Monday, January 31, 2011

Kick a meteorologist for me...

Well, here we are...officially in the last month...and there's a huge snow storm on the way.  Let's all cross our fingers and say a prayer and encourage the Lil' Shrimp to wait this one out. I'm of the opinion that there are already enough stories out there about women who went into labor early during the "big storm of whatever year it happened to be." :)

With a little more than 3 weeks to go, I find my mind drifting to the list of things we really should be doing to prepare for the baby's arrival. Hospital bags packed...not yet.  Car seat in place...not yet.  Crib all set up...not yet.

I know it will all get done, so I'm not too worried about it...yet.

We toured the labor and delivery floor at the hospital today.  So, now we know where to go when it's time.  During our tour, I made a joke about the potential for lots of babies being born over the next couple of days, due to the storm rolling in...Linda, our guide, didn't find seem to find much humor in it...not sure why.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

With a little more than 4 and a half weeks to go...

OK, which one of you jokers forgot to tell me about how hard it is to pick out a name for your child? :)

We've narrowed our list for both genders down to about 75 name combinations each...

You want something unique, but not dumb.

You want something original, but not "invented."

You want it to sound good when you say it out loud, especially when you have to yell it. :)

You want it to sound important, just in case your little one becomes the President some day.

You don't want the initials to spell out any dirty words.

You don't want to choose something that the other kids will turn into a tease.

You don't want to pick something that will make your teenage child hate you (any more than they already will.)

Our goal is to get it down to 10 options for each sex by the time the big day arrives.  The list get's nicely cut in half once the baby is born.  Hopefully choosing from the remaining 10 will be easy.

"Welcome to the world ?????"

Sunday, January 2, 2011

And the winner is...

Well, hello there 2011!  Where did you come from? 2010, we barely knew ye!

What was my favorite memory of 2010?  That easily happened on June 19.  That's the day we found out about our Lil' Shrimp. I realize that everyone who has ever had a baby would probably say the same thing, but I'll always feel like it was extra special for us.

Like so many other couples who have struggled with having children, June 19 started off as a day of defeat.  We'd been trying to have a baby for almost a year and a half.  June 19 was seven days past the normal cut-off for finding out if we were going to get one line or two on that antagonistic little stick.  June 19 was just going to be the confirmation that it hadn't worked.  June 19 was supposed to be the validation for the phone call to the doctor's office on Monday.

Sara could have taken the test any time during that day.  Why put off the inevitable?  We both knew she'd have to do it, no matter what.  But, it's human nature to put off things we find unpleasant though, isn't it?  No one wants to rush into bad news, do they?

To be honest, I don't remember much else about that day.  I just know it was evening.  She had "to go" so she "went."  I wasn't expecting much.  It was the first time I'd had the opportunity to see the results as they appeared and turned it down.  After all, what difference would it have made?  This wasn't really a "test," it was just a compulsory act that the doctors told us had to be done before calling in the bad news on Monday.

When Sara started shouting my name I figured something must be wrong, horribly wrong.  We'd been married almost 14 years at that point, the only time she shouted like that was when she needed help.  As I raced through the house I was thinking, "Weren't things bad enough already? What else could possibly go wrong now?"  I was not expecting excitement.  I was anticipating anxiety. I was not suspecting...surprise!

Two lines...two beautiful...perfect...clearly readable pink lines...that's my best memory of 2010.  You've got big shoes to fill 2011...big shoes...