I am a dad!

On Saturday, at 9.59pm, a baby girl came into the world.

At the same time, other babies were being born across the globe.  This one is perhaps no more special or precious than any of the others.  There is one small difference though - little Xanthe Aaliyah has me for her dad.

Becoming a dad took me by surprise. It was one of those things that I always would have liked but became resigned to never happening.  There were reasons for this; suffice to say that Xanthe is in some ways a minor miracle.

Being a former medical student, I've seen a number of children being born.  However, the knowledge and experience that ultimately gives doesn't entirely prepare you emotionally for the time when it's your own baby.  I'm naturally quite an emotional person and, while it was wonderful to have stayed with Anna the whole time, it was mentally exhausting.

Now I hear the women among you telling me that's nothing compared to what you go through and I know you're right.  But it's still an amazing emotional rollercoaster for any dad who's present.

I am still experiencing a range of feelings two days on, but mostly tiredness.  I expect these sleepless nights are here to stay (for the foreseeable future at least) and in the next few weeks we need a bit of time to adjust to this new reality.  So I'm guessing blogging will be kept to an absolute minimum.

For now, I'll stop writing and let the photographs to the talking.