SK on three weeks of Fatherhood

We're three weeks into the "Maya Experience" :) Umm...wow. The past three weeks are a blur with highlights of awesomeness, and sleeplessness. Things began with complete surprise. Maya's due date actually today, so she came a bit ahead of schedule. Sally was hit with something called HELLP Syndrome which is rare and very risky for the mom. Long story short, that boils down to "baby comes out now" kind of a situation. Fast forward 40 minutes from that moment and you have "here dad, she's a beautiful baby girl". And it begins. Me looking down at this flailing helpless little child, who without any effort at all - without any effort at all - completely shifted our reality. Maya is the center of our everything and that is the most amazing feeling we've ever known.

My parents have told me the story of bringing me home, putting me in my crib, looking down at me, me looking at them, them looking at each other. "Now what?". Yea, now what? Kicked from the nest where the nice nurses are a button click away. We actually did ok I think the first night. Got the co-sleeper assembled and the pack-n-play (that thing rocks). She slept most of the time, but we (well Sally) had to wake her up ever few hours for some "boobie snacks". Being a premie we had to keep her on a consistent feeding schedule to make sure she was gaining weight. When we left the hospital she was down to 5lbs 5oz which means she lost 10% of her birth weight (5lbs 15oz) so we were all *very* motivated to keep her eating. We checked her weight on monday and she's at 6lbs 2oz so we're looking good!

She had a bit of jaundice so we were sent home with a tanning bed of sorts (not really tanning, but exposes her skin to low levels of UV light) which helps break down the bilirubin.



She knocked that out in a few days - atta girl!

Day 7: Bring on the Family!

Sal's Dad and Step-mom arrived on Friday, which gave us a few days home alone with the girl to get things settled and ready for the onslaught of family that was about to descend upon us. It was great to have extra pair of hands to help out around the house and most importantly to help love on our girl.


She's been a bit gassy lately which sends her into full on baby meltdown which has been..."challenging" (says Sally from over my shoulder). Yes challenging is an appropriate term. Good thing she's cute :)

Sally's Mom and Brother have been here for a week now, which has been fun as well. Our little girl is not short of love in this house that's for sure. Having the extra help has been awesome. Our dogs are spoiled though. Seems Sandy and MichaelP both love to throw the ball for the pups so they've been getting an overdose of ball throwing.


Today is our anniversary (5 years) and the original due date of our little one. We're 3 weeks in and ready for a nap ;) The day to day, in the trenches work keeps us on our toes and is sometimes minute by minute. It's all worth it though. We find ourselves just looking at her. I can't wait to meet the person she is going to become. (ie, the LPGA champion that will support her parents with all of her winnings -- bring the Raine :)

Thanks for all the notes, emails, cards, and gifts. Everyone has been awesome and we appreciate it! K, there's a diaper that needs changing and it's my turn. Lates!