[Baby Bar] Maisy

[Dave S]

On Tuesday 16 Sep 2008, Dave S wrote:
> Hi all...
> Voila!!

Thanks everyone for all the nice messages!

I've done a third round of updates with the photos at 
http://maisy.katyfowler.co.uk/

Can't believe that she's almost a week old - it's been a crazy time which has 
gone both very fast and very slowly.

First two nights were great - she slept a lot, and so did we, though with 
regular wake-ups for various things.  Third and fourth night were awful - 
plenty of crying, difficulty feeding, us tearing our hair out for hours on 
end and desperately needing sleep.

Last night was awesome - I got 12 hours sleep, somehow!!  Perhaps because I 
went to bed before anyone else by a good hour or so, I guess.  I think Maisy 
woke Katy up to feed a couple of times, but Katy also had a good long sleep 
too.

So today we felt a lot less like shit, and a lot more able to cope with 
difficult things, which have also been decreasing in frequency - probably due 
to us being a bit better practised now. We're also getting the hang of 
grabbing small bits of sleep during the day.

I don't mean to sound cheesy, but if there's one thing the last week has 
taught me, it's that there's NOTHING - and I do mean NOTHING - that is a 
bigger test of a man* than fatherhood, in my opinion. Just keeping a level 
head has been almost impossible at times, and yet somehow, I've managed it 
nearly always, with only occasional "arrgh" moments which always coincided 
with extreme tiredness. Even those impossible moments are seeming less 
impossible as the days (well, nights mostly) go by.

(*Not to overlook women and their immense efforts here at all, but I'm purely 
talking about my own experience of it, and what I've discovered about myself 
in the last week. I think fathers have a rather unique role in all this, and 
it really becomes our job to hold stuff together and do our best to make it 
work smoothly, even when that seems impossible. Perhaps that's always our job 
from here on in... I dunno?)

I'm usually such a stress-head, but in the middle of all this crazy stuff 
going on, I've somehow found a calm, patient side to myself which I didn't 
even know existed before. I think I may have actually become some kind of 
responsible adult... which is a first!  :-)

I've also had great fun playing and generally being silly with Maisy. Funny 
how you can simultaneously grow up and become more childlike, isn't it?

Anyway, I have a whooooole new level of respect for all the parents out there. 
Big-up yourselves, 'cos it ain't easy in the slightest, but it's still very, 
very rewarding and I'm loving it!  :-D

More from us soon,

~Dave, Katy and Maisy