Fatherhood: Week 1

It's little wonder that my readership is so small, given my frequency of blog entries.

I suppose I have a bit of an excuse of late (who would have thought having a child was so time consuming?). Regardless, perhaps it's time for an update.

As per my previous post, Alex was born at 2:49 a.m. on October 5th. We actually went in to the hospital at 7:30 a.m. on October 4th for our induction, but it turned out to be a long process. Gels were applied at around 8:45 a.m. and again around 1:00 p.m., but it wasn't until about 6:00 pm. that Tam's water broke (a messy affair in the birthing unit hallway as we were out for a stroll). Then the labour began. She was in a lot of pain. I did what I could to comfort, but there wasn't a lot of fun to be had. Around 9:00 p.m. they decided to give her an epidural. This lessened the pain significantly (or so I'm told). Things didn't progress quite as well as hoped, and the doctor decided in the early morning hours of the 5th that it would probably be best to proceed by way of a Caesarian section. I called home as they got her ready to be wheeled into the O.R.

Once they were prepped and had started the surgery, I was allowed into the operating room. Tam was shaking uncontrollably from the epidural, which is apparently a normal side effect. I kept her company as the docs did their work. Around 2:49 a.m., I heard a cry, and we were soon treated to a view of our daughter before they whisked her away to clean her up and so forth. Shortly thereafter, I was given our bundle of joy to hold as they needed to stitch up the wife and monitor vitals for a while. We proceeded to the special care nursery where they did a "heel prick" to test the blood. Alex's blood sugar was low, so they supplemented her with some formula and would have to monitor her overnight until they had 3 tests over the acceptable blood sugar levels. She had a quick visit with the grandmothers and her great-uncle Bebe who had come to the hospital to say hello. Mom didn't get to hold her daughter until a couple hours later until she was back in her room and the effects of the epidural had started to wear off a bit.

Due to the C-section we had to stay in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. Alex spent a while on the "tanning bed" as she was showing some signs of jaundice. We had a number of visitors from both sides attend the hospital to meet the newest addition to the family. As we had a private room, someone was able to stay overnight with mom and daughter. I did so on Thursday and Saturday night, with the mother-in-law assuming the duty on Friday night.

Things have gone relatively well since being home. The pets, while perhaps a bit jealous, haven't tried to attack the little one, and mostly ignore her. Alex sleeps a lot, and through just about any noise. However, she seems to get extremely aggravated around 11:00 p.m. (gas?) and persists in her cranky state until usually at least 3:00 a.m. Thankfully, after that she seems to sleep fairly well.

She's absolutely adorable, and I'm in love. Taking care of her takes so much time, but it seems well worth it. Overnight, it's as if priorities have shifted. It is incredible how one little person can have such a profound effect on your life. I'm sure there will be many more stories to tell in the days, weeks, and years to come.

Keep checking My Flickr page as I will update new photos there with some regularity.