New dad all over again

Normally when you are a “veteran,” it means that you have experience with a particular career or event and you should know what you are doing.

On Friday, March 30, Susan and I welcomed our second child, named Lincoln Dion into the world at 8:35 a.m. He weighed eight pounds, two ounces, and was 19.25 inches long.

He cried for about 20 minutes before he calmed down. As I looked down at his hand grabbing my finger for the first time, I had forgotten that the initial crying is good for C-section babies in order to help clear their lungs, because they don’t get the final push through the birth canal.

Because I helped calm him down, I can’t help but think that I contributed to an event that happened later that day.

The event of which I write was my first time changing his diaper. Remembering that I had always changed PJ’s diapers on a flat horizontal surface, I had moved Lincoln’s bassinet from the tilted position to horizontal.

Lincoln cried and cried not liking the cold air that was hitting his previously swaddled body. I ran into a problem; he needed another wipe. I had to walk across the room to wet a wipe that the hospital provided.

I turned back around only to find that my once crying baby was experiencing reflux and both airways were clogged! I ran over to try and clear the airway. Luckily the nurse was in the room and asked if everything was okay. I responded, “he is choking!” She took Linc and took off down the hallway. Three other people followed.

A prayer and about 20 seconds later he was crying again, I was never so grateful to hear a cry come from a human being. The reflux issue happened three more times on his first day of living. He has since developed whatever reflex he needs to keep food down, but we still keep him tilted at all times.

Then there is burping him. I was a pro at burping PJ. PJ would let out a loud burp within a few taps but with Lincoln, I have had to try burping him for minutes at a time. Lincoln also has to burp at least twice in between feeding him.

It just goes to show that just because he looks similar to PJ when he was a newborn, the two are vastly different. It’s because of their differences, I have found that my previous experience as a dad may not always help me. It’s kind of like being a new father again.