It’s amazing how long you can sit and stare at them as they sleep.
As I type this, my first child, my beautiful baby daughter, is sleeping on my lap. My wife and I seem to spend a lot of time running the gamut of emotions, from wonder at this small miracle that has become part of our lives to intense terror that we’ll screw up the most important task we’ve ever had. Exhillaration mixed with melancholy.
A few thoughts I think I need to get off my chest, mostly raves for all the support that we got from family, friends and staff:
Thank You to the admitting nurse. Despite the fact that my wife did not seem to be “officially” in labor according to “the book”, you had the wisdom to convince the doctor to admit her anyway and your foresight saved us the difficulties that would have occured when her water broke a few hours later as she really was in labor despite earlier appearnces.
Thank You to the LDR nurse. I know that this is an everyday experiece for you, but you managed to somehow be caring, calm and professional, encouraging, and excited for us all at the same time.
Along those lines, Thank You to the doctor for bringing our daughter into the world.
Thank You to my wife’s two best friends who were there to provide support and lend us strength.
Thank You to our parents. I’ll forever treasure the joy you showed as you held your granddaughter for the first time.
One minor rant for the hospital: I know that doctors are very busy people, but was it really necessary to wake my wife at 4:30 AM for a routine blood draw after she’d finally gotten to sleep at 2:00 AM (the nurse confirmed that 4-6 AM was the time scheduled for all the blood draws so that the results would be available for the doctors if they came in early)?
Speaking of the nursing staff, Thank You to the day-shift nurse. You were a font of information and were remarkably patient and a calming influence for two nervous first-time parents.
A little of both raves and rants for the lactation nurses. We’re grateful that you were there to assist my wife with some difficulties, but did you have to act like it was such a chore to do it? Would a smile have killed you?
Lastly, Thank You to my wonderful wife. Thank You for going through months of pregnancy with good humor, puting up with bouts of emotion, tired days, poor sleep, a sore back, and many other physical discomforts with an unfailingly positive attitude. Thank You for the time you spent in labor, enduring the indiginties of a hospital stay and the pain and frustration of labor itself with strength, determination, and, incredibly, even occasionally humor. You never yelled at me, you never blamed me for your pain, and you allowed me to share as much in the birth of our baby girl as is possible for a husband and father to do. In other words, Thank You for the gift of our daughter.
