Friday, March 21, 2008

Fatherhood (so far)

I can not believe Ali is only 18 days old. It seems like she's always been in my life; there's a temporary block on my short-term memory without her around (either in Kathy or after birth).

I love my daughter so much. It's a totally irrational love because she doesn't do anything except poo and sleep; but my love is unconditional for her. The moment I held her for the first time my entire paradigm shifted; I was no longer the center of my life. My hopes and dreams all revolve around her now and my focus at work has increased dramatically because I am so driven to succeed for HER and not for me. It's indescribabe.

It's been an awesome eighteen days; but MAN it's a lot harder than I thought! No one bothered to tell me that newborn babies wake up every two hours to feed, so that was an unwelcome surprise :P. I haven't gotten more than five hours of sleep a night since she's been here, it was really taxing on my body (and my nerves) at the beginning, but now my body is adjusting.

My guy friends warned me, "Dude, diapers are gonna suck!" but those aren't that bad. Maybe I just have a high tolerance for for obscenely bad odors and poo-stained baby bottoms?

I can summarize life as a father in one word: selfless. I no longer even have the *option* of just caring about my own needs now that she's here! It's great, I love it! I highly recommend it to everyone; it'll change you for the better or break you (most likely both, honestly).

1 comment:

Unknown said...

isn't it funny how no one tells you how rough it is at first? All you hear about are the little toes, and the cuddling and the smiles.. Not the poopy blowouts, waking up every 2-3 hours, and the fact the only smiles you'll see for a couple weeks are due to gas. Yet its such an amazing journey. I'm glad you guys are doing well during this adjustment. Besides being married, being a parent is one of the greatest blessings from God. Take care you guys!