Baby Boy Enters World: My First Nephew

Well, yesterday around 8:00 PM, my first nephew was born. His name is Isais Imposey (or maybe Isaiahs, Isaias, Izais, Izaias, Izaiahs, not sure yet. Seems to lack consonants, but oh well. And I'm not sure how Imposey is spelled either, but I'll find out). He was 8.5 lbs and four of those pounds were in his feet.

There were a few interesting things about the pregnancy and the hospital that I thought I would share.

1) It amazes me how anyone can just walk into a hospital and go anywhere they want to. We were looking for the nursery and spent about ten minutes going wherever we pleased. Nobody questioned us or anything. I used to think how impossible it would be for Harrison Ford to go into that hospital in The Fugitive and steal all that stuff. But really, it is that easy. You just have to look like you already know where you're going.

2) Waiting areas in hospitals should be more like waiting areas at the dentist. They should play soft music, have plenty of books and magazines, a deck of cards, chess/checker board, and that little brain teaser game where you have a triangle with little golf tees in them and you try to jump the tees until there is only one left.

3) After a mother gives birth, her stomach does not immediately drop to its original size. I actually already knew this one, but seeing it always freaks me out. It seems like if that huge baby left the stomach, it should just turn into a big flab of skin. But it doesn't. I also wonder if it leaves a big air pocket and what happens to that air?

4) There's something amazing about seeing a human that is only hours old. That little guy heard my voice within the first hours of its life. Now that's crazy. And it's amazing that it comes out so well prepared. What with skin and all. They seem so fragile.

5) The nurse has to prick the baby's skin and draw blood. This was pretty cool. The nurse had this little plastic thingy that looked almost like an enlarged guitar pick. She held it in between her fingers and then pricked the baby's foot by pushing a little button at the end of it. Think of a tiny exacto knife where you just push a button and it shoots in and out really quick. Anyways, I thought that was cool and didn't know they did that.

6) The little guy stopped crying when he heard my voice. I'm sure this was a freak coincidence and it actually got to the point where I would wait till he was about to stop crying, then try to time it so that when I talked it looked like he stopped crying because of my voice. But I like to think it was me. And that makes me like him more.

7) Of all the times to have a bunch of people come to visit and be loud, the birth of a newborn seems like the worst time for this to happen. Yet it does. I can't imagine being in labor for how ever many hours, giving birth, then having all of your family and friends right there to congratulate you and take your baby from you. There should be a law that gives parents like 12 hours alone before any visitors are allowed in the room. I'm sure I'll be annoyed when it happens to me.

8) Newborns have crazy long fingernails. At least relatively speaking.

9) How in God's name does something so large come out of something so small?