 Photo Credit: BSA Photography Don’t cram your brain with useless knowledge about parenting! You are bombarded with information all day long and most of it is useless! Parents to- be, believe me! Even if you are expecting your second kid, this episode is for you!
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 People often ask me if it was love at first sight. My answer to them is always ‘absolutely.’ You never know what is coming around the bend. Life can seem the bleakest you’ve ever experienced and then, when you least expect it, there is a break in the clouds. All of a sudden, on the dreariest of winter days the sun shines through. Living in New Orleans, I often times talk about life before and after Hurricane Katrina. It is almost a starting point and ending point for many of us down here. Our lives we knew up until that point stopped. And it didn’t resume normally until years after. Before Katrina, I found myself. For years a battled internally about who I was and who I wanted to be. I longed to be in love. The love romance novels were made from. But there was one caveat. Gay romance novels really weren’t a thing back then. I found myself dreaming at night having a life which was acceptable, admired and respected. I grew up in the South and it was terribly hard at times. I had a disgusting, homophobic and abusive father, who did polar opposite of what loving dads are supposed to do. I was raised in the church. I sang in the choir all of my childhood. I created friends and found some of my talents because of church. But unfortunately, I also found some of my deepest insecurities.  Photo Credit: BSAphotography.con I remember hearing remarks growing up from family members about news stories regarding gay and lesbian issues. I was always left so uncomfortable by the backwoods and ignorant things they would say. It left me hopeless. So, I suppressed the feelings and kept moving on. Years went by and I graduated high school and knew in my heart it was time to leave Mississippi. I loved my family, but I needed to find myself without the judgement of anyone else. I needed to leave the nest built in the ‘Pine Belt’ and either fly or fall. As life would have it, I did fly. I soared. I became who I needed to be. Every day went by, I grew more confident in who I was and who I wanted to become. I created long lasting relationships which I still have to this day. Those friends allowed me to accept who I truly was, working my way from the inside out. I was making great headway- and then our whole world stopped in it’s tracks. Katrina ripped through all of our lives down here in the south. And it took years to recover. I finally was able to go back to New Orleans and find a new job. I found a job at a nigh club on Bourbon street and stepped into the back office. And there, in front of me he sat filling out a new hire work form. In the split second of time- it was like time had stopped. All of sudden the bass from the dance floor silenced. All I could hear and feel was the sound of my heart beating out of my chest. He looked up and in that very moment, our eyes met for the first time. I can still to this day smell the stale cigarette smoke from the office ashtray. I remember what the room looked like. I remember what we both were wearing. I absolutely couldn’t look away. I was frozen in time. I know in this very situation this is what I had always prayed for. This was the boy who was going to save me. He was my white knight riding in to rescue me.  Love at first sight is absolutely real. It gives you the jitters and it is hard to do anything else but focus on the moment you are in, in the exact second. Our twenties were wild, to say the least. Some may know this already but, before Covid-19, New Orleans didn’t sleep. The bars never closed. So, spending so many nights in the club meant we also saw so many sunrises. Once the sun came up we would dart out of the bar and cover ourselves like a Bram Stoker character from ‘Dracula.’ We would run to his old Volvo wagon and quickly drive out of the French Quarter. He was so spontaneous and I loved it. Some mornings we’d walk to Audubon Park and climb trees. My favorite mornings were spent on the levee of the Mississippi river flying kites.There were so many things he did in the beginning which made me melt where I stood. He would take me to the railroad tracks and smash pennies while reading ‘The Little Prince,’ one of his most favorite books. As he read each line, I sank deeper into the grass as tear drops fell from my eyes. I would quickly wipe each of them in fear of scaring him off or freaking him out. I knew in those beginning moments this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I wanted him to be with me forever, and I with him. As months went by, our bond quickly grew. We became inseparable. The hot New Orleans summer faded into the fall and quickly gave way to cold of winter.  I so wanted him to come back to Mississippi with me so he could meet my family. As quickly as the happy notion was, it quickly turned to fear. What if my mom lost it? What if my family was rude to him? I would develop all of these extreme scenarios in my head and try to figure out how to damage control each one before they even happened. A bit much, I know. But it was my coping mechanism. December quickly came and as excited as I was, I still was very nervous. We packed my car and put all of the gifts in the back. Off we went to my family’s for a Mississippi Christmas. My mom had been outspoken about my life in the beginning. When I came out, she didn’t hesitate to bring out the Bible and plead for me to not be gay as her tears fell from her eyes. As months rolled into years, our relationship recovered. She had always been one of my best friends so the tension and havoc of my coming out had on our relationship was very hard to say the least. It was the Christmas of 2006 and we pulled up to my childhood home in Oak Grove, Mississippi. She came out of the house with the biggest smile as she waved at us both.She hugged me so tight. To this day, it is still so vivid. I was expecting her to wave and smile at Douglas. But, she walked over to him and gave him the tightest hug ever. I saw Douglas’ face as she hugged and his eyes were squeezed so tight with the biggest smile on his face. My mom released her mama bear hug and wiped tears from her eyes and said, ‘Alright, enough of this. Let’s unload the car.’ I knew as we trekked back and forth unloading the car; this would truly be an unforgettable Christmas. All of the anxiety I had up until this moment was just hindering me to allow my self the opportunity to have personal life experiences and growth. That first Christmas was so and will always be so special to me. Our family has had its share of painful times, so to have chance to create joyful and happy memories were so important; especially in the beginning. That night, as we were all around the Christmas tree I could see the gifts and stockings from me and my sister. I couldn’t help but think of all the Christmases before growing up. In that moment I was just so happy to be where I was, where I had been and to be surrounded by the love that was there. My mom came into the room and said, ‘I know you may not like it, but I had to find something.’ She pulled out a plastic Walgreen’s bag with Douglas’ name written at the top of it. She said, ‘You cannot come into this house without having some sort of a stocking for Santa to fill.’ I knew right then this was the beginning of the rest of our lives.   It was pizza and gelato night. We look forward to special nights like these. What family doesn’t? We were getting out of the car as I opened the back door to get my youngest daughter out. I unbuckled her car seat and took her into my arms and then stood up on the sidewalk. A woman stood there and watched behind me, staring freakishly. I turned around and smiled to let her see I knew she was there. She asked, ‘Is that your baby?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘She is my daughter.’ ‘But she’s black,’ She replied sarcastically. ‘How did you get her?’ She asked insistently. I responded, ‘We adopted her.’ Just as I said that, Douglas came around the car with our oldest daughter. She looked over and saw him. Her eyes bulged. ‘By two men!?!’ She was obviously disgusted and out of line. ‘Yes. We are husbands,’ I said respectfully. Her mouth dropped and she responded, ‘So, they let two MEN adopt children!?! They let children go to just anyone!?’ At this point, I knew we needed to be far away from this lady. I had entertained this conversation for too long. I had no idea it was going to go in this direction. People in New Orleans are very welcoming for the most part. I was shocked and angry. We hastily walked away from her, but not before she yelled behind us, ‘How they gonna let a black baby be adopted by two men… by two WHITE MEN?!’ We walked away as fast as our feet could take us. Our oldest started her barrage of questions. We turned the corner and I told Douglas I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the car parked beside her. I went back to move the car. As walked up, she was in the middle of getting a pen and paper out of her bag, obviously to leave us a note of some sort. She then looked up and said, ‘I’m still just standing here in shock. But, don’t worry, I ain’t messin’ with ya’ car.’ I got in my car and drove away as she was left standing there with a pen in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.  Situations like that do not happen often, but when they do it allows me to see there is still work to be done. There will always be people who disagree and are, at times, out of line and rude. It is in those moments we do not let ourselves sink to their level of desperation to get our point across. Especially when children are present. We love our babies just as any other family does. We would do anything in this world to keep them safe and protect them from the anger we unfortunately see in our divided country. I would lie if I said it didn’t affect me. The truth is, it absolutely does. And sadly, probably more than it actually should. You see, we built this life for our babies, which is often better than what I had growing up in my typical, straight household. My father was trash and abusive. He beat my mother and some of those terrifying memories still stay with me. So yes, it hurts when hateful, cold people tell me I shouldn’t be able to create a better life than what my own father provided. The older I get, the easier it is for me to see how sad individuals must be in their own life to be blinded by anger so easily. They miss out on all the opportunities to grow and shed away the cold, brittle edges of their past and become a more warm, rounded and accepting person.  About 130,000 children are adopted each year in our country. There are somewhere around 2 million couples waiting for their opportunities to create their own families through adoption. We planned, we prayed, we learned, we hoped, we dreamed, we cried, we anguished, and sometimes, we failed. But you know what? We got up. We tried again because were determined. We were eager and we knew in our heart our family’s journey was written in the stars. And, at the end of the grueling process, we did cry again. But, this time, it was while we were holding our newborn baby. Everything we went through before brought us to this very moment. Now, we could begin our lives. So, we smiled. We laughed. We hugged. We prayed. We remembered. And in the end, it was worth every single tear we’d ever shed. Adoption is one way you can change someone’s life forever. In many counties and cultures, adoption is still looked down upon. In our country, some still think gay couples shouldn’t be able to create a family, whether it is through adoption, surrogacy, or fostering. As long as there is this frame of mind, there is still work to be done, friends. If you know of someone who has adopted or wants to, remember the pain I spoke of. Understand it doesn’t require DNA to create unconditional love and trust. If you see a gay couple with children, take a moment and allow yourself to see the love radiating from them, rather than their differences. See their struggle and respect the rocky road they walked on to get to where they are today. We are only given this life for a short amount of time. It is our jobs to embrace each other for the beautiful diverseness we exude.  November is World Adoption Awareness Month. November 21st is National Adoption Day.
 Parenthood itself is the wildest ride you could ever imagine. For some, the process to even become parents is just as crazy. My husband and I adopted all three of our children and brought them home from the hospital. Our oldest was premature and needed to stay in the NICU until she was about a month old. The journey to become parents can be brutal. Trying to learn the ropes in a few months can cause anyone to freak out. Add to that all of the paperwork, home studies, certifications, background checks on top of getting the baby’s nursery created is just about maddening. If this is you right now, Stop. Take a breath. No, no. Take a deep, solid breath. And- exhale. I am here today to tell you 3 of my most important things that I WISH someone would have told me when we first became parents. You will be ok. Trust me. Keep in mind that realistically there are many more but to make it simple, I plucked my Top 3 to hopefully guide you and your spouse to a much more tranquil and optimistic place. Don’t Fall Prey!In the beginning, it is like you have taken 15 shots of espresso and you are bursting with adrenaline. You are reading every baby helpers manual you can get your hands on. One thing you need to keep in mind is every single baby is different. I know you have heard that time and time again, but the truth of it is regardless of how many books you read, every baby will develop a little differently. Some quicker than others. Though books are great, do not get tunnel vision because of them. Think outside the paperback! You are also choosing every item Under the sun to put in your baby’s nursery. If you are anything like me, you find yourself daydreaming of just how your new days and nights would be spent and just how it would play out and solve each problem as they arise. All of this is super sweet. And very much realistic. When carefully selecting things for your baby’s nursery remember this is a BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY you are about to walk into. There are products made today that absolutely blow my mind; for good and bad! You will find the most stupid products ever made in one hand but then in the other, the coolest and best time saving products in the other. When our first daughter was born, we fell prey to one in particular. You absolutely DO NOT need a baby wipe warmer. All you are doing is spoiling your baby to freak out and scream when you are away from the house. Seriously! Not to mention they require too many stupid reminders in your phone to keep up with. Don’t buy it! Don’t Fall Prey! When planning, think about the most sensible, practical and logical products you can find which will make your life easier; bottom line. There are also things that will surprise you even when you both thought you may be wasting your money. For example, the automatic formula makers. This, my friends, is a game changer! Our third child is 6 months old and I do not understand how we didn’t have this thing sooner. It is amazing! For $200 you cannot beat the ‘Baby Brezza’. (And no, I did not get paid for name dropping.) I am just speaking from my heart. Although I say Don’t Fall Prey, also be willing to experiment. But ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS, read tons and tons of reviews. Ask your friends if they have used the product and get their opinions as well. Trust me.  Draw Your BoundariesSpeaking of opinions, always remember that everyone will have one. Just as you and your spouse are bursting with excitement over your new baby, so is every person in your family. With that being said, you will find some who are VERY eager to help and give advice in the beginning. And believe me! You will need it! I am here to tell you, if you are lucky enough to have family in your life who are tossing out their opinions left and right, accept the help! Remember, their advice is usually coming from a place of love. Trust me, In the beginning you will need all the help you can get. Later on, as you gain your confidence and balance, and begin to learn your newfound rhythm with this new parenting life along with juggling all of the daily tasks this new life brings, you may find that the once welcomed parenting advice from some family members start to become ‘overstepping’ boundaries. When this happens, take a deep breath. Drawing your family’s boundaries in the beginning is probably the most important thing you can do aside from keeping your immediate family healthy. In a way, this is also keeping you healthy as well, just mentally instead of physically. I am not going to sugar coat it. This can be very controversial. It may ruffle some feathers. Feelings may get hurt. Some will even get mad. Some may stay mad. In a way, understandably so. After all, most are coming from loving places in their hearts. It’s all in how you package your words. If you are respectful and you keep the other’s feelings in mind, then they should have an obligation to do the same. After all, if you aren’t being respected in the beginning then this will definitely become a problem later on down the road. Unfortunately, some may not see how they are personally overstepping your boundaries. By showing them examples in the beginning and pointing out where it makes you feel uncomfortable, it will help and it is absolutely crucial. Communicating your feelings is a must. If you choose not to open this dialogue, they most likely will continue to overstep and it could grow into judgement and resentment amongst both parties. Remember to Draw Your Boundaries. Be respectful and have good communication and you will be fine, and if it takes a while to iron out the kinks, then so be it. Do not give in until you feel in your heart your point is made. Period.  Savor EVERY Second!When your baby does arrive you will quickly be thrust into a brand new way of life. Everything you did before will seem like light years away after a few months. I used to religiously watch ‘The Price is Right’ every single morning. It was my jam. Who am I kidding. It will ALWAYS be my jam. That was my hour to sit and get transported. Today, I absolutely laugh at myself. I barely have enough time to drink my espresso or go to the bathroom, much less sip on a mug of coffee for an hour. But believe you me, ‘TPIR’ will always remain my favorite game show and the many years and countless hours we spent together will always remain in my heart. Today, my babies complete my soul. The good, the bad and the disgusting all sit front and center in my mind to allow me to see just how quickly time passes. There are poop explosions, bedtime stories, nuclear meltdowns, cuddles, and even quarantining together with 2 toddlers and a newborn. It all changes so fast and before you know it, the page turned and you have moved onto the next memory. The days seem long at times, but trust me my friends, the years are incredibly short. Just remember that cliche, “This too, shall pass.” Sadly, even the things you don’t want to pass most certainly will. Those little voices and those chubby cheeks will grow into the kids who will change the world. And we will help make it happen. So, If you take any piece of advice I have offered in this piece, take this. Savor EVERY Second.  Love is a magical thing. It often comes out of nowhere and bites us in places that we wouldn’t think possible. TRUE love is something we all long for yet is so hard to find. Every family begins somewhere. With a dream in our pockets and hope in our hearts we started our own journey 14 years ago. Ya know, each family begins in so many different ways and in many obscure places often times when we least expect it. Hear how ours began down here in ole' New Orleans: The house of the rising sun, and the home of black magic and Voodoo spells. Our beginning may be as unlikely as it is interesting. For the full story of our beginning, check out my blog piece- https://www.nolapapa.com/blog/grin-bare-it  Photo credit: BSA Photoagraphy The recent events which transpired in our country over the racial injustices and oppression towards African Americans breaks my heart. I have been searching for ways to open the crucial dialogue with my girls. This hits close to home for my family in particular because not only are we two dads raising a family, but we have 3, multi-racial children. Our oldest daughter is half Guatemalan and half Caucasian. Our youngest is Honduran, and our middle child is African American. My heart hurts to see the prejudiced environment my middle child may be especially exposed to as she gets older. I want her to feel as comfortable in her own skin as any white, privileged person is. Though I know it is a difficult goal, my husband and I will do everything in our power to allow her to feel that way every day of her life. I know racism is a learned behavior. Harboring hate in your heart is terrible, but teaching it to your children is abuse. It cripples the entire human race, and it deteriorates the world.  Growing up in south Mississippi, I was able to easily see how my own father was the most racist and hateful person I had ever met. Lucky enough for me, my mother divorced him when I was a little boy. Unfortunately, I was already exposed to so much damage from his disgusting hatred. He abused my mom, me, and so many others I can remember. There is no telling how many people he has intentionally tried to destroy. I endured mental and psychological abuse which stemmed from his temper. I remember how I would feel so defeated as he screamed at me trying to teach me how to ‘tell time’ on my new ‘Transformers’ watch when I was just 6 years old. I still remember that as clear as day. I knew I was never going to be that kind of father. As I got older he would call me sissy, mama’s boy and queer. That was bad enough, but the things I can recall him saying towards black Americans was just as bad if not worse. And then, there is the most gut wrenching reason. He has always been an alcoholic and a drug addict. And because of his selfish addictions, I lost my 17 year old brother. I would also see how he treated his spouses and I knew I would never lay a hand on my partners. Despite being gay, I knew in those early years I would always treat my partner with dignity and respect. There are things I will unfortunately, never forget. Those early memories taught me the most important lessons of all. They showed me how to NOT live my life. Rather than having my father teach me the RIGHT things to do in the world, I watched him and tried to do the opposite. As I grew into a teen I figured out one person can change the world. One smile, one open mind, one kind heart. Love can and WILL win in the end. The question is, when? Well, it starts today. With you, and me. This morning was a huge moment for my girls. I finally found the way to naturally and comfortably talk about the beauty of our country and what makes it so great. Back when I was a little boy, there was a movie I loved so much. I remember having the stuffed animal and taking his hat off so I could wear it just like him. I would sing the songs as loud then as we did this morning. However, I didn't realize how deep this movie actually was until I watched it again. Friends, if there was one movie you NEED to introduce to your kids right now, it is "An American Tail.” Anyone who knows me or even knows OF me, knows I wear my hat almost all of the time. I owe it to this movie! I sang one of the songs from this movie to my babies their entire lives. Most importantly, it helps my girls to see what made our country so great. They were able to see how all over the world people admire America. People come here to escape their own countries when they are being killed and tortured. In America, we have the freedom to speak out when we see things that aren't right. In America, we join together for causes. As one, we hold rallies and protests when we see unfair practices and injustices wherever they may be. In America, we do not back down in the face of fear or intimidation. That is what makes our country so beautiful. It always has been, we just lost sight of it. America has always been great. And do not let anyone tell you it isn’t.  Photo credit: BSA Photoagraphy Our oldest little girl looked at me during the movie and asked what a “wawwy” was. I knew exactly what she meant. She repeated it exactly as she heard it in the film. I asked her, A rally? And she nodded. I said, ‘Well baby, A rally is like a protest. That is where a group of people come together for the same reason, to demand change.” “In America, we are allowed to do that. And because of those freedoms, we are able to see the change begin which makes people happy again.” (I tried to simplify it because she is only 4!) Then, she looked at me as that same iconic song came on, and I quietly lost it. I cried as she looked on with a big smile. In that moment, she knew the song she had always heard me sing was from this very movie, and she understood why it was so powerful.  If none of that works for your family, you can always bring out the 'GIANT MOUSE OF MINSK,' filled with fireworks and fury! Okay, maybe not the last part... but I couldn't help but wonder if there was strategic symbolism placed there. Riots and chaos unleashed when there is no other alternative? I don't know. What I do know, today, in this moment... is how I was able to introduce some heavy dialogue to my babies this morning and it was all thanks to this movie. Parents, go watch "An American Tail" right now with your babies. You'll thank me later. What can I do to help her in the future? I will always pay attention in public. I never know when some hateful person will crawl out of a dark corner of the world. I will shield her from the barrage of ignorance when I am in control. What I fear most is when my little ‘mocha drop’ goes out into the world alone.  Daddy and Papa won’t be there for every tough moment. But what WILL be there is the confidence and the intelligence to know she is bigger and stronger than any person who tries to tear her down because of her differences. We are all different. It is what makes us all so uniquely beautiful. If some people cannot see that then we will smile and move on and not look back. I am so blessed to be living in the time that I am. As scary as some moments are, those situations mold our characters to become the resilient humans we are destined to be.  I am the father I am because of the sad and unfortunate circumstances I faced when I was a boy. I am the man I am today so I can raise my babies to be the adults they will grow into tomorrow. I would love for you to follow my family’s journey!
www.Nolapapa.com 📸Instagram.com/nolapapa 👍🏼Facebook.com/Nolapapa YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/Nolapapastoryofagaydad  As hours turned to days, I am left with an empty feeling regarding our country. Is this in part because of the months worth of Covid isolation? Or is it the undeniable racial trimmer that is finally shaking us out of a paralyzed delusion? What happened to #georgefloyd was WRONG. There is no denying that. There are NO EXCUSES. What happened to him was a rush to judgment and a failure to our country. Again. Time after time we see this in our African American communities. The cycle of “justified” murder, the dominance over morality, while the rest of us watch the events unfold with our rose colored glasses on. Folks. It is time to take off the glasses. Look at what is happening around us. 👏🏻Snap out of it. If you cannot think to yourself “something is wrong here”... then it may be time to re-evaluate your personal ideals of what it is like to be black in America. Being white and privileged, it is pretty impossible for us to even comprehend it: to even grasp the magnitude of how heavy this is. It is raw. It is unfair. It is WRONG. On so many levels. Living down here in New Orleans there is saying that many of us live by. Or at least I do. You can see signs posted onto random light poles, stop signs and trees. I don’t know where the saying came from. I don’t know how long people have been saying it. “Think that you might be wrong.” Those 6 words can change our community, our country, our world. I am a gay, white father to an African American little girl whose sweet smile can brighten the darkest room. It is also my job to make sure I speak for her. I want my baby girl to know that her papa wasn’t silent when voices needed to be heard. I wasn’t complacent when it mattered most. Y’all, our history will eventually reveal itself. Racism is alive and it is rampant. It’s hidden behind badges, uniforms, desks, steering wheels, pulpits, robes, dresses, hospital masks, polo shirts... but worst of all, guns. The ones who keep us safe here and abroad fight everyday to ensure our way of life. I am indebted to them. We are indebted to them. But there needs to be accountability when terrible situations unravel into a horrible lapse in judgment. Not only for police, but for anyone that has a civil responsibility to our community. Anyone that knows me personally knows that ACCOUNTABILITY is crucial in life. That is the only way to change course. Hold people accountable. Don’t let the looting take your eye off the ball. That is NOT the bigger picture here. This happens in any chaotic and civil unrest. It isn’t the first time and looting will happen again. Two wrongs do not make a right today, tomorrow or ever. Do not lose focus on the point up front and center. There needs to be accountability for MURDER behind a badge. #sayhisname  We had no idea what the world was in for when we started out this particular journey. Adoption is always a very tense and frightening experience. Add a Global Pandemic to the mix and it is terrifying.  Nolapapa: The Story of a Gay Dad Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our channel
 COVID-19 has shaken the whole world to it’s core. From one part of the globe to the complete opposite, it has all but stopped life as we know it. This scenario seems all too reminiscent of something that the American South will never forget. Living in New Orleans, Louisiana we are accustomed to dealing with evacuations and disasters because of hurricane season each year. From June to November, we are on alert constantly. As you can imagine, Hurricane Katrina’s lasting effects really taught us how to deal with disaster prep along with the aftermath. When Coronavirus first appeared on our radar here in New Orleans, I was personally shaken. Not only for me, but for my family. My husband is a physician at one of the main hospitals here in the city. Our 2 daughter’s are ages 4 and 2 and I stay at home with them. They go to nursery school for a few hours during the week but for most of the time I am at home with them. When the public schools closed down as did most of the nurseries along with everything else. Many people through the years have asked me what it was like to experience Hurricane Katrina. There really has not been an event equivalent to compare it to. That is, until now. As that giant storm churned towards us 15 years ago everyone panicked and prepped as fast as they possibly could. Pandemonium and fear spread through New Orleans just like this virus has. The only difference is today, there isn't devastating winds or floods. Instead, it was stocking up on whatever you could so you wouldn’t have to leave your home. I watched other countries very closely before this virus was found here in Louisiana. I saw the panic in the streets and the death that came behind it. I knew I needed to act then before the greedy would buy everything in sight. I am a planner and I like to be in control. I think that is partly why I feel like I do at the moment. I literally planned our family’s next moves over a week before mandated ‘stay home’ orders were given. While people were calling me "Chicken Little", I made sure that we had everything we could possibly need. Well, except for one major life changing variable. Our son was to be born within the next two weeks in the middle of this nightmare. My husband and I frantically tried to complete his nursery and buy the essential items from the hardware stores before our ‘lock down’ order was issued. Along with prior preparations of food and essential items for the family, I felt it was also important to get the necessary items for the new baby. I feared that with panic stricken people buying up everything in sight along with the essential baby care items, I just knew we would be under mandated closures when he was born so I bought the diapers and baby formula weeks ahead of time. I really felt like I was in front of this thing. I planned. I was ready. And then my husband told me how bad the virus had actually gotten. It was like the winds shifted. It was apparent that COVID-19 was about to strangle New Orleans. Each day that went by more and more people were diagnosed. We saw this in Italy, and in New York City. But those places were much bigger than New Orleans. All of a sudden people were dying in numbers that doubled from the day before. Hundreds became thousands that were infected. It quickly was obvious that New Orleans and the state of Louisiana was the new epicenter for this outbreak. Hospitals were inundated. Especially the hospital my husband works at. Ventilators were almost depleted in the matter of a weeks time. Face masks were disappearing. Eye shields and gloves were almost gone. P.P.E. (personal protective equipment) suddenly were rationed and in many cases disappeared or was extremely hard to come by. Local news reported that faculty were told to reuse face masks and even sterilize them so they could continue fight this battle, even without armor. Grown men are breaking down. Douglas has always been my voice of reason. When I get to hyped up, he is always there to calm me down. When I started my rants about Coronavirus this one time he didn't stop me. Or be the devil's advocate. Even when friends and family made it seem like I was over reacting in the beginning, Douglas listened to me. One conversation we had right after COVID-19 started to spread rapidly here in the city I will never forget. We were finishing up the baby's nursery one night when I told him that watching the images coming out of Italy and they were highly alarming and at the rate it was spreading it seemed impossible that it couldn't happen here. Waiting for him to correct me, instead his eyes got big. He got quiet. Which he does this so he can collect his thoughts. Then he said, "there is nothing we can do. The box has been opened and it cannot go back in. This will be the next pandemic. Most of us will get this virus. And if we all don't get it, we will personally know someone that has had it or has died from it. Lock downs will not stop it. Our hospitals will become overwhelmed. There is nothing we can do." I was shocked. He always is optimistic. He is the yin to my yang. But that night, it was brutal honesty. And twelve hours later, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. That is when the tides started turning and that ominous silence fell when I walked outside. I was SHOOK. But I had to keep my cool for my family. My girls depend on me. On us. They can't see my fear. All of a sudden I am now their teacher every day along with being 'Papa'. I try keep it fun and new. I print out activities and educational things to keep their minds learning. I research arts and crafts for them to make. And then we go outside and play with different things every day so this isolation doesn't get so monotonous. Then it was like my heart stopped. Douglas told me that the the main hospital was running low on manpower. Some started to get sick. And some were just overwhelmed by the tsunami of patients coming that were sick. This whole time I had been so thankful for him being a psychiatrist resident during this viral circus. Then, he told me. The Dean had started pulling residents from other specialties to fight this virus on the front lines in the Emergency Department. It didn't matter what specialty. He wanted 'all men on deck.' My heart sank into my stomach. I felt ill. Sure, I get it. He is a doctor. That is what you signed up for. But let me stop you. No. That is not what he signed up. He had a calling to help the mentally ill and the addicts from drugs and alcohol get sober, get off the street, clean up and lead a productive life. Fighting in the epicenter of this pandemic without proper equipment can be a death sentence. I would absolutely feel more incline for him to help if I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had the life saving P.P.E. that he needs to stay healthy. He needs it and WE NEED IT. As the hours ticked by my anger grew. I like to be in control. I quickly saw that we were spiraling into a tail spin that couldn't be stopped. Just as I started to feel hopeless, our phone rang. My mouth dropped to the floor. Our birth mother was in labor! Douglas quickly rushed her to the hospital. After examining her they admitted her. We had been threw this before time and time again with our previous birth mother. I just knew that she was going to be sent home. But this time proved to be different. They told Douglas that he was allowed to stay the night but unfortunately, due to Coronavirus, I had to stay at home. Last night, Douglas got to stay with the birth mother at her hospital and officially go on "paternity leave" for over a month! For me, it was almost like he was rescued from being thrown into the front lines of a massacre. An unforeseen force directed us into a perfectly beautiful scenario just as hopelessness gripped our future while the walls were closing in all around us. Then came Shane. Our baby boy was born last night at 11:36 pm weighing in at 7 lbs 6 oz. He is the most beautiful boy I have ever seen. Although I have yet to hold him. Smell him. See him. It is now 10:43pm the following day and Douglas should be home in about an hours time. I am ecstatic. In this very moment I feel so peaceful and happy. Yes, right now, the world outside terrifying. But our hearts are overjoyed, filled with euphoric gratitude and blessed beyond belief.  Photo Credit: BSA Photography.com
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