Daddy Kangaroo

A number of you have asked me what it's like to hold Eli. The short answer is, Wonderful. The long answer is, of course, a bit more complex. Initially, it's scary, because for a nurse to move Eli from his incubator to my chest requires disconnecting his ventilator for a half a minute or so. He can breathe on his own, but not nearly as well, and by the time we nestle him into my arms and drape a blanket over him his limbs can feel limp. "Breathe, Daddy," the nurse will say to me, seeing how stressed I've become. Thankfully, once the ventilator has been reattached (and taped to my arm or shoulder), Eli's breathing picks up and the strength returns to his body. At this point, dad and son settle in for some great one-on-one time and I'm flush with the singular joy of a new father holding his little child for one of the first times.