Bill Simmons, a columnist for ESPN sometimes includes in his writings a segment entitled "Things I Think I Think." With a baby on the way I find that I think about a lot of stuff. Politics, religion, economics- stuff I've thought about before, only now I think about everything in terms of how it will affect my future child. The thing is, having never had a child before, I have no idea how anything will affect my (hopefully) soon to be born baby. So I guess these are things I think I think.
1)
Having posterity must be worth all the trouble or else the population would be rapidly shrinking. Getting pregnant wasn't all that easy, and while Ally has had a pretty great pregnancy as pregnancies go, pregnancy hasn't been all that easy either...especially lately. Preparing for baby takes up most of our free time, and the cost is well, ridiculous. And I haven't even entered the hard phase of this whole child rearing thing. Yikes! I find a great deal of relief in the fact that despite all the trouble that comes along with baby, humankind is still having them. There must be something to it.
2)
Doctors are inhibited from providing the best medical care possible because they are forced to act in a way that minimizes law suits. We love, and have faith in, all the doctors involved in our child's birth thus far. That said, it becomes more and more apparent that so much of what they do and say is driven by how they can best avoid getting sued. For example, we found out this week that our baby is, how you say, big for his or her age. Ally's doctor is concerned that if the child now goes full term it will potentially be too large to deliver the traditional way. Of course in my mind this meant we should have a discussion about what the alternatives/risks are with induction (which we would like to avoid), because I assumed there must be benefits to induction over a probable C-section. Turns out they won't induce unless we have an amnio first to test for lung development. Not an unreasonable precaution, but I was still a little surprised. And then as we were discussing the potential of a C-section, she said that she will usually let patients labor for 3-4 hours past the point where she realizes they will have to have a C-section before mentioning it as an option because she feels like she has to prove she did everything possible to deliver the baby traditionally. She said "I have to cover myself." Lame.
3)
My wife knows exactly the moment after I've sat down when I become comfortable. It's at exactly this moment when she will ask me to get up and do something for her -i.e. get her a drink, bring her the phone, etc. Let me be very clear, I AM NOT COMPLAINING. I wouldn't want to keep getting up and down either if I was carrying around an entire person, plus the the water it's marinating in. Rather, I'm just making an observation at when the requests come.
In the evening I do the dishes. It's always been this way at our house, and now that Ally's pregnant, I especially try to do the chores that require a lot of standing. It takes me 10-15 min to clean up after a typical meal (it's still just the two of us after all), after which I'll come in an join Ally in front of the TV to watch our usual mindless dribble. Mind you, I've just come from the kitchen where cups and water abound, but it's not until I've sat down in the living room and found a comfortable position that she decides she needs a glass of water. It's like that scene in "A Christmas Story" where every time the mother gets a bite of food near her mouth, someone asks her for something. Again, I really don't mind, just an observation. (as an aside, as I wrote this paragraph, I was sent to the kitchen to get a book, and asked to fetch pillows on two separate occasions)
4)
When you're a parent (or preparing to become one), it is ridiculous on some level that you begin to have conversations about children's items the way you used to have conversations about cars. Yesterday I was in Beverly Hills, and up the street on the next block was parked a Bugatti. I couldn't see any decals, and only saw it from behind, but I knew exactly what it was the second I spotted it. I can now do the same thing with strollers and car seats when I see them out and about. Six months ago I couldn't even name three baby brands, let alone know which brand made which item. Now I find myself taking the opportunity to talk strollers with any guy pushing one. Perfectly ridiculous, I say.
5) I
'm going to have to review my movie, book, and magazine collections. I don't believe I have anything inappropriate in my house, really. That said, there are definitely some things I'd rather not have my kid exposed to in his or her youth...or maybe ever. Perhaps that means I do have inappropriate stuff in my house? If I wouldn't want my child exposed to them, should I be exposed? Funny how kids make you look at things differently.
That's it for now. Looking forward to the 4th. Fireworks with some friends and a BBQ. Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday. Think labor inducing thoughts.
