It really sinks in...

I've been remiss in adding to this pathetic drivel.  Life has been busy and the little one isn't even here yet. I'll make up for it by not boring you.  That's probably a lie.

So tonight as I attempted to care for MTB by making one of favorite dinners she had the audacity to have a bout of morning sickness.  I mean, come on, it was dinner time!  I'd say she was just trying to get out of doing the dishes, but she ate barely anything.  As happy as I am about this impending bundle of joy I can't stand to see MTB miserable. Of course she is with me so misery is a constant companion of hers.   I just can't stand if anything else makes her miserable.  Makes me think this caring thing is overrated.

On Monday we had an appointment nice and early to see and hear the baby.  I have enough sense now to drive separate and arrive after she is checked in.  See the previous posts as to why.  We were ushered into the ultrasound room and it began.  (Once again, I realized how thankful I am to be a guy. The pains of being a woman are immense.)  Up on the screen a small flickering image of the growing baby and it's beating heart appeared.  Then the sound of the heart filled the room. The next thing that happened is so unmanly, but if you question my masculinity I'll arm wrestle you; I melted. I was so filled with emotion a small smile appeared.  We spent the rest of the day debating how to announce it on Facebook. Nothing is official until it's on Facebook.  So the cat is out of the bag.  A baby is coming. 

I can't wait.

Life is a changin'

Significant changes are the hallmark of April 2013.  While this pregnancy was a surprise, it is certainly not unwelcome.  The lovely mother to be (henceforth to be known as MTB) and I always knew we wanted to grow old together and have a couple kids to take care of us . ( I think it is only fair that if I change their diapers, they should be obligated to change mine.)  So the news of this impending bundle of joy was not  bad, but it did change the timeline of our lives.  In Army parlance, our timeline has shifted left.  I had a certain date in mind in which I wanted to begin our journey to rocking chairs, blue plate specials, and senility together, but this news changed that.  So I shifted that date left as well.

The road to asking that question was marred with one colossal mistake.  I took MTB to a jewelry store to look at rings.  Somehow we ended up looking at the creme de la creme of diamonds with rings encrusted with diamonds that had their own diamonds. This did serve to give me and idea of what she wants, but did serve to set her up for disappointment when she either got a more modest diamond, or a rather large CZ.  I was able locate, what I thought was a nice diamond and setting, buy it, and get it home without MTB being wiser.  The plan to ask the question came next.  I called her father to ask for his blessing, which he graciously granted, and set about researching ways to ask.  I'll save you any disappointment and stop building the suspense now.  I asked her in the kitchen of our home.  I thought no other way was more appropriate. It's where our family will start and where we love to be.  The best thing is, she did say yes.  Without even seeing the ring first! I slid the ring on her finger, the wrong hand I will admit, and realized how lucky I am.  We then went out and enjoyed a night together.  We saved the Facebook announcement until the next day.

So April 2013 did bring about a few changes, but not in the plan for our life together.  Just in the timeline of when it happened.  I think her father put it best, "You're never ready." And it fits here perfectly.  We weren't ready for a pregnancy, but we will be ready to be parents.

First trip to the Doc

Fast forward through a weekend of lost sleep, fears of parenting failure, and joy that I was going to be a dad, we reach the first doctor's appointment.  Now, being a dude and all, I have never been to the OB/GYN (heck I pronounce them as words, and not letters) for any reason.  Like the ladies room in any establishment, guys solely know it as the place our ladies go where there are other ladies but no dudes. We have an idea of what goes no, but no clue as to the full scope of what happens there. 

Let me back track for a second to how I ended up going in the first place. I asked my future baby mama if she wanted me to go with her and she replied with if "If you want to go."  I don't go to the doctor myself unless ordered by higher, or I'm so utterly miserably sick and have no recourse but to subject myself to the germ infestation of a waiting room. I kinda figure the witch doctoring crap that goes on in most medical offices is something I can do without, so of course I don't want to go. Before anyone losses their cool and judges me too harshly (I'll earn your disdain I'm sure)  I DO want to support her and be there for her for everything, but if she doesn't want me there enough to ask me to go, I ain't going. When this was explained, she got it, and she asked.  Smart girl.

So here I am sitting the waiting room of a place I have no concept of, no scope, nor any idea of what I was in for. I was lured into some false sense of security when I noticed a TV on the wall, so I settled down in front of it while she completed the needed forms and paperwork.  I looked down at the coffee table in front of me, which to my dismay bore no coffee (didn't notice a pot in the area which I find pathetic since my vet has a coffee maker in the waiting room), and it was covered in magazines for women.  Redbook, Elle, and Tampa Bay Parenting (which I attempted to read, but it was nothing but ads).  The TV I put so much faith in then hit me with another blow to the soul.  It was nothing but some medical company playing feel better crap on loop.  Recipes for fish, walking and it's benefits, and some other stuff I did not understand was all that was on.  So, out came my phone. 3G!  The final straw dropped breaking my back.  No 4G signal for fast internet on my phone.  The humanity.   While reeling from the horror of this waiting room, that I  I will be spending loads more time in, baby mama had disappeared and reappeared with the confirmation that it was indeed true and we would be having an ultrasound.

We both were called into the back, to a room filled with a giant NASA style computer, and a chair with stirrups.  I'll save the gory details, suffice to say I got to see the smallest blip on the screen which was the life we had created.  I had to hold her hand just to know it was real and I was there.  My heart was pounding in my chest and I couldn't believe we were on our way to being parents.  I could barely contain myself and I didn't want to. I wanted everyone to know! 

So to recap the things I've learned up until this point:

1. Bring coffee to the doc.

2. Bring Kindle to the doc.

3. Wubba is a pretty cool looking pacifier company

4. My MINI Cooper will probably be sacrificed for a family car :(

5. I am the luckiest man in the world.

And as I close this last bit of drivel today, I'll answer the question that should have been burning in your minds.  What was in the brightly colored, poorly wrapped package?  Two small plastic sticks my lovely woman pee'd on.  The proof she needed of the greatest gift we could ask for.

And it Begins

After spending several hours at work, earning a little overtime, I returned to my happy home.  The dog was running amok and my girlfriend was looking as lovely and radiant as ever.  As I placed my stuff down and looked around I noticed a wrapped present and a card on the table.  I wondered what event I forgot about that required a gift and card, so I asked her what it was.  She smiled and said she got me a present.  Trying to remain stoic and manly I giggled gently and ignored the colorful piece of striped tissue paper, that I just now realized was balled up instead of carefully wrapped, and instead picked up the card to read first.  As I opened the envelope I became highly confused as to the picture of baby feet on the cover.  Flipping the card open I noticed she had written all over the card, but in my confused state I had no idea what the words meant.  It was almost as if I was staring at a stone of Sanskrit with no knowledge of the Rosetta Stone.  I glanced at my beautiful girlfriend, then back to the card, then back to my girlfriend.  At this point I noticed she was crying. I looked at the card one final time and was finally able to read the final written word, "Daddy."

This is the story of how I found out I was going to be a father, luckily, with the most wonderful woman in the world being the mother.  It was a Thursday in April and the journey began...