Two things I've never been

A father and a blogger. And while the former of those is going to change in the near future, I don't expect that blogging will ever really come naturally to me. Nonetheless, Christina wants me to contribute my perspective to this blog -- both for posterity and the edification of friends and family -- so I'll make an effort at it.

So, while the experience has been undeniably fresh and novel for me, I can't really put it into words that don't seem painfully clichéed. Sure, it's new and exciting to me when I feel my son kick in my wife's abdomen, but it's not as though it's a unique experience for humankind. And it doesn't really translate in any meaningful way to the page, either. That's why all those clichés have rung hollow for most of my life.

In any case, I'm very much looking forward to meeting our son. It's my plan to be the first person to teach him something (it's my understanding that a newborn will mimic you if you stick your tongue out at him), setting the tone for what I hope will be a long and fruitful educational fatherly relationship. For right now, he's making Christina pretty miserable (and hungry) but I can't help but see the positives: that he's going to be big, strong, and healthy.

This weekend, I'm hoping to make major headway on constructing the treadmill desk that will allow me to make space in the office for the nursery furniture. We still have a lot of preparing to do before he gets here.

The First Ultrasound

One of the many frustrating waits during pregnancy is the wait for your first doctor's appointment. You have all the symptoms, you've taken at least one test, but it doesn't really feel official until someone in a white coat has signed off on the fact that you're actually expecting. So as soon as you "pass" your pregnancy test, you excitedly call up the doctor's office only to be told that "We don't see patients until they are at least eight weeks along."

I know that there are medically valid reasons for this--if something were to go wrong at this stage there's nothing they can do. When it's your first pregnancy though, it can be a little unsettling to go through the first two months of pregnancy without any medical guidance at all.

When the big day finally arrived I was crazy with excitement. I found out that my medical practice does an ultrasound at the first appointment, so I knew I'd get to see my baby right then. I wasn't expecting to see much more than a blob on the screen, so I was really surprised to see that I could see head, body, arms, legs, and a heartbeat! He was moving around like crazy in there too which I was shocked to see so early. The images they sent home with us were pretty blurry, but seeing it live was clearer than I expected it to be.

Seeing him move and hearing the heartbeat, it made it seem very real. I was relieved to see how vital he was!