Jake Owen has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. 'The One That Got Away' singer took a little time off from his busy career to welcome his first child on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 22, 2012) -- and the hands-on father was not only right there in the delivery room, he actually delivered his daughter himself.

"I've done a lot of cool things in my life. But that, by far, was the coolest thing ever," Owen tells CMT News. "There's nothing that will ever top that. I don't understand what could be better than that."

Owen said he and his wife Lacey had been discussing the possibility of her giving birth on Thanksgiving just the night before. Her contractions started early Thanksgiving Day and proceeded to get closer together into the afternoon. "So we went to the hospital around 3:30, Lacey pushed a few times and Pearl was born at 5:15," he recounts. "I delivered her. I was right there, and I caught her when she came out."

The singer adds that it's already been difficult to leave his newborn daughter at home and go back out to fulfill his touring and promotional obligations. But despite his challenging schedule, Owen says his top priority is to be a great dad and role model for Pearl.

“I told Lacey the other day, I said, ‘You know what? If our girl will look at me the way that you look at your dad, and if our girl will talk about me to her friends and her boyfriend or her husband one day the way that you talk to me about your dad, then my job in life will be complete," he muses (quote via Country Music Is Love). “Because a dad to a girl is a role model, and it’s someone that she can count on and stand behind, and it’s my dying goal to make sure that my daughter knows that, that I’m here for her and for no matter what.”

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