I am either the smartest person or the dumbest when it comes to choosing fatherhood. I say this, because I have a son that is starting his 3rd year of college. He's never been in any real trouble, makes good grades in school, and is in the home stretch for preparing to become a contributing member of society. In all respects, I'm almost ready to put a big check mark in the box of successful/proud parent and prepare to start enjoying my AARP benefits along with a cool glass of lemonade on my front porch whilst watching the world pass me by.
Perhaps I'm dumb for starting over. What am I thinking?!? After all, I've done my time changing diapers, paying for braces, buying Jakob's first automobile, helping pay for college, and the hundreds of other responsibilities that come with being a parent. Why would I want to start this entire process over 20 years later? I'll tell you why. I'm wiser now, more responsible, more secure, and more prepared (translation: OLDER).
One of the biggest decisions to do it again is Dawn. I've watched her around other kids, and seen her caring loving ways enough to know that she will be an incredible mother. It would be a disservice to humankind to deprive her of the gift of being a mother. From the moment she first found out she was going to be a mother, she has done everything imaginable to ensure a healthy baby arrives in September. I really respect and appreciate everything she is doing and enduring to prepare for the big day.
What a transformation my own life has experienced in the last several months. Here is a summary of before and after:
To get my fill of adrenaline, I used to make a few hundred skydives a year. Now my skydiving gear has been sold, and my new adrenaline comes from watching the "I'm pregnant and didn't know it" marathon on TV. What a rush watching 8 episodes back to back!
My weekends used to be spent partying like a rock star. Going out around 10:00pm and staying out until the early hours of the morning, hoping I'd make it home alive. Now I'm going to sleep around 10:00pm on the weekends (usually exhausted from watching baby shows on TV). Instead of spending the rest of the weekend recovering from overindulging the night before, I'm up with the cows, trying to make it to garage sales to get some great deals on baby items.
I used to swap war stories with my single friends about all of the crazy things we were doing, or getting ready to do. Now most of my conversations are with other married people getting advice on car seats, breast pumps, and best brand of diaper.
My sun room which used to serve as the 2nd wing of my home arcade, has now been cleared out, and replaced with more baby stuff that I can count. I don't even know what some of it is or does.
I used to know human anatomy for all the wrong reasons (giggidy), but now my anatomy focus is for entirely different reasons. I now know more about the cervix, fallopian tubes, placenta and uterus that I really ever imagined possible.
And finally, my buddies used to send me cool YouTube videos about hot chicks, fast cars, and men drinking, now I only get videos like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZa7hU6tP_s&feature=player_embedded
Would I change any of it? Not at all. Although I probably don't show it as outwardly as Dawn, I'm just as excited about becoming a Daddy as she is becoming a Mommy. I feel like the luckiest guy around to have Dawn in my life, and in just a matter of 60 days, another son to join our family.
So am I the smartest or dumbest guy for doing this a 2nd time, 20 years later? I think I'm on to something here. I'm definitely the smartest and happiest guy around for doing this. I'd write more, but for now, I've got to run. Got to go clear out the liquor cabinet to make room for the baby bottles.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
SLEEP !!! HAHAHAHAHA !
I've always had a problem sleeping so I was a little used to it, but, things are a little different now!
Before I would just take forever to fall asleep and wake up about 20 times a night, but now, trying to sleep with a stomach the size of a basketball or small beach ball, it's tougher than I thought, to top it off, I now have carpal tunnel !!
I have every pillow you can imagine, a super large one that completely surrounds me, Bryan calls it my cocoon, some nights I sleep with it, some nights it sleeps on the floor. I now have to sleep with hand splints on, three pillows behind me one on either side, travel pillow around my neck and two smaller pillows, in case of emergency, don't know what that could be.
I look like I've been in a terrible accident, I only wish I could have a hospital bed with all the bells and whistles, especially now that I've turned into the "Urinator", film at 9, 12, 2, 4, 6, 8............ you get the idea ! Those depend undergarments aren't looking so bad now, I"m sure I could make them look cute with some glue, glitter and markers and maybe a few stickers !
I think it's funny when people say it's nature's way of preparing you for the baby, if it were, wouldn't you think nature would want you to sleep as much as possible now? Besides, I guess I've been practicing for years !
It's so pleasing to watch Bryan come to bed an hour later, kiss me good night and snore before his head hits the pillow, NOT !!!! Sometimes I want to "accidentally" kick him every time I awaken , but I can't , besides, he would only fall back asleep and tell me about the dream he had about someone kicking him, hmmmmmm
Only 3 months to go , then my little beach ball will be out of my stomach and in his cradle, it's going to be worth every minute of sleep I am and will be missing !!!
I can't wait to hold our little Pierce!!!
I think I'll take a nap now............................
Before I would just take forever to fall asleep and wake up about 20 times a night, but now, trying to sleep with a stomach the size of a basketball or small beach ball, it's tougher than I thought, to top it off, I now have carpal tunnel !!
I have every pillow you can imagine, a super large one that completely surrounds me, Bryan calls it my cocoon, some nights I sleep with it, some nights it sleeps on the floor. I now have to sleep with hand splints on, three pillows behind me one on either side, travel pillow around my neck and two smaller pillows, in case of emergency, don't know what that could be.
I look like I've been in a terrible accident, I only wish I could have a hospital bed with all the bells and whistles, especially now that I've turned into the "Urinator", film at 9, 12, 2, 4, 6, 8............ you get the idea ! Those depend undergarments aren't looking so bad now, I"m sure I could make them look cute with some glue, glitter and markers and maybe a few stickers !
I think it's funny when people say it's nature's way of preparing you for the baby, if it were, wouldn't you think nature would want you to sleep as much as possible now? Besides, I guess I've been practicing for years !
It's so pleasing to watch Bryan come to bed an hour later, kiss me good night and snore before his head hits the pillow, NOT !!!! Sometimes I want to "accidentally" kick him every time I awaken , but I can't , besides, he would only fall back asleep and tell me about the dream he had about someone kicking him, hmmmmmm
Only 3 months to go , then my little beach ball will be out of my stomach and in his cradle, it's going to be worth every minute of sleep I am and will be missing !!!
I can't wait to hold our little Pierce!!!
I think I'll take a nap now............................
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Breast Feeding
On June 3rd, I had a life changing event. I didn't win the lottery or have a near death experience - Nope.... I went to a breast feeding class!
We scheduled this class weeks ago, and when I put it on my calendar from 6pm - 9pm, I chuckled knowing there was no way that we'd need 3 hours to learn how to do this. I mean seriously, is it really this complicated? Somehow for thousands of years the maternal instinct of a mother and her child have worked just fine without complicated books and classes. After all, it's a pretty simple concept:
1 - Expose Breast
2 - Put Baby to Breast
3 - Feed Baby
4 - Repeat as needed
How could this possibly consume 3 hours of our lives? I was about to find out.....
We arrived early to make sure we'd get a good seat. I was surprised to see how many other couples were also there. I was even more surprised to see the 75 page book going into more detail that I ever knew was possible about breast feeding a baby. I was starting to get worried.
Anywhere else, if the word "sucking" and "breast" were used so many times in the same sentence, you'd likely get arrested. But here it was the norm and there were moments when things felt slightly uncomfortable. Perhaps the women felt completely fine with this, but looking around at the other suckers (no pun intended) - I mean other men in the room, I could tell they too were feeling the uneasiness of this situation.
After almost two hours of our instructor telling us just how difficult it could be to get the baby to drink from the breast, I think she finally felt sorry for us and gave us a 'brief' break. Fortunately they had comfort food there, and I had definitely worked up an appetite by this point. They were kind enough to provide us with freshly baked brownies and apple juice (seems to me like they should have given us milk under the circumstances) but what do I know.
Before I had time to finish my brownie, the instructor was back at it, but now it was time for a volunteer to come to the front of the room and 'demonstrate' the technique. Of course no one would volunteer because everyone was terrified of what might happen being in the spotlight. As the instructor peered across the room hoping to find a willing volunteer, I could see everyone looking away making sure as to not make eye contact with her for fear of being selected.
But like a true champion, Dawn rose to the occasion and in the name of science and education, she volunteered to go in front of the class and help the instructor. Dawn was a real sport and fortunately she didn't have to do anything too absurd, but it was still entertaining to watch her teach us all how to hold the baby in various positions to maximize the chances of a good feeding. I took the opportunity to sneak out my phone and capture some quality video and pictures that will surely provide a good laugh one day later in life.
Remember the 75 page book I mentioned? It was well after 9:00pm and we were roughly 50% through the book. Our instructor was so passionate about educating us on the 15,000 things we needed to know (Refer to my list above - Remember, I thought there were only 4 things ), that she could have easily continued another 3 hours. Fortunately around 9:15pm, she could tell she had beat us into an overwhelmed and unqualified state of mind, that she dismissed the class.
I left that night thinking to myself - "Thank God there is not a class on how to change a diaper", but at that very moment I remembered, we had signed up for that class which would be coming up the following week - But that's another story.
I had nightmares later that evening. I was being attacked by an array of bottles, nipples, breast pumps, formula, crying babies, and our evil instructor laughing and pointing at me saying "I told you so". It was a horrible dream and I woke up drenched with sweat. I went to the kitchen to get a drink, and opened the fridge and poured myself a glass of milk. Somehow my natural instincts took over, and without any complications I put the glass to my mouth and enjoyed every last drop. I'm sure my son too will do the same, and everything will be just fine; even if we just use the four step method that has been used for centuries.
We scheduled this class weeks ago, and when I put it on my calendar from 6pm - 9pm, I chuckled knowing there was no way that we'd need 3 hours to learn how to do this. I mean seriously, is it really this complicated? Somehow for thousands of years the maternal instinct of a mother and her child have worked just fine without complicated books and classes. After all, it's a pretty simple concept:
1 - Expose Breast
2 - Put Baby to Breast
3 - Feed Baby
4 - Repeat as needed
How could this possibly consume 3 hours of our lives? I was about to find out.....
We arrived early to make sure we'd get a good seat. I was surprised to see how many other couples were also there. I was even more surprised to see the 75 page book going into more detail that I ever knew was possible about breast feeding a baby. I was starting to get worried.
Anywhere else, if the word "sucking" and "breast" were used so many times in the same sentence, you'd likely get arrested. But here it was the norm and there were moments when things felt slightly uncomfortable. Perhaps the women felt completely fine with this, but looking around at the other suckers (no pun intended) - I mean other men in the room, I could tell they too were feeling the uneasiness of this situation.
After almost two hours of our instructor telling us just how difficult it could be to get the baby to drink from the breast, I think she finally felt sorry for us and gave us a 'brief' break. Fortunately they had comfort food there, and I had definitely worked up an appetite by this point. They were kind enough to provide us with freshly baked brownies and apple juice (seems to me like they should have given us milk under the circumstances) but what do I know.
Before I had time to finish my brownie, the instructor was back at it, but now it was time for a volunteer to come to the front of the room and 'demonstrate' the technique. Of course no one would volunteer because everyone was terrified of what might happen being in the spotlight. As the instructor peered across the room hoping to find a willing volunteer, I could see everyone looking away making sure as to not make eye contact with her for fear of being selected.
But like a true champion, Dawn rose to the occasion and in the name of science and education, she volunteered to go in front of the class and help the instructor. Dawn was a real sport and fortunately she didn't have to do anything too absurd, but it was still entertaining to watch her teach us all how to hold the baby in various positions to maximize the chances of a good feeding. I took the opportunity to sneak out my phone and capture some quality video and pictures that will surely provide a good laugh one day later in life.
Remember the 75 page book I mentioned? It was well after 9:00pm and we were roughly 50% through the book. Our instructor was so passionate about educating us on the 15,000 things we needed to know (Refer to my list above - Remember, I thought there were only 4 things ), that she could have easily continued another 3 hours. Fortunately around 9:15pm, she could tell she had beat us into an overwhelmed and unqualified state of mind, that she dismissed the class.
I left that night thinking to myself - "Thank God there is not a class on how to change a diaper", but at that very moment I remembered, we had signed up for that class which would be coming up the following week - But that's another story.
I had nightmares later that evening. I was being attacked by an array of bottles, nipples, breast pumps, formula, crying babies, and our evil instructor laughing and pointing at me saying "I told you so". It was a horrible dream and I woke up drenched with sweat. I went to the kitchen to get a drink, and opened the fridge and poured myself a glass of milk. Somehow my natural instincts took over, and without any complications I put the glass to my mouth and enjoyed every last drop. I'm sure my son too will do the same, and everything will be just fine; even if we just use the four step method that has been used for centuries.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Registering for Baby, Easy? I think not !!!
I thought picking out his name was hard, registering is just as hard. I could easily register for what "I" want, that would be easy, a maid service for a day, massage, facial, mani-pedi and my car detailed for the little one's arrival, but, it's not for mommy !!
We have been fortunate to receive a lot of "hand-me overs" from Amy and Sandy, thank you ladies, that has made it easy as well as for the yard sales Bryan and I hit and have a ton of newborn clothes. I think Bryan is hooked on this yard sale thing since we're going again this Saturday in hopes of finding a changing table and a dresser.
We're having a tough time with the carrier/car seat, why can't they just make ONE !!!
I can't decide if we need a carrier then a care seat or just a car seat that will last from 5 to 100 lbs, will need to make very sure to keep it clean for that long, may have to keep the plastic cover on it like some people keep over their furniture!
I only wish there were a master list somewhere of everything one needs for their little new addition !
Can we just go back to the good old days when you just held the baby while driving and later letting them play or nap in the back space @ the back window, just kidding, I always had fun doing that myself!!! I don't ever recall wearing a seat belt, just remember riding in the back of my grand parent's car begging them to turn on the radio and their answer was to start singing their own song !!! Not what I wanted, of course I'd love to hear them sing now if only that were possible!
Anyway, I think our only BIG task is to decide on the car seats and the rest will fall into place, RIGHT??!!!
We have been fortunate to receive a lot of "hand-me overs" from Amy and Sandy, thank you ladies, that has made it easy as well as for the yard sales Bryan and I hit and have a ton of newborn clothes. I think Bryan is hooked on this yard sale thing since we're going again this Saturday in hopes of finding a changing table and a dresser.
We're having a tough time with the carrier/car seat, why can't they just make ONE !!!
I can't decide if we need a carrier then a care seat or just a car seat that will last from 5 to 100 lbs, will need to make very sure to keep it clean for that long, may have to keep the plastic cover on it like some people keep over their furniture!
I only wish there were a master list somewhere of everything one needs for their little new addition !
Can we just go back to the good old days when you just held the baby while driving and later letting them play or nap in the back space @ the back window, just kidding, I always had fun doing that myself!!! I don't ever recall wearing a seat belt, just remember riding in the back of my grand parent's car begging them to turn on the radio and their answer was to start singing their own song !!! Not what I wanted, of course I'd love to hear them sing now if only that were possible!
Anyway, I think our only BIG task is to decide on the car seats and the rest will fall into place, RIGHT??!!!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Baby "stuff"
I'm so excited to have some baby things around the house. Met my Aunt Amy today in Columbia, to pick up a cradle, pack-n-play, baby tub, lil rocking horse, bedding, towels, and some misc. toys. My friend Kerry rode with me for company and to let me know it was ok to eat a ham & cheese biscuit, blueberry biscuit and most of her hash browns, Amy helped cheer me on too!
As soon as I could get everything in the house, I started putting things together, starting with the pack-n-play without directions!!! I decided to google for the instructions and there it was, on You Tube, yippee ! This one was a little different but close enough, it wasn't easy trying to figure it out before the google search! I would get one side up, work on side 2 and side one would fall, this went on for about 30 minutes before I decided to google!
I decided to put the things together since Babies R Us almost made Bryan have a mental break down, I need to take it easy on the man!
I guess all I get to do now is stare at it and shew the dogs away from it when they try to chew it! It's going to be interesting when we have baby toys around the house, Chingy is the worst when it comes to toys!! I'm hoping to get some more on Saturday !!!
As soon as I could get everything in the house, I started putting things together, starting with the pack-n-play without directions!!! I decided to google for the instructions and there it was, on You Tube, yippee ! This one was a little different but close enough, it wasn't easy trying to figure it out before the google search! I would get one side up, work on side 2 and side one would fall, this went on for about 30 minutes before I decided to google!
I decided to put the things together since Babies R Us almost made Bryan have a mental break down, I need to take it easy on the man!
I guess all I get to do now is stare at it and shew the dogs away from it when they try to chew it! It's going to be interesting when we have baby toys around the house, Chingy is the worst when it comes to toys!! I'm hoping to get some more on Saturday !!!
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