From Dad's Point of View

I hear a lot of guys say that they will never change a diaper. I've also heard of husbands making a deal with their wife that they will never have to change a diaper. Ridiculous. That deal will never last.

In my opinion, it's easy. It only takes like 1 minute. It's especially easy with Ellie since she only poops like once every 2 weeks (I know, not normal, but she doesn't seem to mind). So a pee pee diaper is a cinch. Hardly any clean up, she a girl so I never get peed on (although Marci has been peed on twice), and it only takes 30 seconds.

Now, only pooping once every 2 weeks has its down sides. A regular poopy is normal sized. Still messy, and often gets on the baby's clothes, but normal. A poop that has been building up for 2 weeks, now that is an interesting experience. One word to describe 2 weeks of poop coming out of baby's butt all at once = overwhelming.

There's just no way to prepare for it. For more details about Ellie's last 2 week poop see Marci's blog post at http://ballroomandbiscotti.blogspot.com/2008/10/cause-to-celebrate.html

Conclusion: Don't be afraid to change a diaper unless the baby hasn't pooped for an extended period of time.

Labels: diaper changing, diapers, pee, poop

Amazing. Exciting. Unreal. Just a few words I could use to describe the whole birth experience. I was in the room with Marci for the whole experience. My experience was obviously a lot easier than hers, but still, it's never easy to see your wife in so much pain and not be able to do anything about it. Enter the epidural. Thank goodness for the epidural. From that point on, the experience was much more fun for both us. I had a great time. It was exciting to watch the contractions on the screen and see that they were getting more intense and longer. It was exciting to think that any minute we were going to meet our daughter who we would love and care for the rest of our lives. Labor started at about 4 a.m. and Ellie was born at 3:39 p.m. The 12 hours of waiting were nearly unbearable! I wanted to meet Ellie so bad!

The actual delivery, I'm not going to give much details. It was awesome. It wasn't gross or scary or anything. I'll never forget the moment I saw Ellie's face. My first thought was "wow, she looks like a sumo wrestler." She was swollen from the delivery, and her eyes were shut so she really did look like a sumo. It was one of the most exciting moments in my life. She was adorable from the moment I saw her. I loved how much hair she had, and I'll never forget her cute little baby cry.

I'm in awe just thinking about what a miracle it is that we created such a beautiful baby (my part of the creation was a heck of a lot easier than Marci's). Ellie is now 5 months old, and every day she is cuter and more fun. I love watching her grow and learn.

What a miracle.

Labels: Birth

Parenting is a pretty cool thing. As a dad to an amazing 5 month old little girl, I am constantly amazed by how quickly she learns and by how much I love her and always get excited to see her. I have learned a ton over the last 5 months, plus the 9 my wife was pregnant, so I thought I would write about it. Most the blogs I read are by moms, so I thought this would add an interesting twist to the standard parenting blog.

About me. I'm a student in my last year of my graduate program. My wife is a kindergarten teacher and she supports our little family (thanks M). So I go to school in the morning, and then come home and stay with the baby for the next 5 hours while my wife goes to work. It's a crazy schedule, but everything has been working perfectly, and I've had the rare opportunity to get to know my little girl really well; an experience I'm sure I won't have with any of our next kids.

Hopefully you'll find what I right interesting. If not . . . enjoy the pictures!