The cutest baby EVER
October 23, 2006This is Philip shortly after his birth on October 20th, as captured in a photo by our friend Pete.
There is much, much more that could be said about the past few days. Liz has forbidden me from publishing a play-by-play account of her cervical dilation stats and those sorts of details, so I’ll just offer a few brief observations….
1. Liz did a fantastic job during labor, following the nurses’ and doctor’s instructions very closely throughout the ordeal despite her obvious fatigue and pain. I think her athletic background was very helpful in this context. Beforehand, I had been skeptical as to whether labor is any easier for athletes, as some women had told me. However, as things got underway and periods of intense activity alternated with calmer recovery periods, it became clear that Liz’s years of experience in pacing herself through long, difficult interval workouts were somewhat relevant.
2. The moment of delivery was quite a surreal one for me. As Phil emerged, my first impression was that he looked extremely purple and very flexible, to the point of having no bones at all. It was as if the doctor had just pulled out a rubber doll. Once Phil got cleaned up and I could actually touch him, he seemed a lot more alive and a lot more attractive.
3. Both mom and baby are recovering quite well. Phil appears to have inherited his mother’s tendency to sleep a lot and say little (except when we change his diaper, which he hates). His aptitude for and interest in breast-feeding appear more than adequate. As for Liz, she’s hobbling around as one might do after a particularly rough marathon — the main difference being that they don’t give you a baby when you finish a marathon. Which is a good thing, since if they did we’d collectively have 16 kids rather than just one.
My Track Record 
Wow, even though I knew your wife was pregnant, I somehow envisioned the actual birth as a far-off event, maybe seven months away…even though you clearly stated the due date. This is even better than a 2:21 marathon, though hopefully there's room for both.Congratulations!!
Congratulations Doogie (and bigger congratulations to Liz–she did have to work rather harder, as you noted)! Of Philip, I'll say what you once said to me (in a more hypothetical context): "May he turn out like you."
Not all newborns are cute, but Phil is adorable! Congratulations! I think the interval training analogy is a good one, and I hope that everything is going well for all three of you. Take care.
What a beautiful baby!!! Congratulations to both of you.
He's a keeper for sure. Sincere congratulations from our family to yours. My only parenting advice is to stock up on sleep while he's still exhausted from the ordeal and the crazy stimuli life on the outside inevitably brings. Kids are awesome.
Wow! You got a highly superior baby! And on MY birthday! Congratulations!A four-exclamation-mark paragraph is very unusual for me.
Congrats from this corner as well!
Philip is a very cute baby, perhaps world ranked in that respect. Congratulations to both of you and look forward to years of learning and joy.
Thought about you on a run today (preparing for Houston) as I was pushing Lily in her jogger…there should be a little Phillip in the world. I checked the blog and sure enough! Congratulations to you and your family!