Alright, I am a few weeks late on writing this since I told you all that I would update this thing more often. Here is a quick update on my first nine months of fatherhood. I am here to just share a few things that I have learned in this short time since Maxwell has been born.
Right before Max was born, I had found out that I was not getting a promotion that I felt like I should have. I got super depressed and wanted to just quit my job at that moment. Well just a few days later Kelly called me from the hospital where she was going in for some scheduled observation and asked if I could play hookie for the day and bring her lunch and some other things from the house. I took this as an opportunity to clear my head a bit and just take some time for my family. Once I got to the hospital something happened and my life was getting ready to change. Max was being born that day and there was no longer time for me to be depressed and mopey, I was becoming a dad that day.
In the first few months, patience was tested pretty much daily. Lack of sleep started to take its toll on Kelly and I. We were having to take Max to the doctor on close to a biweekly basis. Bills had started to pile up from his extended stay at the hospital, on top of the bills that were coming in for Kelly’s extended stay in the hospital. Quickly I learned there was a need to find solace in the moments I had. I felt there was never going to be a chance to sleep ever again. I felt that Max would never stop being sick. I felt that I was never going to find inner peace again.
The weeks started to roll along, Kelly and I started to get into a routine and everything was just starting to make sense. Max had started to “sleep through the night” and everything was going smooth. Well you hit these things called regressions and growth spurts and they throw a wrench into your life just as you start to figure it out. Then as the regression starts to pass and you get back to the routine, they end up getting sick and it becomes a never ending cycle.
Right before Christmas, Max left grandma and grandpa’s house with a small fever, 99.2. Nothing too serious since he was starting to teeth a bit. By the time I had gotten home with Max and Kelly was getting him out of his car seat, his temperature spiked to 103.5. We did not take any chances and took him straight to the doctor and the doctor had confirmed that he had gotten the flu. Great, just how you want to start your Christmas vacation, right? It turns out, Max does pretty well with having the flu. He was starting to sleep through the night again and had turned back into his old self.
It is now early February and Max has just finished his 5th ear infection and we are going to speak to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to see if tubes are going to be best for Maxwell. More than likely he will be getting tubes in the ears and we are going to give him his first procedure since being home. Yet again another test in being a dad but you just end up having to put on a brave face and just do what you think is best for your child.
So here are some things I have learned in my first 9 months of being a dad.
- It is okay to panic the first time your child sleeps through the night. I really wish someone would have told me that you will think the worst thoughts when it happens the first time.
- On this note, you will try and remember everything you did with your kid the day before so that you can replicate that the next day. Do not bother, it will not happen again until you least expect it to.
- Do not worry about the amount of vomit and poop that will get on you and your clothes. Laundry soap and washing machines have come pretty far over the years.
- I have learned that all the little moments of them giggling and smiling at you when you go to grab them out of their crib will make up for all those shitty moments when they do more than burp when you are trying to burp them.
So there are a few things I have learned. Not sure if it will help anyone but just throwing it out there. Here are a few photos so this post will not be a huge waste and you did not just spend a few minutes reading my ramblings.