Well, this post has been four months in the making for several reasons: 1.) I just haven’t made it a priority to post and 2.) I wanted to let some time pass and write about it after the newness and excitement had worn down.

Sarah and I began taking the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth classes at Sarah’s request. At first, I was skeptical and not really enthusiastic about going to the classes because I thought, “Well, we’ve already had 2 kids. Why start something new on #3?” I’m so thankful that we ended up going.

We took our class from a local certified Bradley Method instructor in Monroe, Louisiana with two other couples who were both having their first child. The classes were a great time of encouragement and group awareness of things that we could do to prepare ourselves for the birth. The classes provided a venue to purposefully set aside a time each week to talk about the expectations of the birth and the things that we needed to decide. It brought Sarah and I together and allowed us to really feel like a team.

The class was a great encourager to me as a third time father-to-be. On the previous two births I felt that I was at the mercy of the nurses and doctors to tell me what was happening at the births of our sons. I didn’t know what stage we were at or what to expect. I often thought when things happened during the lengthy delivery, “Is this good, bad, or expected?”. The Bradley Method trained and educated both of us to know when and how things would happen, so that I could be more than a confused bystander during the birth, but an educated coach and advocate for my wife.

The actual birthing method put forth by Dr. Robert Bradley in the 1960′s was to view the birthing process in a natural way that focused on healthy moms and babies coming into the world in due timing without the use of medicines and imposed timing.

This is exactly what happened for us. We were able to have a healthy baby boy despite going in to the hospital with our son in a breach position. Our wonderful OB was able to turn the baby by procedure of “external cephalic version.” That’s just a fancy way of saying she  moved the baby with her hands  similar to kneading bread.

Elias Warren Richey was born almost 24 hours later without the use of any pain medication or epidural. It was due to the preparation and the thinking behind the Bradley Method. I’m so glad we took the class and I highly recommend the class to first, second, third, or 5th time moms AND dads.

This is the stuff of movies. Two brothers who differ on the question of God. I recently watched the Grand Valley State University Debate between these two men. They discussed the Iraq War, the existence of God, and other controversial topics. Contrary to what you might think, Christopher Hitchens is pro-Iraq war and his Christian brother thinks the war unjustified and wrong.

Also, Peter Hitchens’ new book, The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith looks to be very interesting. See the clip promoting the book:

Peter Hitchens Author Interview–The Rage Against God from Gorilla Poet Productions on Vimeo.

Here is a YouTube video clip from the debate between the two brothers back in 2008 at Grand Valley State University:

It brings a smile to my face to think that Peter Hitchens answers and opposes his own brother. Just thought I’d share these links with you in case you hadn’t seen or heard of them.

On inauguration day, I watched the outgoing president’s website and then watched the 44th President’s website rollover even before he was even sworn in as President. I was stunned immediately at the noticeable upgrade of design and functionality. I am not a democrat and didn’t vote for Barack Obama. That withstanding, I think that he only helps his presidency by keeping the official website of the President looking modern and user-friendly. It continues to impress and improve.

I am very impressed with the new White House App for the iPhone. It publishes the weekly addresses and the daily press briefings. You can watch the photos that the official photographers take of the First Family. It does so in a clean and professional way. On the whole, I wish I could train and pick the brains of some of the men/women who are responsible for the graphic design and back end building of the this site.

It is not easy to do and to do it where any goof or mistake is noticed and reported is really all the more impressive. If you haven’t looked at the website or the iPhone App, check it out when you get some free time.

Sarah and I both prefer to see The Tonight Show being hosted by Conan O’Brien if it were up to us. Growing up I would watch Jay and David Letterman just before going to bed, but started watching some Conan O’Brien in college during those years of later nights and later bed times. For a time we would watch Stephen Colbert’s Colbert Report and then watch some of Late Night with Conan O’Brien before hitting the hay. We both think that NBC would be better off in the long run to keep Conan and not Jay, but that is a moot point. I just hope that he is on FOX or another network that puts their episodes online for free so we can follow whatever he ends up doing come this September.

I thought he was very classy in his exit and made some appropriate quotes to my generation’s high level of cynicism when things like this happen:

We give it a day! And we don’t even really give it that day. We are so partied out ahead of time that we don’t even want to do anything but exchange some gifts and eat all before the day is half-over. This year, we aren’t opening all our gifts on December 25. We aren’t exchanging stockings with some of our family until after the new year, which is still in the 12 Days of Christmas. We are planning some meals and special get togethers during these 12 days to try to have a blast and really party hard because we have great reason to party. We are salmon swimming upstream in a culture of Christmas fatigue. Christmas needs more than a day and that is how we are going to try to operate.