Moments...

So, there is lots of info on what's happening with baby, and volumes upon volumes about what Mommy is going through. That's definitely a good thing (not sure I'd be walking around without a helmet and athletic cup if I didn't know hormones are normal!), but there's not a lot about fathers out there.

Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong spots, but seriously. Never once have I seen a web page or a book about coping with the insecurity of not knowing how I'm going to pay for diapers, much less how I'll deal with sports gear, music lessons, field trips, family vacations, college educations, first dates, heartbreaks, car accidents, and about a thousand other things I can think of that I can't afford, or just plain scare me.

Well, I may not have the answer, but I have found a way to cope: Moments.

Like when that one song comes on the radio (for me, it's the one about having a kid just like me), the whole world kind of pauses.

Or when I made the latest ultrasound image the background on my phone. When I see some random athlete or celebrity win something, and thank his or her parents for all the support.

Or, better yet, when, last week, I heard that perfect heart beat 150 times in a minute, and I successfully fought back tears.

And when the doctor told us everything was fine even though Mommy's blood sugar has been a little whacky.

Every one of those things is a Moment. I look for them every day, and they help keep me grounded. Sometimes, the Moments are easy to find, sometimes they're damn near impossible. But they're there. So keep looking, and keep finding them. Your sanity may depend on it. I know mine does.

Pregnancy status:

14 weeks today.

26 weeks to go.

Status: Just a little smaller that the iPhone I used to find this out...around 3.5 inches from head to bottom

Daddy's Little Genius? Almost, but not quite. This week's development is highlighted by rapid brain growth. Still a few years before I have to remember trigonometry though...

Interesting Fact: Our first OB appointment was a success, complete with a printed ultrasound picture!

Next week: More doctors.Less sleep. More Moments.

Soundtrack: Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, and, oddly enough, Our Lady Peace

Boy or Girl?

Random Thought Time!

(I have these random thoughts pretty much all day, every day. If I have a thought I think is interesting or important, I'll probably write it down. I know it's probably not interesting or important, but if you know me at all, you know that doesn't matter...)

Okay, so if you took a poll of prospective parents, and asked what is the most-asked question, you would probably get a resounding winner.

If that same poll asked which question is the toughest to answer honestly, I think you'd get the same answer.

Do you want a boy or a girl?

First and foremost, the most common answer is also most often correct. I just want our baby to be healthy.

But is it really that simple?

If I'm completely honest, sometimes I do feel like I have a preference. At my most insecure, I want a boy because it's familiar (I'd imagine that Mommy wants a girl for the same reason sometimes). Then we see some cute stuff at the mall, and I want to have a girl because we both know how fun it would be to dress her in pretty dresses and such. Then, I want my boy to be the first-overall pick in the 2025 QMJHL entry draft. Maybe later that day, I want to sit back and watch my little girl play with her Mommy and marvel at how much of her Mommy I see in her.

So, the answer is, I want a boy. Or a girl. And in the end, the positives of each gender outweigh the other, to the point of a perfect balance.

So the only thing I hope for is a healthy baby, because I know all three of us are gonna be just fine no matter which it is.

A time to start...

Things are good in my life. In fact, things have never been this good. Everything is going well, even though I sometimes forget to look at the big picture, and get bogged down in details. But here's all you need to know for the moment:

I have a wife-to-be who loves me as much as I love her, and we have a baby on the way. Today, she is exactly 13 weeks pregnant.

I just had a great birthday week full of rest, relaxation, family, and friends. I got couple nice presents to remind me that the people I love the most are the ones who know me best. My mom gave me a blanket with pandas on it, and Laura got me a copy if The Hockey Sweater, a must-read for every Canadian child (if you want to know how it starts, look at a Canadian five-dollar bill). The idea of sharing my birthday was nice, and it feels perfectly natural. I don't much care what I get for myself at Christmas, but I know what to ask for: whatever baby stuff we still need at that point!

So, this is my own little corner of the Internet, and I plan on updating over the next little while.

Pregnancy status:

13 weeks today.

27 weeks to go.

Status: Baby is approximately the size of a peach.

Fuzzy or smooth?: Starting this week, fuzzy! Hair starts growing this week, and baby is capable of standing up perfectly straight in the womb. Head's still pretty heavy though, so the neck is getting longer to accommodate.

Interesting Fact: I have 2 apps on my phone to give me most of the info I'm passing along. The What to Expect app is my favourite, but the Enfamil-sponsored Your Baby app is a close second (although the pics and videos on Your Baby tend to creep out Mommy!).

Next week: Our first OB appointment, and more food-related size comparisons!

Future Post Ideas: Influencing Baby's musical tastes, nicknames (for Baby and family members), and my personal magnum opus, Baby and hockey.