Shanetown

Everyone who told me "everything's going to change" was right. I can now talk about lactation, birthing methods, breastfeeding, discharges, and the pros and cons of circumcision without discomfort. The past several days, my entire world has been narrowed down to "baby, baby, baby." I'm glad that babies aren't rocket science. There's been a lot to learn, but I feel we've made a lot of improvement towards being competent baby owners (also known as 'parents'). Life would've been hell if baby formula involved a series of a hundred steps or intense mathematics ("Did you use the derivative or the reciprocal as your variable in figuring out the amount?" "What do you mean!? I was just going to use a number!") There is a lot to know, but babies are good about forcing you to immerse yourself in baby bootcamp. I can't imagine how taxing all of this would be on someone who wasn't planning on having a child. They're like a

Sleep deprivation has set in as well. Shane feeds about every three hours, which means we're up to feed him three hours. Actually, we're up every two on average. It takes half an hour to feed him, and then more time to clean him, and put him back to sleep, but the three hour-clock has already begun. Supposedly, he's allowed to go for one four-hour spurt without feeding at night, but that's still not a lot of sleep. I'm good about waking up in the morning, but when roused from a deep slumber I don't know my name or up from down. Carrie's a lot better about waking up and figuring out what's going on. Her maternal instincts have kicked in full force. At first, she was scared that she was going to hurt the baby or do something wrong. Now, she's fiercely protective and enjoys holding him for long periods of time. She doesn't let anyone save the nurses and I touch the baby. Carrie is totally caught up in how awesome our son is (that's a 100% awesome for those who were wondering).

Tonight is our last night at the hospital. I'm finally starting to catch up with people I didn't contact my first several days here. There was always a nurse, a nurse tech, a registrar, or someone else coming in to the room to dispense advice medicine, or paperwork in addition to having a needy baby and a hurting wife. It'll be nice to be home, but also rough. There won't be a nursery or a lactation consultant on call. We'll be all on our own. It'll be the real deal! I'm excited. It won't be easy but it'll be nice to have our boy in our house. God, watch over us and please don't have let the cats burn the place down.