Fletch - On July 10th, at 5:18 in the AM, Lily arrived. It was crazy, I have never witnessed anything so intense. After 18 hours of terrible pain, a blissful epidural, and an hour and a half of some serious pushing, out popped my daughter. Her dark hair was the first thing I saw, and the emotion was indescribable. Some mix of joy, relief, surealness, and reality all flooded me and all I could do was an awkwardly joyful laugh/cry.
The 2 and 1/2 weeks since then have absolutely flown by, I believe a foreshadowing of the rest of this parenting thing. Sleep is now a precious commodity in the Matlack household, especially for Meg since I usually sleep through Lily's cries. I do my best with helping at night, but it usually takes an act of God to wake me. So Meg is up alot. Last night, Lily slept for 6 hours. A record. I pray that continues...and grows. Megs recovery appears to be a little on the slow side, but she is making it through. Rest is critical for her to be back on her feet again. But that doesn't come too hard due to her sleepless nights. Rest comes easy, that is, when Lily isn't hungry/soiled/too hot/too cold/uncomfortable/gassy/or just plain fussy.
I could almost hear the shifting of my life's path when Lily came. Now the self is a much, much lower priority, however resistant the self may be. Now there is a life entirely dependant on our actions, and ravenous for our love. Right now, these things don't seem hard to do. They are quite enjoyable infact. But many things I once made time for, or thought was important, now has to get in the back seat of this car ride. There is no more room up front. I'm happy to put them back there, as long as I can turn around a visit them from time to time.
Meg is such a natural Mom. I wonder if she found a secret manual somewhere. Many people say how their marriages struggle at this stage, but so far ours has grown stronger. I suppose there is plenty of time still, but it seems to only get better.
I love being a Dad. I love my little girl. I love my wife. And here are some pictures of our Lily Grace:
2 comments:
She is absolutely beautiful!!!! Being a Grammy is the most wonderful thing in the world!!! Lily is very blessed to have two parents who love her so much. I must agree with Fletch that Meg is a natural Mom, but Fletch is a natural Dad who is obviously very in love with his little girl. I look forward to all of Lily's "firsts" and watching her grow. Grammy loves you Lily!!!
I love our Lily Grace too! As ravenous as this little one may be for love.... we've got plenty of it to give! :)
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