And I can't believe that I actually am holding a laptop and not my son at the moment. No worries though he's in Daddy's arms! We've been home for 5 days now and things are looking great! After a few rough...ROUGH nights, switched schedules, bad latches and lots of hormones and tears, we seem to he headed in the right direction. Over the holiday Chase got lots of visitors and lots of sweet gifts from Santa.
We spent our Christmas at our home with my family and Erik's parents. Chase got a sweet teddy bear that tells nursery rhymes from Little Mama. And he received a baby music, Aggie slippers and Diapers!!! Yea!!
(break)
Daddy's taking over on typing because little Chaser is a ravenous feeding machine. In fact, it is reported that he is responsible for the death of Boba Fett. On a side note, not sure if anyone ever mentioned this, but there is a lot to learn when it comes to newborns. Much, probably most of it, comes instinctively but not all. Val and I both tend to react immediately based on instinct, but then later require expert opinions to assuage our self-analytical second guessing nature. That said, it is definitely reassuring that our instincts are usually reliable. I think ultimately this is the nature of parenting, to do your best in the immediate moment to moment, and then to use those rare moments of down-time to step back and self-analyze so that your best will be better next time. Val continues to amaze me with how natural she is making the whole process look. I've always known how capable she was, but it is still impressive to see in action.
Still, in our 'age of information' where almost everything is immediately accessible, it is amazing how many skills remain very much hands on. I am specifically referring to our post-delivery meeting with a lactation consultant. While we had taken a breast feeding class, and Val had attended a separate 'mommy group' based around breastfeeding, our understanding was still very intellectual and not quite practical. The first few days, we may have been effective at breastfeeding and were giving the baby what he needed, but after the post-delivery meeting we were much improved. After just a few pointers, Val's face lit up as she realized how much better the whole process worked,and how the mild pain she was experiencing before became almost negligible. It's encouraging for someone like me to know that no matter how accessible information is, we will always need teachers for some things.
Anyways, just some reflections on one week of daddyhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment