LAS VEGAS -- Until you have a child, you can't imagine how it will impact your life. Carl Edwards has been a father for less than 48 hours and already has described the birth of his daughter Anne as "life-changing."

Was it hard leaving home for the first time since baby made three?

"Yeah, it was," Edwards said Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "When I left, I kind of looked back. I was driving my truck and I thought, 'Wow, I have a family.'

“

I had a lot of different emotions that I didn't plan on. It was just a whole rush of things that I thought I was prepared for, but I wasn't. I'm sure anyone that's a parent can tell you how that feels. It's just amazing. It's a miracle.

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-- CARL EDWARDS

"That's pretty interesting, so it's definitely a different emotion than I've ever had. My one buddy tells me, 'Oh, you wait. You're gonna really love racing now.' I guess that's because you get to leave when they're crying, but I'm not to that point yet, so it was different."

Obviously, when it comes to his job, nothing has changed for Edwards. He still gets paid to drive the No. 99 Ford for Jack Roush. And he realizes that even though work sometimes takes him far from Anne and wife Dr. Kate Downey, he has it better than many new fathers.

"We all have jobs and everybody has to go do their job," Edwards said. "To put it in perspective, one of Kate's best friends has a baby and her husband is serving over in Afghanistan and he didn't see their baby until she was three months old and he was only home for two weeks and had to leave again for six months. So I've got a great situation relative to a lot of folks who are out there doing very important jobs."

Edwards was well down the charts in Friday's Cup practice session, 36th of the 45 cars which made runs. But how much that could be attributed to post-partum depression was debatable, since Edwards was second-fastest behind Greg Biffle in the Nationwide Series final practice.

Points leader Kevin Harvick was one of those slower than Edwards, although much of that could be attributed to him slapping the outside wall in the No. 29 Chevrolet early in the session. There was a large scrape on the right side of the car when it returned to the garage, but the team decided to stick with the primary car, banged out the dings and he returned to the track for several more laps.

Edwards realizes that his life will certainly change. In fact, he's already experiencing paternal pangs.

"I just called to check on Kate and she was eating something and was kind of choking on it a little bit," Edwards said. "I thought something was wrong and she was choked up about something. I about had heart failure on that. That tore me up. She was like, 'No, something just went down the wrong way.' So it's all new to me, but I feel a lot more calm now. There is a lot less anxiety because everything did go well and we're not waiting. Waiting is the hardest part."

Edwards described the day of Anne's birth as "amazing," and described an unexpected rush of sensory experiences.

"I had a lot of different emotions that I didn't plan on," Edwards said. "When she was born, it was like, 'Wow.' I'm focused on this baby and you have all these emotions. Then we're over there at the table and they were doing everything -- cut the cord -- and then I thought, 'My wife is laying right over there. Is she all right?' So then I run back over there and I'm talking to her.

"It was just a whole rush of things that I thought I was prepared for, but I wasn't. And then after that just being able to sit there with Kate and Annie. I'm sure anyone that's a parent can tell you how that feels. It's just amazing. It's a miracle."

So how much input did Edwards have on selecting a name? Apparently the decision was unilateral and final.

"That's what Kate wanted to call her, so that was it," Edwards said. "I started to protest a little bit, just because. I didn't really have a better name, and she made it clear that's what she really wanted. So it's Anne. We're gonna call her Annie."

Edwards admitted he's already practiced one important paternal duty, thanks to Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth.

"Yes, I changed a diaper," Edwards said. "Matt and Katie Kenseth let me do a little training the other week and that actually helped me out a lot. I think Matt had a good laugh about it, but it prepared me for what was to come.

"So Kate, she was laying in bed so I changed the first four or five diapers and it went pretty well. It was good and very, very funny."

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• Sound Off: Carl Edwards on fatherhood