Twelve Hours

(as of 5:03 PM, June 29 2006)

Sophie is twelve hours old now and it feels like weeks. We are in the Mother-Baby unit now, having been moved from the Delivery room a few hours ago. We've tried breastfeeding a couple more times but she's not really into it. Not that she's complaining (she never complains, just sleeps and squirms) but she doesn't root around when we touch her cheek, and she doesn't suck a finger offered. She'll probably wake up around 3 in the morning hungry for a good big feed. The nurses say not to worry, and if she hasn't fed in another twelve hours to wake her up and really try to get her to take something. In the meantime, she is a delight to behold. So sweet and gentle, so quiet, so restful. There are many other babies in the mother-baby unit, and lots of crying going on, but Sophie sleeps through it all. Tricia says the other babies are like dogs barking - when one starts the others join in.

Tricia looked over at the baby just now and looked back at me and said "That's ours. We have to take that home with us." It's still completely surreal. All those months of waiting around for the little one to appear and now she is here and it's still hard to believe. At the same time, it feels like she's been here forever and I can't imagine life without her.

More photos soon - Daddy is working on the obligatory little-hand-clasps-big-hand pose, the little-head-in-big-hand pose, the eyes-wide-open-taking-it-all-in pose (this one's harder since she's had her eyes open for cumulatively about 45 seconds since she's been born). So stay tuned - posts will be erratic, coming only when I can get away from the hospital and find some internet somewhere, but I am writing about most of what goes on. Non-parents may get tired of hearing about Sophie's first yawn, her first smile, her first stinky diaper, but parents will know what we are talking about, we hope. And we'll try not to be too kitsch...