping and excitement and laughter outside the delivery room. We basically took over the Hospital Sunday morning, filling the hallway with people on cell phones (2 no no’s) yelling and screaming as if we were the only ones in the place. The staff there was so nice, they recogizned that everyone was very happy and tolerated us. (Our doctor visited us in the hospital the next day and commented on 2 things, 1: the atmosphere was like a sports event when he was born, all the laughing and clapping and 2: Robin has an incredible threshold for pain)
Meanwhile back on the chest, Robin and I were staring into Ethan Jacob’s eyes talking to him so that he recognizes us, he started back with those amazing grey-blue eyes that babies have before their real color comes in. A few minutes later, Dr. Entin handed me scissors and I had the unbelievable honor of cutting the cord that gave him life for 9 months he was now free of his cord. he sat on mom’s chest for a while I remember just thanking her and kissing her forehead and lips, so amazing I was so thankful to have my family started in such an amazing way.
Time slowed down, before I knew it the generic, sterile clock on the wall read like 1:30am Iwasnt even tired, wasnt even aware that time was passing, i didnt care, i just couldnt stop crying and was in total amazement staring at this little Levitt, I kept thinking to myself part in pride part in disbelief…. I HAVE A SON!!!

The rest of the couple days were pretty begning, your basic bath in the nursery, feeding, sleeping, napping pooping we wer anxious to bring the guy home.

They say having a baby changes your life…. I agree but really thing that having a baby makes you want to be a better person. I have learned the following from this whole thing:

• My wife is the strongest person I know. I owe her a debt of gratitude I can never repay but will try.
• My Son is the best looking guy on the planet. Period.
• You can never have enough family or friends around, ever. We were completely humbled by the amount of love support and excitement we received from everyone. when we are tired, too tired, people give us their energy and we can keep going. its awesome. We had 20 people in the room on his first day of life, everyone showed up, it was great! It made us feel so loved and supported.
• Grandparents Rule!!! The grandma’s came over, stocked our fridge with food and cooked enough stuff to feed a normal family for a year, or our family for 6 months. Help us with errands, calls and planning, its so key, so under appreciated no matter how much we thank them.
• You cant do it alone, we were lucky to have amazing caretakers along the way, everyone from Dr. Boostenfar to Entin and Ota and now Dr. Esmond, everyone is so great and so generous with their time.