Back in the saddle, so to speak

Soooooooo, about 5 months and 9 days ago Sara gave birth to our beautiful little girl, Lily. Well, since that time I have been meaning to write down the feelings I had during that event. So, here goes:

It wasn't at all what I expected. Sara went into labor at home, and basically stayed in labor, having contractions and staying comfortable, while I went to school to treat some patients. I got home, made some dinner and then we just kind of hung out waiting for the contractions to get close enough/strong enough to merit a trip to the hospital. Sara was really quite calm during the whole thing and around 11:30 she decided we better go. There was no frantic bag packing or speeding through red lights. Just a serene car ride through the heart of Milwaukee's ghetto at midnight on a weekday. We parked in the parking lot, walked in and announced that we were ready to have our baby.

So we got set up in our delivery room and proceeded to watch comedies. The last one we had on before Lily came was the highly inappropriate "Blazing Saddles". We were glad we didn't have any racially/ethnically sensitive nurses helping us out. We took some naps in between movies and Sara finally started pushing around 11:00 AM. It didn't take long. There was no screaming. There were no bodily fluids flying around the the delivery room. No explosions, no gurgles or squishy sounds. Up until the very last moment, it was just me, Sara and our sweet motherly nurse. Finally our OBGYN, Dr. Eiche, and the OB resident came in and "caught Lily". She was so squished up when she came out. Her face was so swollen that her eyes looked "Asian".... yikes.

We spent the next two days, hanging out with Lily at the hospital, teaching her to eat and getting lots of help from the nurses.

Honestly, the entire event was so calm and peaceful. It was amazing to first see Lily's head and then her whole body. To think that she started as a sperm and an egg is just mind numbing.

The last 5 months have been much better than I thought they would be. Her 1st 6 weeks of life weren't all that fun, she cried and cried and cried non-stop. She woke up at all hours of the night. But since that time she has started sleeping through the night, playing with toys, laughing, smiling and just being very pleasant.

Before Lily was born I was expecting life to become sort of boring, or less fun. The fact is that it has gotten better. I still make time to play intramural soccer, ride my bike and go for runs outside. Sara still has time to go for runs, get her haircut, go to movies etc. We are fortunate to have such a sweet little baby, she really does let us get away with a lot. We are more pressed for time than we were before, obviously. But it has helped me to manage my time better, and I am actually getting more done in any given day than I did before. Are there days when I wake up feeling like a new, sleep-deprived parent? Yes. Are there times when it would be really convenient to not have a screaming baby at 4:30 AM? Yes. This is going to sound extra cliche-y, but I honestly wouldn't trade the whole experience for anything in the world. I get so excited every day to come home to my girls (and Dirk I guess).

The funny thing is that I am totally ready to start trying to have another one!!!!