Mia (Day 2)

Day 2 was strangely different to Day 1. It was a lot more sombre. Ikumi had a lot of pain (due to the c-section) and she wasn't able to pick up Mia. After a while I started feeling like I couldn't look after Mia and Ikumi to the best of my abilities. Mia was sick a lot, as she had swallowed a lot of "water" when she came out of Ikumi. It was heartbreaking as I couldn't do anything to help Mia.

Also, I changed my first nappy. It wasn't a horrific experience as legend has it. I got stuck in after the midwife showed me what to do. The only difficult thing was getting Mia to stop wriggling and keeping calm under the constant crying :-)

Possibly all these of things are what most new dads feel on their 2nd day? Luckily I had Ikumi telling me that I as doing a good job. If Ikumi hadn't been so understanding, I think I would have given up - and giving up is something that I never usually do.

However by the evening, Mia had calmed down a bit and I read her a Curious George story. Before Mia was born, I would try to read to her every night - In Japanese and English. I always enjoyed reading Curious George to her and it was great to read to her for real. Once I started reading she calmed down and looked really peaceful. That was the turning point for me on Day 2 and it gave me confidence that all would be good.

Reading Curious George to Mia