I am happy to say that our first daughter, Kitara Alexis Blevins, was born this last Friday, April 30th, at 3:32 AM. Though this is only the start of a journey, I feel like, in many ways, that we have already traveled a very long way. Before I get too deep in the narrative though, I had better show off her stat card.
At this point, I have written at least 6 different versions of this post. I cannot find a way to describe the entire experience and keep it concise without butchering the whole thing. Due to this, I am going to try to just hit the high points and fall back to my typical list approach. :)
The Delivery
The process leading up to the delivery was interesting. The delivery process started about 3AM on Thursday and finally ended on Friday at 3AM the following day. I won’t go into epic detail about the entire process, but I do have a few key points that really stuck out to me throughout the ordeal:
- My parents are AWESOME. While you are waiting for nature to take its course, its really nice to have people there to keep you distracted and to provide support. Mom and Dad drove 1.5 hours to sit with us while we waited for delivery, only to drive back and go directly to work the next day. It was really appreciated.
- Never drop off your pregnant-about-to-deliver wife at the front door while you go park the car. They will take her and stuff her into a room and it will take you 45 panic-filled minutes to track her down! Geez.
- Guys – watch your child birth if you can. It was amazing. Nothing man has ever accomplished can begin to match the complexity and magic in the birth of a child. I am astounded every time I think of it.
- Speaking of birth, when Kitara was being born, her head was in the shape of a upside down V. (Turn your monitor upside down and look at this “ V “). How is that possible? Wow. The kid has got to have brain damage now or something…
- Giving birth to the child is only 1/2 of the process. There are other things that must go on that can be even more difficult than the first part. Hang in there for your wife or, if you are the wife, be sure to try to break your hubby’s hand. :)
- Finally, everyone was worried about intruding or being a bother when visiting, but that was really a great blessing to us. It was nice to see some friendly faces and have someone to give us a small reprieve here or there.
Through it all, the delivery process went very well and, even though Crystal had some complications that were quite painful for her, I have to say that I feel very blessed that everything turned out well in the end. After spending the next few days at the hospital, and receiving visits from our awesome friends / family, we were ready to go home!
Note: Hover over the images for a little context of the pictures.
The Journey Home
After spending a couple days in the hospital, they finally allowed us to go home. Kitara was doing well and, although she was losing weight, she was happy and healthy. Crystal was feeling excellent (though the soreness would set in a few days later). So, we packed up our little girl and hit the road.
Thinking back now, I am pretty amazed that they let us take her home. Crystal and I were prepared to care for her, but I am still a little shocked on how little I knew (and how fast I ended up learning it). Those first 2 days were TORTURE. As it turns out, caring for a baby is all about learning to communicate with her. She cries –> you try to guess what she wants. :) So far, my basic “Testing Suite” is this:
- Has it been 2-3 hours since her last feeding? If so, feed her.
- Do you discover a unique aroma or does her diaper seem overly bulging? If so, change her.
- Still crying? Straighten out her clothes and swaddle her. Protip: There is nothing more effective than a good swaddle – it does wonders if you get it the right tightness.
- Still crying? Hand her to her mother and make some excuse about the house potentially burning down if you don’t fix some thing or another. Leave the house for at least 20 mins and the problem will fix itself. :)
All in all, I have to say that I love my new life. My brother, Dave, asked me if I have felt the enormity of the change yet and, to be honest, I haven’t. Although I have a little less time (and sleep) than usual, I have to say that everything feels as it should be. I am content and happy and loving my two girls. :)
Special Thanks
Last but not least, I really have to take a moment to thank everyone for being so supportive. I feel very blessed by the number of people who either wished us well, visited us at the hospital, or simply called us up to see how things were going. I always felt a little guilty b/c I was often distracted as I was learning to care for Kitara, but your support really made a HUGE difference for us. I am going to refrain from listing everyone who was there for us, as they are too numerous to mention them all. Between family, friends and twitter peeps, there’d be an epically long list. I will just close w/ this:
To each and every one of you, thanks so much for caring and, if nothing else, listening to / reading about a proud daddy spew about his little girl.