Christopher Ryan Hanson

A tough day today for the new mother and son. Are the baby blues setting in already? Or are we as new parents just unsure of ourselves? Is nursing really supposed to be such a struggle?

It took me a couple of days before I was ready to write a story about Birthing Christopher. Participating in the birth as a father is very psychologically draining.

There's a new round of Christopher pictures at Ofoto (registration required). I'm still learning how to use the digital camera. I don't feel comfortable using flash in the hospital, but in low light without flash, some pictures are very blurry.

This evening we learned that Christopher has a high bilirubin count, meaning he has newborn jaundice. It's not a serious condition, and not uncommon (especially for vacuum extracted babies), but means he needs to spend at least a day separated from us in an incubator under ultraviolet lights.

This also means Mama's hospital stay will be prolonged by a couple of days, so we'll be ringing in the new millenium together in her room at AK Harburg. I'll smuggle in a bottle of champagne for the two of us.