Baby Reactions

People seem to fall into 2 camps with babies:
1. Can't wait to get their hands on them
2. Mortally afraid of them

I'd have put myself in the latter category as recently as a week ago. It's amazing how quickly you adapt when it's just you, mom, and a terrifying little newborn in a room for a couple of days. Especially when mom has had surgery and can't get out of bed yet to grab him herself. Now I enjoy holding the little guy and sometimes have to ask mom to give me a turn (unless it's 3am, then turns are plentiful).

It's all true

Before the little guy was born it was fun to talk to parents and get their take on having a kid and hear all the types of quirks they had when they were little. One kid liked to be all swaddled up to sleep while another needed to have one arm free, things like that. Universally, they advised stocking up on sleep because after the birth it was going to be a while before sleep was again available in significant, steady amounts.

Well it's true. In the hospital the baby was up at all hours of the night screaming, but at least sometimes the nurses would come to borrow him for tests or something and we could get some sleep in. At home, it's up to us to suck it up and deal with it. Last night at 3am, as I held Dax in the other room trying to soothe him so Julie could get a little bit of sleep, I clearly remember thinking "My God, what I have I gotten myself into?"



Then 10 minutes later he very suddenly stopped screaming for no reason (I had to double check to make sure he was still breathing). He was out like a light, no explanation for it. I looked down at him and he was so cute and peaceful and I was very happy. So advice givers are right, you lose a lot of sleep but it's worth it.



I do miss you sleep, here's hoping we get together again soon.

Excitement

"There you go! Good job!" Never thought I'd see my wife so excited about someone moving their bowels. Here I've been moving my bowels regularly for pretty much our entire relationship without even a pat on the back. On the plus side she's recovered enough from surgery by day 2 that she can help me clean up the disaster that is a newborn's diaper.

The Labor Ordeal

18:30 on 04/07/2011. Two excited parents-to-be ready to depart for a quick meal and then to the hospital to begin the induction procedures.

An abbreviated timeline:

Cervadil: Thursday night
Pitocin Started: 07:35
Water Broken: 08:20
Epidural: 09:30
6cm: 18:15
8cm: 20:00
Pushing: 22:45
Birth: 23:33
Baby to Room: 03:15
Poop everywhere: 10:30 - the rest of my life

It was a long, rough day for mom. Lots of drugs and the unfortunate side-effects that go along with them. Everything seemed to take forever until pushing started and then it was emergency c-section and all over in no time at all.

The worst part is that I was nearly done with a Starcraft level I'd been working hard to beat and all of a sudden the nurse says "she's complete, it's time to start pushing." Thank goodness for save games.

He's here

It's been nearly 36 hours since the birth and one question is on everyone's mind: What's his name? That's a great question and I'm glad you asked.

Vital stats:
Arrival Date: 04/08/2011
Arrival Time: 23:33
Weight: 6 lbs 10 oz
Height?: 20 inches



Having a baby is weird, I feel like I should have had to pass a test or get approval from some authority to be entrusted with the care of a little person. For now, I'm just doing whatever seems logical and listening to the nurses. I'd add in some fun anecdotes here, but for now they all involve bodily functions and I'm pretty sure only a baby's parents are interested in those things.