Rachel's First Few Days

Rachel's first few days were busy. We spent the first night in the hospital, trying to figure this whole parenting thing. We changed diapers awkwardly, handled Rachel as if she were a really cute but extremely breakable girl, and tried to discern the difference between the hungry cry, the tired cry, and the dirty diaper cry. It sounds simple, but it wasn't at the time.

Rachel comes home

The nurses told us we could stay a second night, but we wanted to go home if everything was going well. Things were going well, and Meggan's parents, Carol and Richard, were ready at our house to provide support. So after the 24-hour mark passed and Rachel's heel was pricked to check her blood for various conditions, we were allowed to leave. By the way, the heel prick was extremely hard for both parents (especially Daddy) to watch!

Leaving the hospital, Rachel was quiet as we walked to the car (oops, Daddy parked a little too far from the hospital), and seemed content during the ride home. I remember thinking while driving the car home, that it seemed crazy to believe MOJO was now MOJO + R! Back home we adjusted to life with Rachel -- so fun and busy! We loved her gestures, her soft her hair felt, and watching her squirm around. Daddy called her 'squirmster'.  Daddy really thought her sneezing was funny (see video to the right).

Rachel's first few walks were to nearby stores, Fabricland and Wal-mart. Our first outing as a family was to "Meet the Hashers," as we drove her to Trout Creek for the start of the Hash run on Sunday the 17th. There she was named in Hasher tradition as "JustRachel." We also received a number of fun visitors at our house, and we were excited to show Rachel off as she seemed to be content and not picky about who was holding her!