The Pending Birth

Today is the 13th January 2009 and the baby is due on the 21st, according to those in the know. Although, having said that, Claire has said all along that she thought the doctors had it wrong, and the baby is actually due on the 26th… We’ll see, I suppose.

Either way, we’re down to a matter of days until the baby is born. Days. Until our baby is born. A baby that will be absolutely, 100% reliant on us for everything, from eating, poo-ing and sleeping. Sounds like a daft thing to say, but it’s becoming more and more real for me particularly. Of the very few baby books I’ve read a few pages of, I do remember reading somewhere that dad’s don’t feel like it’s all real until nearer the end, with the big smack-in-the-face with the birth. Well, that sounds right so far..!

It was easy beforehand to make a joke of the fact that the baby was months away when people asked. Whether it was a means of getting around the subject or just a little light humour for the moment, I’d say something like, “nah, it’s months away” or even, “it’s next year!”, especially when people would say things like “oooh, it’s not long now” or “enjoy yourself while you can, as soon you’ll never be the same again…”.

Distractions
At work, it was suggested that I start a sweep-stake, based on the day of the birth. It started out being 10 days before through to 10 days after the expected birth, which was a good start, as this gave us 21 days to gamble upon, or a potential 21 people for each day available. But the dads in the office suggested that this was extended a few more days, as there’s always a chance that the baby could be late. So, it was pushed from 11th January through until the 4th February, which makes the pot a healthy £25 rich when all sold. Amazingly, the due date of the 21st January was the last ticket to be drawn from the hat!

With all 25 days sold to 18 happy punters, the days are being crossed off one at a time, not just for them, but for Claire and me too. It’s easy to concentrate on the sweepstake and think of it as any given chance for a small flutter in the office, but the underlying ‘prize’ is what really matters.

In terms of the ‘baby-stuff’ that one needs, it seems, I think it’s fair to say yes, we have it, regardless of what you ask if we have. The spare bedroom, which used to be our office upstairs, has been magically transformed into a baby’s room, with prams and high-chairs spreading into the other spare bedroom. It has to be said, that Claire has done a fantastic job of being chief-in-charge of purchasing. She hasn’t just bought the first thing that she’s seen and wasted loads of money on things that we don’t need, as she has put lots of thought into what has been bought, as well as where it came from etc., and everything that’s here is great. Admittedly, it was a little overwhelming each day I got back from work to find more and more cardboard boxes from the recent delivery piling up in the hallway upstairs and downstairs too, AND with more parcels at the Royal Mail place in March awaiting collection because we weren’t in at the time. Days and evenings have disappeared building the wardrobes, cot, cupboards and all that. All good fun, but hopefully they’ll all get lots of use!