A special Father's Day gift arrived just in time for Horsham's Aaron Murray.
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Aaron and wife Jess welcomed their first child, daughter Ally on Friday, September 4 - two days before Father's Day.
Mr Murray said it made for an extra special Sunday.
"The due date was the 12th of September, so she came a little early and arrived just before Father's Day," Mr Murray said.
"Since then, the adrenaline has just been pumping, we've been adapting to the challenge and just figuring out how everything goes.
"It's been a busy couple of days."
Mr and Mrs Murray spent the Sunday in hospital, before returning home on Monday.
"Father's Day rolls around every year, then all of a sudden it means a bit more to you," Mr Murray said.
"As far as Sunday goes, it was still a bit like, it still hadn't quite sunk in yet.
"We came home from hospital on Monday, and being in your own home environment and having your routines completely changed, that's when it really hit home.
"The hospital staff were really great on Sunday though. They made a card for me ... that unfolds and has these beautiful footprints of Ally's feet inside. That was really overwhelming."
Mr Murray said the arrival of their daughter had been a transformative experience.
"I think I'm still trying to process the whole thing," he said.
"As a guy, you're not the one carrying the baby for 9 months, so all of a sudden it arrives, and you're holding her on your chest, and it's like, you can't really believe it.
"It's actually quite an overwhelming feeling, that she's actually arrived in the world and you're taking care of her."
Mr Murray said it had given him newfound "focus and direction".
"It's all very much about taking care of bubs now, supporting Jess and just learning as we go," he said.
"We're just taking it all in."
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It adds to an already busy period for Mr Murray, as he juggles a graduate year as a nurse at the Wimmera Base Hospital.
Fortunately for Mr and Mrs Murray, he said young Ally had been "absolute angel" since returning home.
"There's a lot of learning going on this year. It's a new career for me, and a first child. It's all happening, all systems go. I'm just learning and taking it all in," he said.
"But it's a good time to have a baby really - there's not much else going on right now. There are no other things in the schedule.
"I think she's going to fit right in."
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