Matt, Ellen and I couldn’t get to the hospital fast enough today.
Of course, that meant we arrived there at 8:30 a.m., only to find out that the social worker that we needed to meet with to begin the process wouldn’t arrive until 9:15 a.m. 😉
Thus began a day of waiting, and extensive bureaucracy, that would lead up to finally seeing the babies. (But until then, lots, and lots, and lots of waiting. Patiently. And sometimes not so patiently. But always respectfully. ;))
Matt, ever the champ, was like the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, running around and jumping through all the bureaucratic hoops necessary all over the hospital to get the babies released from the baby nursery (we’re so grateful they didn’t have to spend time in the ICU!) and into a private room where we could finally be with them.
I’ll spare you the minutiae, but I will tell you that it took more than SIX HOURS to complete all the steps necessary to get the kids released to us in a private room for the night. (They’re keeping them one more night for observation, though there are no immediate health concerns, etc.)
And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: PHOTOS!
Our son, Henry Charles, at three days old.
Our daughter, Julianne Joy, at three days old.
Our twins, Henry (left) and Julianne, together at three days old.
It’s almost indescribable the feeling of meeting our babies for the first time. It’s shock and awe, in the very best way possible. They absolutely took my breath away.
Henry and Julianne were doing lots of sleeping when they first arrived, so the three of us basically stared and cooed and generally were puddles while watching them snooze after they were rolled into the room. We did some gentle poking and prodding, trying not to wake them, but so curious and excited about those little swaddled beings.
I know we’re incredibly biased. I know. But they are SO CUTE. And loveable. And cuddle-able. My god. I feel it so strongly it almost makes my chest hurt.
Henry eventually woke up and we got to hold him for the first time. He spent a lot of time in my arms, and feeding him a bottle and burping him for the first time was just a gobsmacking experience. There was the probably very normal first-time parent paranoia (“Am I doing this right?!”) and luckily we had Grandma Ellen there (with experience in raising four of her own) to help us along the way.
“Josh,” she said with a kind laugh, “you’re going to have to pat him harder than that if you actually want him to burp.”
I did. And then Henry did. (Burp, that is.)
Bless her.
I got to hold Julianne for a while, too (so tiny! so many facial expressions!), and then we changed their diapers for the first time. We got them into some of the Carter’s half-onesies we brought (the kind that leave room for their still-healing umbilical cords), and swaddled them in the super soft, really cute Aden and Anais blankets we got at our baby shower.
There are so many cliche, over-the-top things to say about all of this. Bliss. Cloud nine. Surreal. Amazing. Over the moon. Knock me over with a feather. I mean, I could go on and on.
But you probably get the picture. (And now literally, having seen them above, you really do get the picture.)
For now, time for some sleep.
More soon from Mumbai.
–Josh
New Dads on the Block 