Ziggy Dean

There are so many things I want to say about the last seventy-two hours, that I can't figure out where to start.  Maybe with the fact that the anesthesiologist was on vacation and therefore Sara had to be completely sedated for her C-Section, something we didn't even know was still done?  That not just the anesthesiologist, but our doctor, the lactation consultant, even the cafe in the hospital, were all on vacation at during parts of the three days we spent at the hospital? That everybody in town seemed to be having an August baby, so no private rooms were available after baby Ziggy was born, meaning we spent the night sleeping on rock hard cots, in a room with five other moms, their husbands, and our crying baby, nurses interrupting what little sleep we could steal every five, ten, fifteen minutes?  How about the fire alarms that rattled the walls of the delivery room six hours after Sara's C-section, and popped off randomly through the afternoon?

That's no place to start.  Not after experiencing something as amazing as becoming a father for the first time.  The best place to start is with Ziggy Dean Thomas, our baby boy.  Born at 7.6 lbs and 19 inches, at 2:55 in the morning on August 14th, he's already the best thing that's ever happened to me.  I spent this morning with him in my lap, his head on my chest.  No phone, no camera, no computer, just me and Ziggy.  He slept while I stared out the window of the hospital and projected a million lives onto my son.  He's only been here for two days, but I feel like I've known him for months.  All the kicks, all the wiggles, all of the plans I dreamed for him while he slept in his mother's belly, he's all of those things and so many more.  He's Ziggy, he's always been Ziggy.  I'm already proud of him even though his accomplishments include burping, pooping, and eating.  I get eighteen, twenty-five, fifty years to see what he does next, to watch him grow, to be proud.

All the nurses thought he was pretty cute.

Sara's water broke around 12:30 and she spent the next hour or so in labor as the doctor prepped for surgery.  We're so happy we were able to wait until the baby was ready.

Sara went into surgery and about fifteen minutes later the nurse brought out baby Zig.  

What big feet!

Holding him for the first time.

Say "Hi" to Grandma Sofia.  It's been amazing having her here, she's been an absolute rock through all the madness.

We had all sorts of adventures with the hospital staff, we speak almost no Korean, and they spoke only a little English, but overall we had an excellent experience.

It's only been a day since I took this picture, but he already looks different.

Such a great moment went Sara met Ziggy for the first time.

Mother and baby are healthy and doing great.  We're already home with the little guy and despite her C-Section, Sara is doing awesome.

That's it!  What a couple of days.  Everything sort of blended together while we were in the hospital, so it's great to be home.  For now the dog is at a friends house, but I can't wait to have him home and have the whole family together.