Daddy Brad and Daddy Clay talk to Daddy Danny about the delivery of his son. Danny recounts the 30 hours of labor and their busted birthing plan. In the end, everything comes out fine and Danny and Miranda are the proud parents of a whopping 10 pound baby boy. Congratulations you two!

Episode 861 is brought to you by DaddyScrubs. Delivering Pride and Comfort for New Fathers.

Clay:  We're here at Austin Java with our producer Danny who is now a new dad. Now, last time we met with Danny, we gave him a little bit of advice about how to manage the birth of his baby.
Brad:  And that's why, on that day, everything went perfectly smooth!
Danny:  No. [music]
Danny:  Today's episode is brought to you by Daddy Scrubs. To eliminate the confusion between who's the doctor and who's the daddy, these comfortable medical scrubs are perfect for the daddy‑to‑be. Check them out at www.daddyscrubs.com [music]
Clay:  Well, what do you mean? With our advice, how could anything go wrong? Let's start with the birth plan. What was the birth plan at the outset?
Danny:  We were going to deliver the baby at the birthing center.
Clay:  So you guys were going birthing center. Midwife?
Danny:  Midwife.
Clay:  Natural childbirth?
Danny:  In the tub and everything.
Clay:  The whole hippy nine yards?
Danny:  Oh, big time.
Brad:  You enjoy that kind of stuff?
Danny:  Oh, yeah.
Clay:  When did that start to go wrong?
Danny:  About hour 15.
Brad:  You've been at the birthing center for 15 hours?
Danny:  Yes.
Brad:  In active labor?
Danny:  Yes.
Brad:  And then what happened?
Danny:  Well, around three o'clock, she had been around six cm dilated forever. And so, we realized we had to transfer her to the hospital.
Clay:  So, time to go to the hospital, you've got on standby a helicopter? Limousine? Ambulance? What do you do?
Danny:  We got in our minivan. That was the longest trip in my life.
Brad:  This is afternoon in Austin traffic, South by Southwest is going on...
Danny:  Yes.
Brad:  Were you prepared to deliver the baby yourself right there in the back of the van?
Danny:  I guess if I came to it, I'd do it.
Clay:  I'm guessing that being in a minivan in traffic with a laboring mom, it might get a little noisy.
Danny:  Oh horribly noisy, but her dad was with us so he took the brunt of the noise while I focused on driving with sheer anger in my heart and mind.
Brad:  So, you get to the hospital and you just check right in?
Danny:  Oh, yeah, smooth check in, yeah, with the hour of paperwork while she's in contractions. While this poor woman is contracting with horrible back labor, she's having to fill out paperwork. [laughter]
Clay:  How was her penmanship?
Brad:  Why didn't you do the paperwork?
Danny:  Well, because I was so tired. I hadn't eaten. I hadn't done any...OK.
Clay:  If you'd followed the directions given by the Dad Labs crew, we could have avoided that disaster but, anyway, you get checked into the hospital. Do things change? What directions did it go now?
Danny:  Well, the things that's going to happen, here's the scary situation, is the baby's head is molding, it's forming in...
Brad:  Molding?
Danny:  You know what I mean. It's taking shape, like when the baby comes out it take shape so it's taking shape inside of her so that means Caesarean. Now that's a nightmare situation because I don't want to even... that just blows my mind. Fortunately, this place, St David's Medical Center in Austin, is really cool about continuing what the midwife's trying to do ‑ vaginal birth. So we get the epidural, the doctor comes in, and she's at seven in like no time.
Brad:  Progress!
Danny:  Yes, progress. We're getting progress.
Brad:  So what are you doing at this point?
Danny:  I pass out for two hours in the little cubby space but she is, too. She passes out for two hours. The doctor says go to sleep, we're going to deliver this baby. That's the best news ever. I don't believe it but we'll see what happens. And then, two hours later, she wakes up, doctor comes in, he checks her, she's at nine and we're ready to go.
Clay:  Amazing. So, how long did the labor take from beginning to end?
Danny:  Oh, the full labor took 30 hours.
Clay:  And then, finally, when it's all done, did you guys have the magic moment? Was it everything it was cracked up to be?
Danny:  We did. I came over to Miranda, I gave her a big kiss and I said, "We did it."
Brad:  And your big little boy.
Danny:  My gigantic, 10‑pound, 3‑ounce, 22‑inch baby, we hold onto.
Clay:  Is there any question in your mind why this was a difficult delivery? [laughter]
Brad:  So, any advice for the moms and dads out there that are about to experience labor?
Danny:  Whatever your birth plan is, if it's not working, let it go.
Clay:  Great advice from newly minted daddy Danny. Thanks a lot for joining us today in the lab. Thanks to Austin Java, great place for dad's to get together and have a few beers. Thanks also to Daddy Scrubs for providing Danny with some great gear for his birth. We'll see you next time here in the lab.