During our pregnancy, I would often hear dads talk about the moment they saw their child for the first time. Some described it as a holy moment connecting it with a supernatural experience with God. The birth of their child somehow changed them giving them a bigger perspective on life that now went beyond themselves. I was eager and curious to experience this moment. How would I feel? Would I change? Would I forever see life differently.

On April 22, I experienced that moment of birth. And I have to admit that when it happened the delivery room didn’t fill with a choir of angels. I didn’t feel the rushing wind of God’s presence. I simply felt thankful. Thankful that our son was healthy. Thankful that Anne’s labor was over. I was just thankful.

I didn’t have a new revelation of who God is. I didn’t have a new awakening about what life is all about. In many ways, Jack coming into our lives was as natural and normal as anything I have done. He had been my son from the moment we found out Anne was pregnant. When I finally met him face-to-face, I had already known him for a long time.

When I think about Jack’s birth, I think about Elijah as he waited for God to pass by. A mighty wind came but God wasn’t in the wind. Then came a fire and an earthquake but he wasn’t in those either. Finally, there came a gentle whisper and God was there. That is how I feel about Jack’s new life.

It’s during the changing of a diaper or 2:32 am feeding or when Anne and I are simply sitting on the couch staring at our son’s sweet sleepy face that we are reminded of God’s goodness and faithfulness. It is in these ordinary, everyday (or nignt)  moments that we realize that our life has indeed forever changed.

Out of the five nights we have had Jack, two of those nights we have filled the nursery with FM static. And both of those nights were his best sleeping nights. So it looks like we are going to stay with the sweet, soothing nighttime sounds of radio static. Just writing about it is making me sleepy…Zzzzzzz

One week ago we were in the delivery room wondering when our son would come. Now we have had Jack with us for one week. The strange thing about Jack being one week old is that just last week he was 40 weeks old. Why is it that we reset his age once he is out of the womb?

Is it possible for us to buck the system and just go ahead and call him 41 weeks old? And make his birthday sometime around July.

Maybe adults should also get a reset at some point. How about once you turn 40 you can reset your age to 30 or maybe even 20.

But anyway, I just wanted to wish Jack a very happy one-week birthday!

I love springtime.  It is a time in which we transition from winter to new life––the leaves return to the trees and the flowers begin to bloom. There is the awe of new growth springing to life all around us. Over the past few days the yellow rose bush in front of our house bloomed for the first time this year. It is always a wonderful sight. 

This spring we got to experience our own birth of new life as Jack was welcomed into the world last Wednesday. It was certainly a moment of awe.

So here is a picture we simply call: New Life.

This morning as Anne was finally trying to get some sleep, I told her how sorry I am that it had been another long, sleepless night. She groggily replied, “It’s okay.” And then with a little more energy in her voice she said, “He is just so cute.”

She can’t spend much time reflecting on any inconvenience Jack might be creating because all she can think about is how wonderful he is. He might be causing her sleepless nights but that is a minor discomfort compared to the joy she receives from looking into the sweet face of her first child.

Anne leaves no doubt that she is a mom in love with her boy.

We had another long night last night. Jack just did not want to sleep. We knew going into bedtime that he might be restless because he had slept all evening. His nursery environment was also a tad different. When I went to go turn on the static from the radio, I couldn’t find a strong static sound. There was some type of music or talk bleeding in all across the dial. So we opted for NPR which was playing classical music.

Around 3:32 AM, I again attempted to find a strong stream of static and found something that at least seemed workable. (By the way, when you are scrolling through stations in the middle of the night there is some great 80s music being played. It’s good to know Whitesnake lives on even at 3 in the morning)

After leaving the radio on static, Jack actually got in some pretty good sleep. We are not sure if it was because of the new sound or by this time he was just tired of crying.

Anne said this morning we need to find a cheap radio. I guess today I will be going to Wal-Mart and asking the guy at  the electronics counter, “I need a radio with poor quality, something really really cheap that you would be embarrassed to sell”

Right this way, sir.

After two nights of Jack crying uncontrollably and his parents up all night, we took the suggestions of our wise readers.

Last night we started out by swaddling him much more tighter. Then we turned the radio to static (thanks Christine) and set it next to the crib. We also readjusted the lighting situation in the nursery making it dark enough for Jack and yet enough light for someone changing diapers.

I also implemented a blowing technique next to his ear that I saw on the Happiest Baby on the Block video. 

And the results were sleep for both mom and dad!

Mom feels the most rested since our first long night. I know it still doesn’t get easy for a while but we’ll take all the small victories we can get. Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Nighttime Jack made his appearance again last night. After a casual Saturday of peaceful behavior that made us wonder if we might have the perfect child, it once again happened. As the moon subtly revealed itself in the night skies, a little newborn became a crying machine.

So now I ask the mothers in the blogosphere, what are your best tips for calming a crying nighttime baby (particularly one who is just a few days old). We would love to hear your suggestions. Seriously, we would LOVE to hear your comments. So feel free to leave anything that you think could help. Really, anything at all. Don’t be afraid to share your insights. Your perils of wisdom. Or something your saw on Cosby or Full House

In other words, HELP US!

After a night of crying and screaming causing great stress and sleeplessness in mommy and daddy, Jack has turned into a completely different baby. When I got up this morning after getting little sleep, Grammy (Anne’s mom) was sitting in the nursery with a sleeping Jack. My first thought was, “where is Jack and who is this baby?”

Apparently we have a daytime Jack and a nighttime Jack. One is an angelic, peaceful newborn who radiates innocents. The other is a uncontrolled, screaming monster whose sole mission is to drive mommy and daddy crazy.

They say this doesn’t last forever. And I’m sure they are right. But right now, I know I am going to start getting nervous as the sun goes down and we are once again introduced to nighttime Jack.

It is 6:35 am and I am sitting in the nursery finishing up the last Jack watch on our first night. I wish I could report that Jack just slept through the night and mommy and daddy are well rested. But unfortunately Jack decided to let us experience from night one the joy of sleeplessness.

Jack spent most of the afternoon to early evening very sleepy. Anne was struggling to get him to wake up to feed. We thought our biggest struggle during nighttime was going to be getting him up for feeding. As it turns out, getting him up was not a problem.

Starting around 9 or 10 pm, Jack was intensely screaming. The kind that keeps you asking, “What’s wrong?” We changed the diaper. We changed his clothes. Added a blanket. Took away a blanket. Swaddled him. un-swaddled him. Bribed him with a car when he turned 16. But the screaming continued.

So Anne and I took turns rocking Jack throughout the night. I do have to say that Anne shouldered most of the load last night so I am hoping she is getting good sleep right now.

We have our first pediatrics appointment in a few hours. Hopefully she can give us some magical solution to getting infants to sleep but I’m assuming she’ll just say, “Welcome to parenthood.”

Anne’s mom, Sue Goldsmith, also known as Grammy just arrived in Nashville this evening from Denver. She is going to be here for a while to help us transition into life with Jack. It’s going to be great having her here and we look forward to Jack getting to know his Grammy. Between Gram (my mom) and Grammy, Jack is going to be well loved by his grandmothers.

People have been asking for the official stats so here they are:

Full name: Jack Eliot Horch
Date Born: April 22, 2009
Time: 3:28 pm
Doctor: Dr. Allison Strnad
Hospital: Baptist Hospital, Nashville, TN
Weight: 8 pounds, 1 and a half ounces
Length: 20 3/4 inches