A Long Awaited Arrival

The long awaited blog has arrived. Many have asked when this blog was going to be posted. Of course, it could not be posted until it was preceded by the birth of our first child which happened one week ago today. Samuel Asher Moffitt (Sammel to his cousin) joined our family at 8:00 AM on Sunday morning, October 22. Normally, with many first births, the questions posed are questions such as these: how is the mom, how is the baby, who does he looks like, etc. Not so in our case. The question immediately posed was: oh no, his father is a Type A, organizational, clean freak; how will this little boy survive and will his father have a melt down.

I’m happy to report that, after 7 days, everyone is still sane, alive, and no, the father has not had a melt down. A near meltdown maybe, but not complete meltdown. I have done countless loads of laundry, changed a diaper, then changed another 1 minute later, stayed up all night, and purchased not one but two bottles of “gas drops”. I’m not convinced gas drops are anything other than colored liquid that gets all over the little guy’s sleeves when he wipes his mouth but countless new parents before us have sworn by them so I guess we’ll follow the crowd. After all the fast food I ate in the hospital, I probably could have used some as well.

We have had some humorous moments already, to be sure. Like the time the first day we were home, I decided I could change a diaper quick enough that I didn’t need to cover up his little pecker. Bad idea…I had to wash his shirt, my shirt, and the changing table pad as the little fire hose sprayed everywhere. First note to self: always, always, always cover it up. Or like the time we debated on whether or not to give Sam a bath because he hadn’t had a dirty diaper in a while and we were afraid he might go in the tub. By a 2-0 vote, we elected to proceed with a bath, stripped him down, put him in the tub and then had to pull him right back out because he went ahead and did his business from both ends while lying in the tub. Second note to self: go with your gut and wait for that dirty diaper before bathing if you don’t want to have to clean and sanitize the tub as well.

Not all has been humorous, to be sure. Both mother and father are sleep deprived, the family dog is attention deprived, and emotions are high because the nights are spent trying to understand the crying and what it means. A dear friend who came to visit us in the hospital offered these words of wisdom: when they are new born, they keep you up nights because they are crying…when they are teen-aged, they keep you up nights because you are crying. A bit dismal of an outlook but a realist’s perspective I’m sure. There remains a recurring diaper issue: no matter what brand we try, when Sam sleeps in a horizontal position, he usually wakes up in a pool of urine. This is troublesome when it is in his crib, but downright maddening when it happens on the couch. I’m nearing the point of duct taping his diaper to his body to create an impenetrable seal. I’m told this may cause some discomfort but desperate times call for desperate measures.

All told though, the first week has been great. Make no doubt about it, the Lord has been very gracious and faithful to answer everything we have prayed for so many months. We are blessed with a happy, healthy child, mom is recovering well and our new little family is coming together nicely. Thanks so much to all of you for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes and we look forward to introducing Sam to each and every one of you. Until next time…now where is my roll of duct tape?!?!