Matthew Gilbert Gleeson (call him “Gil”) was born at 7:57 p.m. local time, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (State motto: Labor omnia vincit, which means, “Hey, nice hat!” No, no, it means “Labor conquers all.”)

Baby and mother and father and siblings and doula and pets are doing very well indeed. We could use some merlot, though. Thank you for all your encouragement and prayers.

John 16:21

A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

Calm down already, Faith.

Born 6 minutes ago. Everything is just wonderful. Will post pics and details soon as I can.

The doula is here. Her name is Michele James-Parham. She looks like this.

Everything is proceeding according to my master plan. The dilation stands at eight centimeters.

(Gen 3:16)

Getting closer. For awhile, contractions were just two minutes apart, but they’ve slowed a bit now. Phoebe says they’re strong. Doula’s on her way here. Phoebe took a little nap, now she’s taking a little bath.

I’m eating an oatmeal raisin cookie. A big one.

Phoebe sent me out to run some errands. Just in case she needed to be rushed somewhere while I was out, I took my mother-in-law’s Grand Am, instead of our Voyager. I like the Grand Am. Zoom.

First stop, liquor store. Had to get a celebratory beverage, for when the baby comes. The actual beverage doesn’t matter so much as the label. Our tradition is to get a beer or wine whose name is some kind of pun on the event. For Abby’s birth, I got Abbey. For Bede’s, I looked all around for a “Bede” beer or wine, but struck out. So I got us Mackeson, which I pronounced “Make a Son.” Heh.

This time around, we don’t even know if it will be Gilbert or Rosemary, so it was tough searching. I scanned the labels for a “Gilmary” or “Rosebert,” but no dice. I didn’t ask the store clerk for help, because I didn’t want some wine snob sardonically ridiculing me for wanting a wine with a cute name. (I do mean sardonically, don’t I, Zach?) I settled on Barefoot Merlot. Cute little baby foot on the label.

Next stop, record store. Phoebe wanted some nice, relaxing monotonous music to labor by. I got Communion with God, without even hearing a track. It’s an anthology of various artists, so odds are at least one track will fit the bill. I’ll let y’all know how well the music worked when it’s all over.

Apparently, Phoebe has been pregnant for, like, months and months. Today, if really hard labor is any indication (and it usually is), is the day we shall welcome little John Forbes Gleeson to the family.

No, no, no. Not John Forbes Gleeson. If it’s a boy he will be Gilbert. If girl, Rosemary. I’ll post entries inbetween contractions as time permits, on Phoebe’s blog. Check back there from time to time today for updates. Photos, too.

I don’t expect to be writing on other topics than baby extraction today, so if you wanted to stay abreast of current affairs, try looking at some other nice blogs…

• Read about the last days of Boobie-Thon on Wizbang.
• Big Trunk chats about Osama bin Laden on Power Line.
• Who is your favorite columnist? Bill wants to know, at INDC.