Protect and Serve

As much as I hate the cops, this title seemed to fit perfectly for what I have to say so far.  Addy Ann is officially 3 weeks old today, so I figure it’s time to give a dad’s perspective on having a newborn around the house.

Week 1 – We spent Monday – half of Wednesday in the hospital.  Other than Addy’s actual birthday, which was super hectic, we just sat around and had visitors the other days.  I decided to be proactive with the stuff going on from day 1.  Even though I volunteered not to see the head come out OR cut the umbilical cord (because the doctors get paid good money to do their job), I decided not to sit around and let the baby cry or be dirty.  So by the time we got home and on our own, I was pretty good at changing diapers and clothes, in my opinion.  I think the practice in the hospital, where they would fix it if I messed up too bad, helped me gain the confidence to be able to change a few dirty stinky diapers.  We took Addy to her first doctor’s visit, which went well since she checked out all well.  I figured I’d drive differently with her in the car, but I was simply watching the other idiots on the road more diligently.

Week 2 – This week was pretty chill.  Visitors still frequent the apartment, which we don’t mind at all….I actually feel bad for most because Addy will be wide awake when we’re alone, then she’s knocked out cold when people come to see her….some get lucky to see her big eyes wide open. Me and Bre decided to do shifts or something close to it.  Since I’m not good at staying up late and I’m old so I’m pretty much up at the crack of a$$ in the mornings, thats what we do….I go to bed at a decent hour, then I take over when Addy is too much to handle in the middle of the night, something like 3am or later.  Then Bre gets to sleep in after the morning feeding since I’m here to help.  This works for now since I’m not working yet and Bre is still on leave.   Week 2 also featured my 30th birthday, which I was “made to” go out and enjoy myself.  I’ve actually been pretty good at being a homebody since Addy got here.

Week 3 – This past week featured some more visitors, including my sister who is full of wives tales, glad she came though because that’s how these things get passed down from generation to generation.  On the 14th she also went to see her pediatrician again who recommended that we add some formula to her feeding rotation to give her some more calories since she didn’t gain any weight between visits.  It was nothing to panic about, but it also gives me an opportunity to get a chance to feed her, which was the only thing I missed out on since she’s being breastfed.  So now once a day, I confuse the hell out of her by feeding her, while she’s awake and looking around.  Ha!

Overall I’m enjoying the time I get with Addy, even if she is screaming her little lungs out at 3am.  I don’t think she comprehends day and night yet.  Bre also thinks I’m overprotective of her since I won’t let her go out into the world.  For now, I have the doctor on my side saying that there are just too many germs out there at the moment.  So for now, I’ll be overprotective to keep my healthy baby feeling fine.  We’ve had some good laughs at Addy’s expense so I guess you could say that this parenting thing is fun.

Thanks for tuning in…….

BROWNLEE