So, I have a daughter now

It's Wednesday night, March 19th, which for me, will forever be known as my daughter's birthday. I'm simultaneously thrilled, exhausted, apprehensive, and incredibly overwhelmed. I find it hard to believe that I'm now responsible for every facet of the life and care of the little person sleeping in our hospital room.

And while the new-found responsibility is humbling and awesome, probably the most lasting impression of the day is that I now know that I was woefully unprepared for the visuals that childbirth would present to me. Some things do not need to be blogged about in detail, and I will not do so here. But, as I need to report my impressions of the event, I will sum it up in one word--ew. The fact that something so beautiful can come from something so nasty is absolutely amazing...but really--ew. Anything I have ever seen in any horror movie to date does not compare to the reality of childbirth. Perhaps the next Saw movie will feature a torture victim escaping from the womb, because--ew. Seriously...ew.

All kidding aside, though, I wanted to devote a paragraph to Addie in the hope that she will one day read this. Addie, you have torn down my life as I understood it, and rebuilt it in a way that I never could have imagined. All of this, you did in a matter of seconds when you first looked into my eyes, and I saw the glimmer of recognition in yours. I love you more than I could have possibly understood yesterday, and I know that, somehow, I will love you more tomorrow. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you are the greatest accomplishment of my life.

Cheers to all.