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For our family this was a blessed Christmas with a new addition making a big splash.
Driggs Allen Wognum was born on Dec. 9 at 5:23 a.m., weighing six pounds and measuring 20 inches in length. Proud parents are Evan and Nella Wognum of Ely.
We had known the baby would be arriving ahead of his late December due date. My line was that was good news for tax deduction purposes.
Evan and Nella drove to Virginia on Sunday, Dec. 8 so the doctors there could start inducing her. We were told it could take a day or two before the baby was born. Driggs had other plans.
We drove down Monday afternoon to meet our new grandson. I have been to the Virginia Hospital before and it is a nice facility, maybe a little outdated but the birthing room was first class.
Evan met us at the waiting room and walked us up. We couldn’t have gotten there by ourselves, Evan had a card he had to swipe to open the door in the hallway. More on that later.
When we walked in, Nella looked like a million bucks. Seriously. She was radiant and showed no signs of just delivering a child hours earlier. On the other hand, Evan looked a bit worse for the wear. Men are such wimps, me included.
Mary and I both got to hold the baby which was fantastic. Six pounds is a bit smaller than I was used to but healthy was all we were praying for.
When Evan went downstairs to let in Nella’s parents, Mary and I watched Nella change a diaper. She removed his outfit and there on his ankle was a blue monitor.
For a minute I flashed back to a scene from “Back to the Future” when Marty McFly meets his uncle Uncle Joey, who is behind the bars of a crib when he meets him in the past, making a quip about how he’ll get used to those in the future.
Nope, this is a new world we live in and babies are now a security concern because someone could walk into a hospital a steal one.
Evan explained that the nurses had told them to not walk around with the baby by any doors because the monitor will set off an alarm and shut down the entire hospital. Oh boy.
We were all very excited when Evan, Nella and Driggs were able to come home to stay after a couple return trips to deal with some jaundice. I can hear my grandma saying, “Just put him in the sun by the window.”
On Christmas Day our family gathered at our house to open presents and share a meal. Watching Evan and Nella’s dog Hank and Megan’s dog Millie help open presents was comical, for sure, but there was no doubt who was the star of the show. All eyes were on Driggs.
The sounds and smells of a baby are enough to make you melt but knowing he will be here in town for us to see regularly is heartwarming.
He’s the best present any of us could ask for.
