Larry.org

So we're pregnant. We just hit about the halfway point. Pretty soon we should start feeling him move around in there. By "we" I of course mean Laura.


We're doing very well. By "we" I mean "I'm". Everything is going by the numbers and we're really very happy that we've had no problems thus far.


So this happy lack of problems leaves me wondering "now what". I realize that we "don't know what we're in for", but everyone seems to enjoy making sure we're aware of that. I think it's sort of 'rite of passage' thing with all parents. I'm sure I'll be saying it to first time parents myself. I'm going to try to remember how silly it is. I don't have any choice, it's not like we're not going to make it through the first year. My brother Steve had the funniest version of this. I said, yeah we're getting pretty close, I guess we should prepare or something. He started laughing and repeated "Prepare?" quite loudly. Then after giggling a bit more he said "It's the end of the world Larry, you can't prepare for the end of the world!" I found this quite amusing. I've since told everyone this story, especially those that volunteer the "oh you're not going to get any sleep next year" brand of new parent advice. It's funny how quickly they flip from "you are utterly unprepared for this phase, you have no idea how hard it's going to be, i scoff at your ability to live up the responsibilities you will soon face" to "what! it's not the end of the world!". So thanks Steve! That line has worked wonders.


Honestly I'm more worried about the ages 10-18 than I am 0-2. Laura sent me a great note that talked about this. It's available here.


Seems like good advice, if a touch obvious. I'm really not worried about how well Laura and I will do as parents. Everyones always told me i'd make a good dad, and I think I will. Laura is already organized and conscientious enough for two people so there might as well be an actual additional person. It'll be interesting to see how we react when we get to the tough parts. Luckily we both grew up with good parents so we have great examples to refer to.


This kind of thing does give you pause. I have plenty of time to think about it as I'm really not doing much compared with Laura. Well I'm doing some stuff but it's really small stuff compared to gestating a fetus. It's been kind of weird imagining what it's going to be like around here. Before we got pregnant I would think about what it would be like to have a kid. I would think about it when I was leaving to go somewhere. I'd think, well there's no way we would be heading out this quickly. Or I'd imagine a little person standing in the door as I head of to work.


It was hard to imagine the human interaction even then. I'd just 'see' the child looking at me. I'm looking forward to meeting this guy.


We're working on the name thing, and we're looking for a good midwife (if you have any suggestions please post them here).