Baby D and Family: Still in the Hospital

The 3 of us were in the hospital from Thursday night, when Jenn went into labor, until Sunday morning when they finally said we could go home. Beautiful baby Dalton's first days, I'm sure, were a mixture of ups and downs. I know the love he felt from me and Jenn, Grandma and Grandpa Gordy, G. Grandpa Roybal, Auntie and Uncle Muller was immense. The love from the nursing staff was a bit of a different story. Don't get me wrong, they were amazing. They simply had a job to do. Temperature taking every few hours, cold stethoscopes, heal pokes to take blood samples and the circumcision! He did not like that one bit! Poor little fella!

That was our first "rough" night. He was given local anesthesia and baby Tylenol. All the pain relief wore off around midnight and the poor guy let us know. Jenn and I felt helpless. That he was in pain was obvious. Jenn and I decided to call the nurse. We really wanted to keep the little booger in the room with us all night and not let him out of our sight but, upon the nurses recommendation, we let her take our son to the nursery. We felt horrible for not being able to fix the situation ourselves but we knew no amount of holding and loving could make his pain go away. The nursing staff could. And with that we found some comfort.

The next 2 days felt like a whirl wind. Most, if not all of our time was spent simply being there. We held Dalton almost constantly, changed the occasional diaper and tried to get into an every 2 - 4 hour feeding schedule... it seemed like we never stopped doing something even though there was little that we actually did. I think that was mainly due to our minds never resting and never ceasing to poor forth love. Jenn and I had created a new life. One who is capable of anything. Yet, at this very moment, can do almost nothing. It is the responsibility that all new parents face and Jenn and I are living it now and will be for the rest of our lives. It is an amazing thing.

Adoring mother...

I love him so much!

My 2 angels...

Love that only a mother can know.

Love that only a father can know.

As much fun as we had in the hospital, it was time to go home. Yes, Sunday had come and it was time to leave the safety and security of having 24 hr assistance and head into what would become our reality. An entire new set of firsts for Dalton lay just ahead. An entire new set of first for Mom and Dad lay just ahead also. It was rather daunting to think about everything that we must learn, and learn on the fly! Obviously, we would look to past experiences, help and advice from our loved ones and common sense. While believing we were capable of rapidly adapting provided some comfort, the most solace was found in knowing we are a team. The 3 Musketeers... Athos, Porthos and Aramis! Jake, Jenn and Dalton!