Days 79-93: Babytime!

On June 4th my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, our fourth child. We now have a perfect pattern of boy-girl-boy-girl at home bringing us joy and keeping us busy and sleep-free. Everyone at home is adjusting pretty well, I'd say, even though the 3yo has had to come to terms with the fact that he's not the baby anymore. But we're learning how to balance our attention and affection so that everyone feels loved and appreciated.

This is our first baby born in Colorado, and in fact is the first born outside Maryland. Our first three children were born at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, one of the greatest medical institutions in the world. But I will say that even Johns Hopkins can learn a thing or two from the UC Health system here in Colorado. All of the doctors and nursing staff that helped us for the three days we stayed in the hospital were exceptional, and everything went perfectly. I knew that my wife's OB and surgeon was a pretty good doctor when I saw the ten-year-old plaque on the wall commemorating his 5000th baby delivered, but after the surgery it was pretty clear that he is the best in the business, and that put my mind at ease.

I will say that having a baby at this time was a bit of a surreal experience. Having to spend an extended period of time in the hospital is one thing, but doing it during a global pandemic and wearing a mask 24 hours a day was very strange, for lack of a better word. And on top of that, just a few miles away in downtown Colorado Springs, BLM protests led the mayor to impose a nightly curfew, something I wish I had known about before heading out after 9pm one night in search of food. The whole world outside was turned upside down, but we barely noticed. We were in our little bubble of happiness, remembering what it's like to change the diaper of a newborn who doesn't want to be changed, and just trying to get a little sleep.