It's a.....GIRL!
Hey Y'all. This blog shares the biggest news of our lives! Megan and I had our first baby, Delaney May Phalin on Monday, August 26th at 2:26 pm. She weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces and was 20 inches long. She's concentrating on growing and gaining weight every day.
Before Delaney joined us, Megan and I took one last photo of us as a family of two.
From the male perspective, I thought labor would be tough, exhausting, painful and difficult. Those were all correct assumptions, but each of these traits peaked in their abilities. Megan is stronger than I ever imagined. Labor was not easy and progressed very slowly. She delivered after about 30 hours of labor, with each hour being different. Some involved awful sleep, while others involved unavoidable pain. Megan is an absolute trooper and brought the most beautiful baby girl into this world and changed our lives forever.
After arriving Sunday morning at 7:30 am, we were still having slow progress that crept into Monday morning and mid-day. With things moving slowly, I went down the street to get something to eat and bring back to the room. Before leaving, Megan mentioned, "Hurry. I don't want you to miss anything." I thought to myself, 'Don't miss anything? It's been 27 hours and limited progress. I think 20 minutes will be fine.' Getting back to the room was a shock as I returned to her doctor and additional nurses checking progress and telling her it was time to start pushing.
Megan's sister Emily is a Labor and Delivery Nurse and we had discussed her being in the room during the delivery. The only problem with this plan was that Emily lives in Colorado. She had scheduled to be here during our due date and was, but our baby wasn't quite ready to meet us. Emily returned to Colorado and we figured she wouldn't be able to join us for the birth. After Megan's next appointment, we had a scheduled induction date which allowed Emily to book a flight later in the day we were scheduled for. Megan's water broke the night before so there was a chance Emily would again miss the delivery. However, our baby wasn't in a huge hurry after arriving at the hospital and Emily arrived about 13 hours into labor and was there to help Megan along. She also shared helpful 'dad' tips on how to be a more supportive partner. When we got into the overnight portion with limited progress, we were going to try and get some sleep, but had to continue rotating Megan from side to side due to back spasms from being in the hospital bed so long. We took turns and helped together when necessary.
Emily was such a large part of our birth story and it was amazing to have here there. She was able to be an advocate for Megan, a translator of 'doctor speak' and just an overall positive presence. After having her there, I can't imagine our birth story without her. All those Colorado babies and families are lucky to have her as part of their birth story on a regular basis.
Some people including family and friends knew we were at the hospital and getting ready to welcome our baby. I tried to share updates, and between contractions Megan occasionally looked at her phone. It was hard to keep up with everyone and I think they all understood that there were important things going on in the room that didn't allow us to be on our phones constantly.
In full transparency, this blog was supposed to be out on September 1st, but we've been a little busy. The first couple weeks of parenthood have been incredibly difficult, but they have been the most rewarding experience ever. The feeling of holding your child in your arms is greater than anything I've experienced previously. They'll start to smile at you, they know your voice when you enter a room, and they truly do have a smell that I love. I thought the baby-smell thing was nonsense and just older moms saying they love it. Well, I'm joining that club. We love snuggling our little girl and holding her close. We're so excited for the road ahead.
Some sleepless nights wear on you, but as I'm awake holding her, I realize I could just stare at her for hours.
Getting Personal
We decided very early in our pregnancy not to find out what gender our baby was and we stuck to it. We had a name chosen for each gender and it was so fun to wait and be surprised. After being home for about a week, we've easily been gifted more pink clothing items than I thought we would ever own for a baby.
We discussed what we wanted the birth to look like prior to getting to the hospital. Most call this is a 'birth plan' and that is what we did as well. We had a backup plan and knew that we may have to take an alternative route based on how things were going. We did some serious alterations but it ended up working out just fine because it was ours. There is no reason to compare your pregnancy or family to anyone else.
Megan read a lot of books about birthing, babies, infants, sleep patterns and everything in between. She shared what she read with me and I took it all in. However, the baby arriving taught us more in the first three days than anything we could have read. You very quickly start to learn what your baby likes and doesn't like. They can't communicate with us, but their sounds are cues that help.
Megan and I have been working this family as a team effort. We work to find naps for one of us, or trade who gets up, changes diapers (dipes), and tag-teaming bath or tubby-time. I would recommend or even seek out more help with a 'meal train'. Megan's friend set this up via email and we have had so many family meals brought to our house to be baked or heated, along with snacks and any food item possible that made meals and snacks easy and not time consuming.
When you get home, have a good show to watch, podcast to listen to, or something you can do one-handed, because you'll definitely have some time on your hands with the baby occupying your eyes, ears and being held in your arms.
Megan and I have been working on all the details of Delaney's birth story and wrote that down to remember forever and share with her or other family members.
(Shameless Plug) As part of our financial plan, we've setup a 529 (College savings plan) for Delaney. Obviously this is very early. Actually too early, because we couldn't finalize it without her social security number which hasn't even been assigned yet. The bigger plan behind this is to get 18 years of contributions and compound interest to help pay for her college and avoid that ever-dreaded student loan debt.
There is no shortage of photos so if you want to see more, follow us on social media or ask for more!
Before Delaney joined us, Megan and I took one last photo of us as a family of two.
From the male perspective, I thought labor would be tough, exhausting, painful and difficult. Those were all correct assumptions, but each of these traits peaked in their abilities. Megan is stronger than I ever imagined. Labor was not easy and progressed very slowly. She delivered after about 30 hours of labor, with each hour being different. Some involved awful sleep, while others involved unavoidable pain. Megan is an absolute trooper and brought the most beautiful baby girl into this world and changed our lives forever.
After arriving Sunday morning at 7:30 am, we were still having slow progress that crept into Monday morning and mid-day. With things moving slowly, I went down the street to get something to eat and bring back to the room. Before leaving, Megan mentioned, "Hurry. I don't want you to miss anything." I thought to myself, 'Don't miss anything? It's been 27 hours and limited progress. I think 20 minutes will be fine.' Getting back to the room was a shock as I returned to her doctor and additional nurses checking progress and telling her it was time to start pushing.
Megan's sister Emily is a Labor and Delivery Nurse and we had discussed her being in the room during the delivery. The only problem with this plan was that Emily lives in Colorado. She had scheduled to be here during our due date and was, but our baby wasn't quite ready to meet us. Emily returned to Colorado and we figured she wouldn't be able to join us for the birth. After Megan's next appointment, we had a scheduled induction date which allowed Emily to book a flight later in the day we were scheduled for. Megan's water broke the night before so there was a chance Emily would again miss the delivery. However, our baby wasn't in a huge hurry after arriving at the hospital and Emily arrived about 13 hours into labor and was there to help Megan along. She also shared helpful 'dad' tips on how to be a more supportive partner. When we got into the overnight portion with limited progress, we were going to try and get some sleep, but had to continue rotating Megan from side to side due to back spasms from being in the hospital bed so long. We took turns and helped together when necessary.
Emily was such a large part of our birth story and it was amazing to have here there. She was able to be an advocate for Megan, a translator of 'doctor speak' and just an overall positive presence. After having her there, I can't imagine our birth story without her. All those Colorado babies and families are lucky to have her as part of their birth story on a regular basis.
Some people including family and friends knew we were at the hospital and getting ready to welcome our baby. I tried to share updates, and between contractions Megan occasionally looked at her phone. It was hard to keep up with everyone and I think they all understood that there were important things going on in the room that didn't allow us to be on our phones constantly.
Brand new Grandmas!
In full transparency, this blog was supposed to be out on September 1st, but we've been a little busy. The first couple weeks of parenthood have been incredibly difficult, but they have been the most rewarding experience ever. The feeling of holding your child in your arms is greater than anything I've experienced previously. They'll start to smile at you, they know your voice when you enter a room, and they truly do have a smell that I love. I thought the baby-smell thing was nonsense and just older moms saying they love it. Well, I'm joining that club. We love snuggling our little girl and holding her close. We're so excited for the road ahead.
Some sleepless nights wear on you, but as I'm awake holding her, I realize I could just stare at her for hours.
Getting Personal
We decided very early in our pregnancy not to find out what gender our baby was and we stuck to it. We had a name chosen for each gender and it was so fun to wait and be surprised. After being home for about a week, we've easily been gifted more pink clothing items than I thought we would ever own for a baby.
We discussed what we wanted the birth to look like prior to getting to the hospital. Most call this is a 'birth plan' and that is what we did as well. We had a backup plan and knew that we may have to take an alternative route based on how things were going. We did some serious alterations but it ended up working out just fine because it was ours. There is no reason to compare your pregnancy or family to anyone else.
Megan read a lot of books about birthing, babies, infants, sleep patterns and everything in between. She shared what she read with me and I took it all in. However, the baby arriving taught us more in the first three days than anything we could have read. You very quickly start to learn what your baby likes and doesn't like. They can't communicate with us, but their sounds are cues that help.
Megan and I have been working this family as a team effort. We work to find naps for one of us, or trade who gets up, changes diapers (dipes), and tag-teaming bath or tubby-time. I would recommend or even seek out more help with a 'meal train'. Megan's friend set this up via email and we have had so many family meals brought to our house to be baked or heated, along with snacks and any food item possible that made meals and snacks easy and not time consuming.
When you get home, have a good show to watch, podcast to listen to, or something you can do one-handed, because you'll definitely have some time on your hands with the baby occupying your eyes, ears and being held in your arms.
Megan and I have been working on all the details of Delaney's birth story and wrote that down to remember forever and share with her or other family members.
(Shameless Plug) As part of our financial plan, we've setup a 529 (College savings plan) for Delaney. Obviously this is very early. Actually too early, because we couldn't finalize it without her social security number which hasn't even been assigned yet. The bigger plan behind this is to get 18 years of contributions and compound interest to help pay for her college and avoid that ever-dreaded student loan debt.
There is no shortage of photos so if you want to see more, follow us on social media or ask for more!
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