As a kid in the 90s, one of the most popular toys were tamagotchis, which were handheld digital pets that you could play with, feed, and watch grow. Of course they would otherwise die if you neglected them, resulting in you having to start all over again in raising a newborn.
In a lot of ways, babies are like live action tamagotchis. Except in this case, there’s serious consequences if you happen to neglect them. There is no reset button to day 1. Another major difference of course is that raising a newborn requires a certain level of stamina, most notably in dealing with sleep deprivation and changing sleep patterns.
As a human being of many routines, including of course 9 hours of sleep every night, this was obviously a shock to my system. But I’m slowly adapting to the process. If you really want to torture a human being, deprive them of sleep and see how they function. We’ll see how teaching goes in a few months with a 3 month old.
Still, there are proud moments that make it all worth it. We just celebrated Kai’s one-week birthday, and today we got a major confidence boost: the lactation consultants told us he’s feeding incredibly well—eating as much as some babies do at two or three months. He is a hungry hungry hippo after all. If all else fails in life, maybe he will one day be destined for a career as a competitive eater or a professional food critic.
