One Week old

How in the world did this happen???

We now have a beautiful one week old child. I know--- every parent says that their baby is so beautiful, and they insist on showing every unsuspecting person a dozen pictures of a pinkish/gray silkworm looking thing in the hopes of generating excitement. However, our baby really IS beautiful...

We are both amazed at his progress. On his first day, he insisted on breathing on his own, and pulled out his breathing tube twice. He was using a pacifier within 12 hours, or alternately, his fist. Since breathing and sucking reflex are the two things that are supposed to have slow development for newborns, the nurses are very impressed.

But beyond all the trophy brandishing, Lisa and i are so in love with his spirit. It's not just us, either. One of the nurses told Lisa how much she likes watching him, and how he reminds her of her son. Another complained about having to rotate babies because she wanted to watch him all night. He almost never cries, and when he does, he calms down so quickly. He is so reasonable, gentle, soft, patient, and sweet already. Really-- there's something so special about him.

Whenever we get the chance, we are driving over to the NICU to be with him. Lisa is getting to give him spongebaths and we've both changed diapers already. We are making an effort to hold him skin-to-skin, and i have to tell you how wonderful THAT is. It's like taking morphine-- your bloodpressure drops, with your eyelids, and it feels so wonderful. He really responds to it too, even when it's MY chest he is sleeping on. We notice that he responds to us when we talk to him, and he loves it when i sing to him. He'll stop crying just to be able to listen. Let's hope that keeps up!

We are both so, so, so grateful for everyone's support and good wishes. We have been inundated with emails, letters, and phone calls and wish we could return them all (this is another thing that all parents say); they all mean so so much to us. Especially being so far away from everyone we love, it means a lot for us to still feel connected to people. Please keep them coming.

I can't wait for you all to meet him.
He's such a beautiful boy.