With blizzards and the all-around hectic schedule of being a new parent, I didn't want to let pass the opportunity to mark Nylah's passage from weeks to months. Our baby is now two months old, today!

Also, there will be more pictures of Nylah up by Friday, including a little photo shoot Vickie put together for Valentine's day with our little bundle of joy. Although I've been slow getting updates in, I'm just as committed to doing it as I was in the beginning. :)

I finally had time to upload a bunch of pics and list them out on the site. I will be adding captions to a few and cleaning them up a bit, but the first 18 photos (from my cellphone) of Nylah are there. Over time I will be adding more, of course.

The little things are the things sometimes you remember most. For me, this one will last forever. Many times Nylah would smile in her sleep, but catching her smiling awake was just not happening. Perhaps Vickie has seen her smile awake, but she obviously spends more time with her than I do, so when I looked down and caught her staring at me and smiling, my heart just melted. As daddy, I get to take a back seat to a lot of the action. Don't get me wrong, I get my fair share, but I can't help but feel the real intimacy occurs between Nylah and Victoria. After all, Vickie nourishes her. I'm just some guy that randomly intrudes into her line of sight right now. Not hurt or anything, just saying...that's the reality. However, it looks like recognition is starting to form...either that or I was just doing something she found funny, but either way I will take it!

The hospital stay was nice, but I was glad to be out of there. My back is killing me from sleeping on that absurd 'couch'. Besides that, the nurses were nice, and gave us many tips to take home for Nylah. Many thanks to the Labor and Delivery folks and Sinai! Now it's time to take what we've learned and apply it at home.

On the drive home, a curious feeling came over me. I was extremely afraid! I had to be extra careful transporting my new family home from the hospital. It's not the same feeling as when Nylah was in the womb...this was more acute...more real.

At 12:42 AM on Monday, December 21, 2009, Nylah Sarai Bagby was born into the world to Victoria and Melvin Bagby. She weighed in at 7pds 0 ounces and 19 and 1/4 inches. She is the most beautiful baby ever!

We arrived at the hospital at 11:52 PM, and by the time we got to see someone, Vickie was at 8 centimeters! The doctor on duty made the decision to move her to a labor room, and as soon as they started to move the bed, Vickie's water broke! By the time she got into the birthing room, she was at 9 cm. The attending doctor asked if she wanted to wait for her doctor to deliver, and Vickie said "No!" 3 pushes later, Nylah was out and born. Unfortunately for Dad, he couldn't cut the umbilical cord, as it was around Nylah's neck, but I'm hurt. I'm just glad to see my little girl!

Vickie is in serious pain ri ght now, but we're not sure they are contractions. After some prodding (and crying out) Vickie has convinced me to call the doctor, and the doctor has told us to come in. Hopefully, this isn't a false alarm...

The east coast is due to suffer a pounding in the form of a blizzard, and Baltimore, MD is right in it's path. Needless to say, Nylah's due date is tomorrow. The prospect of either having to drive my family to the hospital in a major snowstorm, or having to wait for an ambulance to take us there don't appeal to me at all. I guess the biggest thing here is I'm going to have to have faith that it will all work out. I have gone from wanting the baby to come out possibly 'early' to hoping she waits a day or two. A rollercoaster ride has nothing on this.

Well, we are 39 weeks as of Saturday, and 5 days from the due date as of today. Our little contraction episode from last Thursday, though, has left it's mark: We just want our little Nylah to come out and share the world with us. However, now, we simply have to wait for nature to take it's course. I hate waiting. I'm sure Vickie hate's waiting more than I do, because she's the one with all the physical changes and discomforts to deal with. I'm like an idle spectator. But I still hate waiting. "Come on outta there, Nylah!"

I spent much of the past weekend putting together various pieces of baby furniture and little stuff got rearranged so we will be in a good position of relative readiness when the time comes. It's somewhat tedious, at times, but definitely worth it. I still have one major thing to assemble coming up on next weekend - the changing table we haven't actually purchased yet.

With a little (read: "a lot" or even "all") help from my good friend Barb, Nylah's banner has been added to her little web site. Never one to be in touch with my 'eww', feminine side, an offer from an old friend was accepted and as usual for her, she did an outstanding job. Thanks, Barb!!

Victoria is well into her 'nesting phase', where everything has to be taken care and prepared for Nylah's impending arrival. This usually means mild-to-serious annoyance for me, but, as daddy, what am I to do but comply? Sometimes though, (and perhaps at some point even she will see where i'm coming from with this), the requests are borderline bizarre. To me, taking out the car seat for the sole purpose of trying on a cover (not to actually install it in the car, which happens on Turkey Day, as soon as I get up, natch) is completely...other.

The fine folks at Kennedy Krieger Institute threw Victoria a suprise baby shower today, and I gotta say...they went above and beyond for us on it. My car was literally packed with gifts and food. It took me 4 or 5 trips up and down those stairs to get it all in the apartment..(Whew..i'm beat)! Oh! And it was all great stuff!

It gives me great pleasure to say on behalf of Vickie and Nylah, "Thank You KKI!"

I've been working behind the scenes (as well as just working) on the site on and off, and have been somewhat bummed that I haven't done a significant update, and the baby is almost here! Still, I'm always willing to make up for my lagging schedules.

We had our baby's co-ed baby shower at St. Philips Lutheran Church on 11.7.09, and boy did we get hooked up! I want to give a personal, heartfelt thanks to everybody who came and shared their blessings with us, tangible or otherwise. I had fun playing the games, and cracking wise for a few hours with many of the folks in my life, and Vickie and I are grateful for you all.

Victoria and I attended. Amongst the useful information we got, I got an iPhone app that tracks and monitors contractions, called labormate. This will be good for me, because in the heat of the moment i can't be relied upon to time-track anything.

In my never-ending quest to master any subject that becomes relevant to me, I've been combing the web in addition to the normal soul-searching all impending fathers do. I've never really been subject to performance anxiety beyond the normal willies one might get when asked to do things in front a large group of people, and I've always been able to overcome it and deliver. Now we're talking about raising a child, though. We're talking about a life. We're talking about a little girl. No pressure, though Ha Ha!

Anyway, I haven't shared a whole lot in certain aspects my life with people I'm close to, and I want to change that,to a degree. I don't think everybody should know anybody in-and-out, except for spouses, and maybe immediate family. Maybe I just like to keep a degree of mystique. Maybe I'm just taciturn. I dunno. But, I do know I'm happy and proud to be sharing this great honor with my wife Victoria, who has to put up with me on a daily basis (a task in and of itself, I assure you), and some of the more momentous aspects of our journey with all of you.

We had a doctor's appointment today, and maybe...just maybe, I was spoiled a bit by the two earlier sonograms. In a multi-doctor practice, apparently it is customary for the parents to meet with each doctor in the practice, as birth (like life), is like a box of chocolates - you never know who you're gonna get. This time out, we got a male doctor I hadn't ever seen before (not that that's saying much...it's an OBGYN office). In the course of his examination, I asked for a sonogram picture, as we wanted to keep track at all stages. I figure it's our first child, why would getting a picture each time (which was once a month during that stage of the pregnancy)be that big a deal? Well, apparently it is. The doctor was not exactly willing to give us the picture, but he complied because I made a point of it. After that, he measured the heart rate of the baby, and blurts out "I think it's a girl".

Now, Vickie and I differ on the intention of his blurting out his "educated opinion"...I will get that out there. From my perspective, he did it that intentionally, because as Di Angelo put it "I punked him out for a picture". Vickie thinks he was just being a doctor or whatever. I don't agree with her because when you have the ACTUAL ultrasound done at 21 weeks, they SPECIFICALLY ASK whether you want to know the sex of the baby. He was just being a smartass, but I have no real proof of that. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to come up with the conclusion that the dad probably wants a boy, though. What are the odds? 70/30, maybe?