Welcome to Fatherhood

It has now been 5 days since Emma (who has now just woken up) was born. I knew that I was entering an unknown like no other unknown I’ve experienced before. Billions of people have done it before and now it was my turn. I feel like last night was my first real taste of the not so pleasant side.



Since Kara had a cesarean she has had to stay for a few extra days in the hospital. Emma has been kept under observation in the nursery because Kara had a fever and infection while in labor. It has only been as a precautionary measure and Emma has a clean bill of health. This has meant that she has not been sleeping in the same room as Kara at night. Since it was our last night we asked to have her in the same room with us so that we could feed and take care of her. It was seen more of a test run with safety net. Well it got real pretty quick.



Emma is already on 4 hour interval feedings which is something that we both wanted. My first lesson learned is that a 15 minute feeding does not last 15 minutes. A 15 minute feeding includes 15 minutes of feeding, 15 – 30 minutes of burping and adjusting to get as much gas out, changing the diaper and promising her a pony if she would go back to sleep. Then we will sleep for two to three hours and do it again.



I also learned that all those jodies (things the group yells when running in a military formation) that I learned in the Corps still have a use. Since I have no musical talent I have used these to calm her down instead of the Rock-A-Bye Baby variety. Of course I replaced all the references of guns and killing with baby friendly ones about diapers and bottles (well that reference only changed in meaning). The one working best for me right now is "Hi Ho Diddley Bop Bop".



Now Emma and the family are back home and as I was told by my neighbor, the real work now begins. Our first couple of hours were a bit humorous because it was coming up on feeding time when we got home so Kara sat down and started the breast pump Julie and I started finding all the little bits and pieces that are needed for this process which the hospital had been providing. We discovered that we had most everything but we needed to organize a little better. Emma finished off with a poop that challenged the diapers weight limit which caused Kara start laughing. She was laughing so hard that she ran to the bathroom so she wouldn’t pee in her pants. I believe we officially entered our new season in our lives.