Hi!

I once said that the tattoo on the back of my arm was the male version of childbirth in terms of pain and endurance. Now that we’ve experienced childbirth, I would like to personally apologize to every female on the planet for underestimating this miracle.

Dahlia Jean is here! After 10 hours of labor when my wife was induced on August 10, our baby was born at 5:41 PM Eastern at a weight of 7lbs 14 ounces. She is a beautiful, healthy, and vivacious baby girl. Megan and I are in love. I think she has my eyes and my hair. Fortunately, she gets everything else from her gorgeous mom. I suspect that everything in my life prior to August 10 (pre-DJ) will no longer be as memorable as all the events that occur after.

Right now, our lives revolve around Dahlia’s needs. We use an app called Baby Tracker to record her every action – you’d be surprised at how much hard work that is even for a newborn that can only eat, sleep, and poop at this point – and it might as well account for all of our activities too. Even when I’m away from the little one, I can’t stop thinking about her. Physically, getting enough sleep is a huge struggle!

Megan has many additional challenges to deal with. Her body went through tremendous changes during pregnancy and childbirth takes a huge toll on the body. I’m glad I can be here to help during the minimum recovery time of six weeks while we learn how to take care of our precious new DJ.

I’m taking one month off from work for “baby bonding time” using FMLA (America’s 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act); it will only scratch the surface of how much time we truly need for a good foundation for Dahlia’s care. Reading about all the companies and countries that are doubling their current alottments (Netflix has switched to an unlimited allowed leave), I’m glad that there are changes coming when it comes to parental leave. There are tremendous benefits to being able to safely transition into the immense challenges of raising a child. No one should have to do it alone and unsupported.

Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes 10,000 hours to become world class at a skill. If this first week is any measuring stick, Megan and I will soon become masters of the swaddle, breastfeeding, and diapers. . Having friends visit during this time is awesome. Special thanks to Kris and Kim for helping out! We’re looking forward to getting help from our families as well.

Enjoy our photos from these first few days! A photographer took professional photos of us while we were in the hospital; I will upload them as soon as possible.

Hi!

It has been five years since we last spoke.  Since then, I have gotten married and we have moved to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

But that’s not what this post is about.  Megan and I (from here on out, referred to as “we”) are expecting Dahlia Jean Koorse in the next few hours.  She is named after our favorite flower and the middle name is for Megan’s grandmother who is our role model. We are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

While we wait, I’ve been reviewing how we want to communicate with our friends and family about her.  Given that I’ve paid for this domain for years without using it effectively, it is a great tool for this.  We will provide at least one update a month about our progress as well as any important pictures or videos.

I’m surprised at how much I think about my mom and dad at this moment.  As I think about what it means to become a parent, I realize that all my concepts of being a good parent come from them.  They were amazing!  I think that the next few years will be an incredible opportunity to learn more about their strategies and show them how much I appreciate what they did in providing us with clear rules, stability, and optimism.

I would also like to thank Mark and Erin – my friends from the Peace Corps – who created an amazing blog to write stories about their son, Chance.  Although I have not spent much time with them since Chance was born, I feel like I’ve been with them on the journey.  Their blog has inspired the direction for this site.

I’ve included some pictures of the past nine months to show how far we’ve come.

Love, Rohm-Koorse Family