Mexico Medical Student |

I’m back! Before I say anything, I definitely wanted to say thanks to all those who wrote privately to wish us and baby well. I’m happy to say that our daughter was born perfectly healthy and is an absolutely heavenly gift. Mommy is doing well, recovering from her C-section a little slower than expected, but definitely on the mend. I will be posting a couple of pictures soon, as well as a Readers Digest^tm account of the week+ I was there. I came back to GDL 6 days after birth and returned to classes this last Thursday, just in time to catch our final, wrap-up lecture on renal physiology. I missed the entire block (for such a complex system 2 weeks was too short by comparison on how much time was spent on other systems, but that’s just my opinion) and the test was today, Monday. I did get some reading done while at home, but no serious studying. As any medical person knows, “the beans” are hard, so I basically hit the ground running and haven’t stopped, which is why I haven’t posted. (not to mention the trivial little detail of dealing with a newborn at home before I left)

In spite of all the school pressure, I am elated with baby. She is just a doll. I can just look at her for hours, imagining everything she might become, just amazed at the beauty in my arms being half my genes (Mommy has the better half in the looks department) and a whole new person. Unfortunately, school doesn’t stop, so we’re separated temporarily before I go back for our mini break. I did get everything set up with videoconferencing though, and we’ve already had a couple of webchats in spite of the special-ed network infrastructure here (bandwidth is OK, latency stinks; packets negotiate when they want to), so I still get to see her “live” for a little bit here and there.

Before posting this, I looked at my site and saw it has been 11 days since my last post, yet it feels like months, even a different life. While that sounds rather melodramatic to say, it is rather accurate, because parenthood does change one’s life. I had a friend tell me that the moment our daughter would be born, my life would change in an instant, that suddenly I’d see everything differently and that it just has to be experienced to be understood. I don’t disagree, but honestly, the event was more of a dissociated experience, more shock and disbelief that this child we had tried so hard for was finally here. It took a little while longer, but it was more of a door opening inside, allowing access to feelings and perspectives that had always been there dormant, such that it felt natural, “right,” rather than a divine finger-snap of change.

I didn’t mean to get so philosophical, and I get that way anyway so I can’t blame fatherhood, but it does make it moreso. The fact that I’m not with “my girls” kinda leaves me feeling blue, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s a small sacrifice to be apart for 3.5 weeks, especially for something like finishing classes and finals, putting one more semester behind me towards a goal that will make things better for all of us.

More soon with pictures and stories…it’s post-test night and I’m exhausted.