We're a little bit busy.

The LA and I are currently in the local hospital. Well, one of at least four I can think of off the top of my head; this one is shiny and new, and ever so concerned about security. They're also very concerned about patient care, which is good. You see, the LA is a patient. I am in a strange sort of state wherein I have elevated visiting privileges; I've actually been sleeping in the hospital the past few nights, but I'm not under any sort of care and they won't feed me at all. I do, however, have an identifying wristband. The reason for this is simple: the LA is now a mother. And yes, this does make me a new father. I've been wandering around with the beatifically shellshocked expression common to such men, mostly wearing the Cthulhu-feet novelty slippers the LA gave me for giftmas a few years ago.
Now, while our daughter (hereinafter referred to as Munchkin) was born crying, it turns out her lungs weren't quite fully developed; she's currently in Neonatal Intensive Care, being assisted with her breathing. Since the LA was suffering from pre-eclampsia, Munchkin had to be delivered early; we'd been hoping to reach 37 weeks' gestation, which is considered "full term" and would have given her a birthday of November 1st, but sadly the best we could do was 34 weeks and 6 days. As a result, the delivery was easy; despite both of her parents being big at birth, Munchkin was born weighing 5lb 11oz. For her gestational age, that's on the large end of the curve, and we did get far enough along that once she's out of the danger zone she should do as well as her contemporaries. For the record, her date of birth is October 17th, 2013.

We have given her a proper name, taking care of making sure it's recorded with the relevant legal authorities, and should she ever want to run for president her citizenship won't be questioned (although her sanity may be, by her father; I will retain that privilege!), but for the purposes of this blog and other websites, I shall continue to refer to her as Munchkin. Immediate family know the full details, friends will know, but the general wilds of the Internet really don't need to know.

Everyone I run into has commented favourably on the slippers, by the way. They make an excellent icebreaker, despite their entirely floppy, plush nature.