The New Taiwanese

According to my dad: "It's a strange feeling when a child is born. You've never seen this person before, but you're going to know it for the rest of your life--and watch it develop from pure potential into a fully elaborated human being. Get ready for a ride."

Ahleena was born April 12th at 3:45am. And she has elaborated herself from the get-go: "Where's mom? I want to feed. Not later, but right now. Do you hear?" This pic is of her at one hour old - fresh out of the oven. I went to work a day and a half later. When I got back to the hospital, my wife was resting on the bed, exhausted but looking like a goddess. She had just got finished 13 straight hours of feeding! She said:

"Every time I try to put her back in her box, she starts to cry."

Shufang gave birth after 15 hours of labor. At 12:00am, the nurse told me that it would be at least 12 hours more. I wandered out into the lounge, looking for a place to crash. A middle-aged guy was sprawled out on the sofa, with the TV cranked and his bare feet up on the armrest, so I returned to the labor room. A couple of hours later, the nurse said things were speeding up. Maybe it would be another five hours, depending on my wife's strength. I returned to the lounge. The TV was off, but the same guy with the bare feet was letting off chainsaw snores, so I resettled in the labor room. The next thing I knew, the nurse was dressing me in hospital civvies: hat, mask, smock and flip flops. "Where's Dr. Lee?" I asked.

"I'm right behind you."

"Where's my wife?" They took me into the delivery room and she was already pushing Ahleena out into this world.

My dad's got it right: What a ride.