Buckling my daughter into the car seat was the most surreal feeling. My wife had been in the hospital for 16 days at that point. She was admitted early for some complications leading up to giving birth and they kept her a few extra days afterward. But after getting the green light to go home we were finally getting to go outside. I remember thinking it was such a weird experience.
Your baby is born and you spent days inside the hospital. Then all of a sudden you’re outside in the real world. I remember thinking can she be in the sun? How much sun is too much sun for a 3 day old baby that’s a month a early?
Then, I buckled this tiny little thing into what seemed like a way-too-big car seat… And then I started the car. That drive was one of the few times that I wished we lived somewhere rural with no cars and no freeways. It was nerve wracking to say the least.
Six Months Later
Flash forward six months and we all survived! Mila is alive and thriving. She made it through two tired, newbie parents. And, maybe more shocking, we made it through what can only be called a crash course at parenting.
Just the other day, I read an article that mentioned that marriage is intended to expose your traits, both good and bad, and force you to continuously grow.
Parenthood has turned out to be the same. Because, friends, parenthood is the real deal. No skating by; no acting busy when your boss walks by. And damn if it doesn’t pay you back. And my daughter’s only 6 months old!
The DNA Test
My wife and I recently had our DNA tested which was something we’ve been talking about doing ever since we had Mila. As a kid, I had to do school projects about my heritage and my ancestors. I would always sit down with my grandparents and ask them what they remembered about our ancestry–where their parents immigrated from, what they believed we were, etc.
So we figured, let’s get ahead of all that, not to mention get some real answers. The test was so simple to do–you just send a little saliva off to Ancestry.com and within a few weeks they provide you with a full analysis.
The Results
The coolest part is that as new things are discovered, they update your sample. Obviously your DNA doesn’t change, but what they learn about regions and DNA science is constantly getting updated.
When I was younger, I thought I was a mixture of German, Irish with a little Polish and Danish thrown into the mix. But the Ancestry.com process was so interesting because I learned that I’m 25% Eastern European (Polish/Danish) and 23% Irish which was to be expected.
But, I learned that I’m 13% Norwegian and 12% Swedish. I’m only about 10% German. I’ve always wanted to visit Norway and now I know why–haha! My wife was confirmed to be predominantly English with some Irish and Swedish mixed in.
It was such an interesting process. And especially now being a father, I’m excited to learn more about my heritage and now my daughter’s heritage. And now when she has the inevitable school project about her ancestry, we’ll have all the info ready to go.
I would really urge you to complete the process–it is just so mind-blowing to get so much info from a small saliva sample. The map and the geographic area on the Ancestry.com DNA dashboard is so fascinating. To see where your ancestors traveled from and where they arrived in the United States–truly interesting!
If you want to try it out for yourself, visit Ancestry.com and sign up!
This post was created in partnership with Ancestry.com. I was provided a DNA sample kit but all of the opinions expressed herein are solely my own.
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