Euphoria, From Head To Toe

Yesterday, on Thursday August 23rd, I experienced the most euphoric moment that I have experienced so far since learning I was going to become a father.  The moment occurred while I was driving around the parking lot of a Wegman's grocery store.  I was circling around the lot getting frustrated not finding a spot that suited my tastes.  Then, however, I saw it-I saw a couple of the "expectant mother" parking spots tucked up close to the front of the store.  I then realized that, for the length of this pregnancy and while I am with Carly, I can park at these very parking spots.  Wegman's is already one of my favorite places in the world to visit.  Now, for the better part of seven months, I can park right up close to the building.  I can hardly envision a life that is more gratifying than this.

After all that excitement I had to get up the next morning (today), go to work, and then head to our first pre-natal appointment at 11:15.  I'll admit, I was pretty freaking nervous for this.  I knew this would be the first real step in the pregnancy in what becomes a fairly regimented schedule to and through the birth of our child (and if I have any say in it, the entire life of our child).  For me, the appointment was fairly boring.  I sat in a waiting room for the better part of two hours while Carly visited three different doctors performing various tests, examinations, and surveys.  It was kind of awkward for me as I didn't really know what I should do or what I was expected to do, if anything.  I want to be as involved as possible in this pregnancy but I also don't want to come across as overbearing.  Each time Carly's name got called I kind of just waited to see if the nurse would invite me in or not.  All three times the nurse neglected to give me any notion that I should follow Carly so I just sat back in my chair and continued to thumb through the "Shape" magazine that was nearby (they really need some men's magazines in those places for guys like me).

When Carly was completely done with everything we were given some exciting dates.  On October 5th, six weeks from now, we get our first sonogram done (I won't look for permission from the nurse on this one-let it be known that I'll be there for that) and April 15th, tax day, is the tentative due date for our baby.  For you, the readers, understand that each time we get a sonogram done I'm going to make sure to post pictures of them up on this blog.

It has now been exactly two weeks since Carly made a phone call to me that almost put me to the floor while I was working in the cooler.  Since that time we both have had a tremendous group of family and friends that have given us an amazing amount of support, encouragement, and advice.  One interesting idea that some friends of mine shared with me a few days ago was to, with each paycheck, purchase a gift card to places like Babies 'R Us and Toys 'R Us from Giant Eagle.  If you really think about this, in my opinion, its genius.  First off, its a way of putting aside money for the baby without having the temptation of being able to spend it.  Secondly, with Giant Eagle's "Gas Perks" we are able to save money off of gas too.  If we purchase just a $25 gift card each week we could end up with about $700 in gift cards by the time the baby is born.

This leads me to this: if anyone has any advice, stories, or "words of wisdom" that you also would like to share please feel free to do so.  There are a variety of options you can utilize to do so; you can choose to post in the "Comments" section, you can message me or Carly in Facebook, or even send me an email at babyBlogED@gmail.com.   I really hope this blog can, not only be a narcissistic vehicle of mine (haha), but also maybe something that current and future parents can use as a resource.  In addition, I hope that everyone, not just people who are in the parent world, is able to enjoy the anecdotes that I share.

Until my next splurge of thoughts on my impending parenthood, I wish you all pleasant reading,

---Ed