I had one of those weeks. It wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. No, far from it in fact.
My week was fantastically life changing.
On January 7th at 4:04pm I became a father to an unbelievably cute little girl.
Ayla Rose is her name, and here are some of my thoughts during my adventure into parenthood:
- 12:30am doesn’t feel like an acceptable time to go into labor.
- So what now? We just wait here? Oh, look honey, the hospital has WiFi.
- Whew, that epidural nearly made me pass out. Hey nurse, don’t tell me to sit down. I’m perfectly fi..whoa, I think you’re right. You win this one.
- Birth is nothing like the movies. Not. Even. Close.
- Nurses do all the work.
- It’s more fascinating than it is gross.
- Why can’t they get her to cry? Why is the nurse calling her assistant over? This is the longest (and worst) 10-15 seconds of my life. How do I respond when my wife asks if everything is all right with our daughter? She can see the worry and tears on my face.
- The sound of her crying? The most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.
- God, you are great. I am undeserving. Bless this child.
- I cannot wait until the doctor and nurses leave so I can hug my family.
- I’m really, really tired. And this cot from last night is uncomfortable. Perhaps I should try the recliner instead.
- Should I feel bad about checking our daughter into the nursery for the evening so we can get some sleep?
- Being a parent now only means I am to be a responsible adult. It doesn’t mean, however, that I must be mature. I choose to still laugh at words like “flatus” and “poopy.”
- What do we do with her when we get home?
- When do we get to go home?
- Wow, I think we’re going to need a cart for all the stuff we brought up to the hospital.
- Excellent, I installed the car seat correctly! I hear 90% of parents get it wrong on their first attempt.
- Watching my wife transform into a mother is beautiful.
Photo credit: Amy Lee Photo
Beautiful and brought tears to my eyes again, just like when I walked into the hospital room and saw you holding her the first time
Scott! This made me cry this morning too! Although, my own recent adventure into parenthood has made me a bit weepy here lately so I'm not a good judge of what is actually touching anymore. I'm pretty sure this is though!
It's amazing how our journey's into parenthood are so similar and so different at the same time. I totally relate with all you wrote in this post, but my experience couldn't have been more different than yours. I can imagine how scary that 10 to 15 seconds were when she didn't cry because of having the same gut wrenching feeling when they told me she was coming and I knew it was too early. But when she got here she cried instantly and I was like, "Oh, someone's baby is crying…Wait, that's my baby!"
They are gifts from God! Can't wait to meet Ayla and introduce you to Effie someday!
Oh, and don't stop laughing at duty or pianist either. Funny is just funny, no matter how much grown-up responsibility you have!
Never! Need more proof? I just chuckled reading the word duty on screen.
oh that "duty." my first reaction was that you'd misspelled it =)
and: congratulations again. this was a neat read
Congratulations, Scott!