Jean got her hair cut for the second time in a week. It's getting shorter and shorter. I like it. Form and function, together at last. She'd been thinking about getting it cut for a while, and now that we're closing in on babydom it's as good a time as there will ever be.
Baby's official due date is February 4, just three months from today. And what have we done so far? First, I've attended several incredibly boring classes on birthing babies and caring for babies. They told us lots of things we already knew, showed us films that make cesarean births look like the coolest, simplest thing to do. Lies, lies, lies, yeah. The last class we attended talked about how the baby looks after delivery, pointy headed and all, and one father-to-be asked if it was okay to push the baby's head in to make it round. The nurse teaching the class was kinder than I ever could have been, and it was at that point that I decided the classes were designed for people like that father and not for people like me who have been reading voraciously every day since the little pink line showed up.
We've toured the two hospitals, and decided to go to the one Jean's doctor prefers. We even managed to get baby signed up for day care at our first choice school, even if it does cost twice as much as my car payment every month. We've been researching names like fiends. In addition to a useless book containing 35,000 names (34,975 of which I don't think I've ever seen or heard), we've got a book of Irish names. We've even played around on the ParentTime Baby Names site, trying to get the on-line community's opinion. We're getting close to a name, but I don't think we'll be sharing names for a while yet. We need to live with each name for a week or so to see how it feels. Naming a child is one of the toughest parts, since I know she'll most likely have to live with the name for decades after I've checked out.
We've figured out the baby furniture. When my parents were here two weeks ago they purchased the crib, which helped us a bunch. We've just done our first of two layaway payments on two bureaus for our daughter's room, and are ready to start on the list of small stuff.
Our next issues to work out are who's medical plan will baby join, and finally the pediatrician. Once we've resolved these two things, everything else is small-fry. The nice thing is that with each decision we've made, we've felt better and better. Staring at the entire task of caring for an infant is daunting: facing two more decisions and then lots of carry-through is much easier. What's more important is that Jean and I are forming our decision making style on baby issues now. We're both comfortable with our choices, which should make later decisions easier.
I spoke tonight with my brother, who has two young daughters. Every time we talk, I'm more encouraged
than ever. He delights in his children, and apologetically beams that all the clichés
about happiness in children are true. I don't have any doubts myself, but it's refreshing
to hear it from a sibling.
It was another cool day in Richmond. When I walked home tonight I had to put my sweater on before crossing the windy bridge. Since traffic was slower, I crossed to the other side of the bridge, where I could see the reflection of a single star on the dark river. I looked over my shoulder and saw the moon just over the trees. It was a good night to walk.
Listening: Sunday in the Park with George (Original Cast Album); Walking a Changing Line, Ian Matthews.
Reading: Parabola Winter 1998; Nehemiah.
© 1998 Kevin J.T. Creamer