There is a certain sense of urgency, knowing that May 26 is 2 very short weeks away. There are so many things to take care of and very little time but that will also give us a good lesson for having procrastinated so much on things that should have been taken care of months ago.
I can’t really blame everything on procrastination. Since the beginning of the year, I have been putting in a lot of overtime. Very nice paychecks but not enough time to do stuff around the house. And tonight, I am so sick it is not even funny. Strange, in a way because when my daughter was born, I was sick too but hopefully I’ll recover before getting to the delivery room.
We did manage to squeeze in a birthing class last Saturday. We’ve been through this once before, but I thought it would be a good idea to have a refresher. It was mostly a waste of time and very annoying since a doula came and was pushing her company’s services. I can understand how nice and comforting it might be for a young couple having their first baby, but quite honestly I don’t think we need a doula. Surprisingly, the wife thought so too. Therefore, we will just use some of the tips she gave us and really hope there will not be a need for a C-section.
One of the questions the doula and nurse asked was if we were nervous. Everybody’s hand went up except mine. I am not nervous about having a baby but I am very nervous because of all the unanswered questions that were raised all through the pregnancy. The wife and I were in bed last night talking about everything and she asked me the same question and if it was true that I was not nervous. And I did tell her the same thing. No, I am not nervous about the birth, but I am nervous about not knowing exactly how healthy my son is and will be. She said she was not worried about anything but started to freak out when I gave her my views. Hopefully, everything will be indeed ok and I would have worried for nothing.
My friend Dee baby-sat my daughter while we were attending the class and she said the wife was not ready yet to have the baby. Now, when the wife first went to see the doctor, she had calculated with a date one week prior to our copulation. To me, I did not understand how could she be so sure about her calculations since I know when we did the deed and it did not happen when she said it did. So to me, her date of May 26 was off by a week. But I went with her date anyway because it would be on Memorial Day, the unofficial first day of Summer. And so I was telling Dee about my theory and she agrees that the wife does not seem to be ready to give birth in just 2 short weeks.
Today, I was driving home from work and I had to take an alternate route since traffic was horrendous. Summer has kicked in with a vengeance, pushing temperatures in the mid-90s and thus igniting brush fires everywhere. One fire had a major highway closed during rush hour, making life even more miserable for the rest of us. I had left late, having had a last-minute meeting with the boss and although I was indeed running late, I did not expect a call so early from the wife. She had just gotten home from the doctor’s office and she proudly sang that she was 1cm dilated! Wha??? Yesterday, we were talking about this and how wrong the doctor was and how everything is planned on a May 26 birth and now I get this news? So 1cm is not much, but things can either follow their course or we could be headed to the hospital tomorrow. Well, maybe not tomorrow. But we have so much to do still! The crib is out of the closet but it still needs to be assembled. The CDs in the bedroom need to be moved. The house needs some cleaning, my work area is still a war zone and I just talked to the plummer today who agreed to come Wednesday evening to take care of the 2 second-floor bathrooms! My father-in-law is scheduled to fly in on the 22nd, but he may have to change his ticket soon. At least there isn’t anything major going on at work, so I should be able to get my week off without any major drama. And while I’ve been trying to type this entry, I was furiously chatting with my sister who is already making plans to see us for Christmas and still desperately trying to find out what the baby’s name will be.
Oh, I was indeed forgetting that part. The name!
Well, after much discussion, we had agreed on a name and I thought that was that. Except that yesterday at lunchtime, my wife asked me again about the name. Now, the name that I first wanted and that both her and my daughter had rejected, all of a sudden became an ok name with my wife. I convinced her to keep the name we had agreed on, knowing that I will call him by the name I always wanted to call him, even though it will be his second name. Poor kid; not even born yet and already so much confusion going on! 
Another subject that was raised was the one about his baptism. A few weeks ago, the wife told me that she wanted her friend Clau to be the godmother and I agreed without any reserves. True, I had imposed Dee as my daughter’s godmother and my brother ended up being the godfather after the wife’s brother could not make it. The wife feels she has to choose both godparents, but I don’t agree about that since the only reason my brother was chosen over her brother was because he didn’t make it. I am very torn about the choice for the godfather because I really don’t have any real close friends here and the people who I really thought were my true friends back home have shown their real face, knowing how to get in touch with me only when they know they’ll be in Miami and have a few hours to kill or need a ride to the airport. So in the end, it might well be my brother-in-law who will get the honor. Unless I can get in touch with my friend Chris and have him and only him make the trip from Paris…
I took some medication a couple of hours ago and although my nose gave me a break, it is raw. The coughing also gave me a break so far, but I know it will be total hell in bed in a couple of hours. I really don’t want to use any more of my days off, so I do hope I’ll wake up in better shape.
Damn, this is going to be hard to manage… 
Till then…
