A New Reality

January came and went and here I have a new baby girl, a new addition to my family.  It was a week ago today that my wife and I were getting ready for our trip to the hospital, the only thing holding us up were the contractions that didn't want to start immediately after her water broke last Sunday night.  We both thought that we had at least another week before she went into labor, at most another two when her actual due date was.  Yet, that wasn't what was in store for us.  Rather, for whatever reason, (perhaps my hurried trip through Costco that incidentally made my wife walk a little too fast), my wife became one of the roughly 10% of women who have their water break before they go into labor.  Oh joy.  Once again, something we weren't expecting.  Luckily for us, my wife has a group of doctor's and midwives who are more lax than most when it comes to rushing along a pregnancy.  After her water broke, they told her to just wait at least 24 hours before calling in.  Well, we went in the morning after her water broke just to make sure things were OK, which they were, and after which we went home to wait it out.  Then came the flurry of activity to get things in order.  Call my parents to grab our son and watch him for a few days, get our bags by the door and ready to go, and then wait.  So maybe not quite the flurry of activity I alluded to, but still, we didn't know what to expect or what was going to happen.  The only thing we knew was that we wanted to the contractions to start so that we didn't get any flack from her doctors.  Sure enough, Monday evening, the contractions started and we waited till the last possible moment, about 11:30 at night, before heading to the hospital.  For those women out there who haven't had their water break before labor, it sucks as there isn't that cushion of water to help soften the contractions.  The labor is much harder.  But after about 8 hours in the hospital, our new daughter came flying out, almost literally.  In fact, she came so quickly that the midwife and nurser didn't even have everything ready.  It was a short flurry of activity as when our daughter's head came out, her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck with her right hand shoved against her face.  They tried telling my wife to hold on, but for any woman who as given birth, you know that it is easier said than done.  They worked quickly, I rushed them along, and within a minute our daughter was free and breathing.  Being two weeks earlier than her due date, she was only 6 lbs, 9 ounces, and yet, she was only an inch shorter than her brother's 21 inches at birth.  There were a number of people who had guessed correctly that my wife was carrying a daughter (we didn't know until she came out) and I was not one of those who guessed correctly.  Just two days before my wife's water broke, I had a dream that it was a boy.  Boy was I wrong (yes, pun intended).  So now life has taken a turn for the crazier, and yet, the it doesn't seem that bad.  Our son is adjusting well, and despite the fact that I have a lot more to take care of around the house, I'm making it work.  It just what I have to do and quite frankly, its not stressing me out at all.  I have a healthy wife, daughter, and son, and I couldn't be happier.  Life will work itself out, and for now, its going smoothly.  I'm sure it won't always stay this way, but for now, its good.  Of course, this past week held now work for me as I was home helping out, so today will be the real test as I head back to work.  More on our amazing daughter and son tomorrow, hopefully.  But for now, my family is up and I must get to work around the house getting things moving.