02/19/2025
“It didn't hit me until she was coming. I swear, I was fine. I actually helped deliver her. It was just me and the nurse until the very end; I was the one holding my wife’s leg up. But when the baby started coming out, I mean-- not just the head— but fully coming out, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I started getting hot flashes. I had to sit down and put an ice pack on my head. I think it was just the weight of it all. Not a scary type of weight, but the anticipation had just been so huge; it's something I've been wanting for a long time. She’s three weeks old now. I’ve been lucky to take off work and get that time in when she's brand new, when she's just—here. You know? There’s been a lot of sitting on the couch. A lot of TV. We’ve ordered a lot of food. A lot of changing diapers, a lot of holding her. It’s fu***ng wild, holding her. I just stare at her. I don't know what else to do. I just stare at her with amazement-- thinking about how she's going to grow up, and we get to be there and watch it. She already has her own independence. The nurses told us she was self-soothing that very first night at the hospital, so she already knows how to take care of herself. She doesn’t even like the binky. So, you know, I hope she keeps that part of herself. She’s also a little bit of an animal. She likes to growl and bite when she’s feeding. She’s ferocious, you know? I hope she takes that with her too.”
