Sarah is now 33 weeks pregnant. Micah will be here soon. And it’s starting to feel real.
The other night Sarah had Braxton Hicks contractions. Those are contractions in which it seems the body is just preparing for the real thing. It’s a common thing for many pregnant women. But for Sarah, this was the first time she thought about the reality of his coming into the world very soon.
“What IF he came now! We totally aren’t ready for him to come yet!”
Thankfully this past weekend Sarah had a baby shower in Indy with much of our family and friends. We received a lot of great things for Micah, including the stroller/carseat combo and money for a pack ‘n play, which we are going to use for Micah’s crib. Needless to say, the next day Sarah and I went out and bought the pack ‘n play, and I put the carseat in the car.
One of the first pictures that comes to mind from my family photo album is my dad setting up my changing table. On Monday night, I found myself setting up the pack ‘n play. I thought it might have been fun taking a similar picture. But our apartment looked like a Babies R Us that had experienced some kind of earthquake, tornado, or some other kind of natural disaster. Not to mention I couldn’t figure out how to assemble the changing table that attached to the pack ‘n play, and was close to shouting obscenities in frustration.
“If I can’t even put together a dang pack ‘n play, how am I supposed to be a dad!”
It was a good idea NOT to take any pictures.
—
For Sarah things started feeling real when she started having her Braxton Hicks contractions. For me, it was as I was going to buy a pack ‘n play and when I put the car seat in the car. But yes. This is real. It’s not that I don’t feel ready to have a son or to be a dad. It’s just that I know that my life is going to change dramatically. I won’t be able to take random trips with friends to Michigan (like I did this past weekend), and I will be officially entered into the exclusive clique on campus of young parents with babies who all eat dinner together outside of the apartments nearly every week. I will have a family, and life will never really be the same.
I am expecting it to be better, and more exciting. Also, a lot more tiring.
I do have a bet going with Sarah that Micah will come early. For every day that Micah comes early, Sarah will owe me $5. For every day that he comes late, I will owe her $5. (If he comes on the due date, supposedly a 3% chance, Sarah will give me $100.) She hopes to pay me a lot of money. We’ll see.
Stepping Back 