One Month: Dad’s Footnote

Hey Cece-

It’s your Dad. Right now you might know me better as “the taller one” or “the one with the really cold hands” or “the one with the removable nipples.” Who knows what goes on in a baby’s mind. That last one is called a bottle by the way. We just started giving it to you last week because your Mother was exhausted from sleepwalking to your crib every night and she just couldn’t take being one of the six people in America actually watching Caron Daly’s late night show.

This first month you’ve been cute as a button. Of course, you’ve also been about as active as a button. Sleep, cry, eat, poop. Lather, rinse, repeat. Which makes you a very normal baby and makes your Dad very thankful and a lot less prone to identify symptoms and traits portrayed in some of the more extreme stories they put in these baby books. 

Now, did you catch that line in your Mom’s last post? The one about how our lives haven’t changed that much since your arrival? Yeah, that’s called evolution or Mom-nesia. It’s how the human race continues to prosper and procreate because trust me, our lives have changed. Let’s look at just a few of the ways:

One, there is now an obstacle course of swings, pack-n-plays, jungle themed mats and pink, puffy things in the living room. Two, time leaps and bends in odd ways. We wake up in the dark and hold you, blink and it’s light outside. Blink again and it’s sunset. It’s weird. Third, like I mentioned above, we’re watching Carson Daly and we’re always inordinately happy that the Sham-wow commercial is not on again. Fourth, I never noticed just how much our house creaks and settles than when I’m trying to escape the nursery after putting you down. Fifth, I now routinely cut your Mom’s food on her plate so she can eat one handed. I guess this is good practice, but not something we normally did before your arrival. Finally, even if we’re just going up the road for ice cream, I feel like a sherpa leading an expeditionary force to the North Pole with the amount of stuff I load into the car. It appears to be inverserly proportional to your weight. I’m sure it’s in the appendix of one of those baby books.

I could go on, but let’s just say our lives have changed. A lot. I think what Mom meant to say is that after one month it feels like you’ve always been around. That you were always meant to be with us. I couldn’t agree more on that score.

- Dad

One Month

Dear Cecilia,

It has now been one month since you entered this world.  You came into the world 4 days before your actual due date and have been amazing us ever since. I do not remember too much about your birth other than being extremely stressed.  You were delivered by an emergency C-section because  my water broke without me or the doctor realizing it.  The surgery itself was quick and I remember your Father sitting by my side, holding my shaking hand and telling me that everything would be fine. I then remember the doctor saying, “Oh my, this baby has such chubby cheeks.” That is officially now the best sentence in the English language. I remember hearing you screaming, someone yelling it’s a girl, and then I recall them saying what a big baby you were weighing in at 9 lbs. Your Father was the first to see and hold you and he brought you over to me.  It was a bit surreal to look at you for the first time and I remember  being in awe that I had carried you around for 9 months and now you were finally here.

I was able to hold you for the first time around 2 am that night.  I was sleepy and you were screaming because you were hungry but we managed to get you some milk and it calmed you down immediately.  I looked at your scrunched up face and tiny fingers and kept thanking God that we had a healthy baby.

One month has gone by very quickly, the first week in the hospital was a rough one.  We both had to have IVs and antibiotics pumped into us and because of this the nurses would take you up to the NICU for a few hours each day.  However, whenever they rolled you into our room after the treatments your Father and I would spend most of the time staring at you and commenting on who you looked like and marveling at your ability to stretch out of everyone’s swaddling attempts. Except this one nurse whose secret we think was dabs of superglue. 

Once we came home we had a fairly easy time adjusting to our new lives with you.  You only fuss when you are tired, need to be changed, or hungry and your sleep patterns seem to improve each day.  We enjoyed getting packages and cards from family and friends anxious to meet you. And now that we know you are a girl (we waited to find out much to many people’s chagrins), the family has made sure to supplement your wardrobe with mountains of pink dresses and cute outfits.

Lola seems to be a bit unsure of your arrival and she tries getting on my lap every time I feed you. Don’t take it personally, she’s the jealous type. You make lots of funny faces and noises that entertain your father and I on a daily basis.  You also love to wiggle and get frustrated when we try to confine you in any way.  You are becoming more alert each day and we are both waiting for your first real smiles to appear.  

This month has been a blur, but its been one of the best months of my life.  Everyone tells you how much your life changes once you have a baby, but I don’t feel our lives have changed much (yet!).  Now that you are here our lives and hearts feel filled with more love and joy than ever before.  Happy One Month Cecilia!

Love,

Mom