The midwife led me into the delivery room.
On the delivery table, my wife was about to give birth to our baby.
"Please take a handkerchief and wipe your wife's sweat off."
As the midwife told me to do, I took a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped the sweat from my wife's face, not knowing exactly when to do so.
"Hang in there, please!"
"Come on! You can try a little bit more!"
About 10 minutes, maybe, passed.
The midwife took out the baby and held it up so that my wife and I could see it.
（Please..., cry Kotaro cheerfully.）
I looked at Kotaro as if I were praying,
WAAAHH! WAAAAAHH!!!
April 26, 2022 at 23:54.
Our baby, Kotaro, was born healthy.
"Mom, Dad, your baby is a healthy boy."
The midwife said that and she showed us the baby.
"Now, please wait outside while we treat your wife."
I did as I was told and came to the hallway again.
"Thank God… Thank you, my wife. Thank you my baby. I'm so relieved…"
I felt a great sense of relief as well as happiness.
After my wife's treatment, the midwife came to call me.
When I entered the delivery room again, I found my wife and Kotaro lying on the bed side by side.
Kotaro was in a swaddling blanket and wearing a yellow knit cap.
He is a sweet baby at 3,144 grams and 50.5 centimeters.
I expressed my gratitude to my wife and appreciated her hard work.
And, "Thank you for being born. Thank you for making me a dad. Kotaro did a great job, too," I told him how I felt.
Kotaro stared at me with his deep black eyes and squeezed the index finger of my right hand with his cute little hand.
My wife , Kotaro and me.
The time spent with the three family members passed sooooo quickly.
The midwife took our first family photo of the three of us together.
My wife and I wear masks.
I honestly feel that I would have preferred my first family photo without the mask.
But someday, when Kotaro grows up, we'll laugh and say, "When Kotaro was born, we always had to wear masks in this world!"
"I really wanted to see you as a newborn, so I asked your mom to have you delivered at a hospital where I could see you right after you were born."
I sincerely hope that the world will return to a time when we do not have to wear masks, even a day sooner, like Kotaro will surprise and say, "Oh, what!? You used to have to wear a mask all the time!", when he hear this story.
After visiting hours with my wife and Kotaro, I drove home again.
Then, after 2:00 a.m. on April 27, 2022, the date had changed, I appreciated my happiness and went to sleep.
to be continued…
