Parenthood Q & A

We had a great time with our friends over the weekend! We all went shopping on Saturday afternoon at Babies "R" Us which was a very different experience having a baby along. My wife & I have been there a handful of times before, but it doesn't prepare you for all the people that notice you because of the baby. Her smile lights up any space she's in and complete strangers melt at the sight of her. Her parents picked up a lot of stuff they needed and, while we looked for us, mostly we wanted to see how she'd respond to the outing.

By the time we hit Olive Garden for dinner she was plenty hungry and downed a bottle of formula faster than I could! We had to wait awhile for a table and everyone in the place was checking out her smile. When we got to the table she tried out a restaurant high chair for the first time and sat up all by herself! She was also quite taken with the waiter as he took our orders, looking at the one of us that was ordering and then looking back to the waiter as he asked questions. It was too funny!

After a rough night for the baby and her parents we all headed to a nearby outlet mall for a day of shopping. I only heard her crying once during the night, but her parents were up a lot as they tried to find out what was wrong. As an expectant father, I think the hardest part would be not knowing what to do in those situations. But by the time we headed out she was her usual self: content and all smiles!

Although I had been to many of the stores we hit I was still overwhelmed with the amount of clothing and supplies available for babies. While some of it is gender neutral, the gender specific items range from your traditional pink and blue to every color in the spectrum. My wife has had a strong feeling for some time that we are having a boy, so I didn't object in the slightest when she picked out a boy's outfit in Osh Kosh Bgosh. How can anyone resist a t-shirt and overalls? We're both very anxious to find out the gender and hopefully they'll be able to tell next Monday. Just think: we could know in another week!

So, after hitting the food court and a few more stores we said our goodbyes and our friends headed home, but I like to think they left behind two prospective parents with some answers...and plenty more questions about what it means to be a parent.

Baby Time...But Not Ours Just Yet!

We've been enjoying our visit with our friends and their baby daughter. While our cat is reserving judgment on her for now, we're already in love with this little girl! At first the cat hid under the bed for awhile, but after we got settled in bed he took his usual perch by my wife's legs. It's good for him as we wonder how he'll manage in 5 months when our baby comes home. However, it's not quite the same thing!

I was expecting to hear the baby during the night, but we must have thick walls because neither of us heard her until she came out this morning. I'm trying to get on a better schedule of sleep since I often need around 9 hours and I'm not likely to get that when the baby comes! I'll have to learn how to take naps as well. It's all part of the adjustment, but I don't really think you can do much to prepare beforehand. You just have to learn how to go with the flow.

The really interesting event should be this evening when we all go shopping and out to eat. When my wife & I were first together the sound of a baby at the next table or the next aisle would drive us nuts, but perhaps that was nature's way of telling us that we weren't ready for a baby. Over time we have begun to adjust to it and are told by parents that you learn to block most of it. We're going to hit Babies "R" Us for some shopping and either Outback Steakhouse or Olive Garden for dinner since our friends don't have any of those places right where they live. Regardless, it'll be an adventure and I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell.

Weekend with Friends

A short entry will have to suffice for my first "real" post. I spent the day cleaning the house before the arrival of our friends and their daughter who was born last October. It's our first experience being around a baby for an extended period of time in our own home. We're excited and will probably get a very good idea of what a baby's sleep schedule is like.

The other news of the day is that my wife has to start taking insulin for gestational diabetes. She was diagnosed a little over a week ago at 18 weeks and the doctor gave her a blood sugar monitor. Most women who get GD don't get a diagnosis until 28 weeks. So, after a week of testing and keeping a chart they decided to go for the insulin. My wife has PCOS so we always knew it could happen. We're obviously concerned, but we also know they have lots of ways to monitor both her and the baby. The worry is that the baby will get too big and have to be delivered early. I just hope we can at least make it to 36 weeks, but I'm amazed at the things they can do nowadays.

That's it for now...until next time!

A New Beginning!

Welcome to GenX Dad! Whether you came looking for my old blog or found me any other way, I request only a few paragraphs of your valuable time. Basically, I'm from Generation X and I'm going to be a Dad, so the new blog title shouldn't be that difficult to understand. My wife, who along with our baby and myself will be the major focus of this blog, is about 4 months along (or 19 weeks depending on your way of counting) and it's been a wonderful experience. Although we've had some bumps along the road and we'll probably have to get my wife's allignment checked by the time she gives birth, I'm ecstatic that I'm going to be a dad! The only problem? I have no idea what I'm doing!

Now, before you think I'm all worried and about to jump off the balcony, I'm not! WooHoo! But, suffice it to say that I've given a lot of thought to what kind of father I'll be and that's a lot to process. So, I'll be recording my observations on being an expectant dad for the next few months and continue on into the wild ride that comes with being someone's father! Yikes! That's a lot of responsibility, but I like to think I'm up to the challenge. I hope anyone who has made it this far will stay on the ride and see what the experience is really like from my GenX "child of the 80s" perspective. Feel free to respond with comments, email my posts to interested family or friends, and maybe you'll even learn something along the way....and then you can teach it to me!

Why did I decide to radically alter my old blog you ask? Oh, that was just a question in my own head? Oh, ok....but I'll answer it anyway. Basically I felt that a blog about my entire life was a bit too much to keep up with and probably of very little interest to anyone, but by focusing it on my thoughts about the baby, pregnancy, and being a dad I think I'll have better luck. So, you'll have to stay tuned to read the next exciting chapter! I'll also try to inject my perspective as a a GenXer on what fatherhood means to a new generation of dads. So if you didn't like the 80s and 90s in general or don't like to read about pregnancy and fatherhood you probably won't find this blog of much interest. However, I invite you to take me up on my free trial offer and update your bookmark to this blog's new site: http://genxdad.blogspot.com.

That's enough for now; don't you just hate these introductory statements? I know I do! Next time we'll start those little nuggets of wisdom, ok? Good deal! And for those of you interested in what came before this blog but just can't wait, the archives of my old blog are available in the links to the right. That's your right, not mine. :)