T-minus 8
That’s where we sit right now. Eight days until our lives are changed forever. Eight days until we’re put in charge of a little boy and all of his yet-to-be-developed hopes & interests & dreams & needs & wants. Eight days until no one is any longer interested in what Lynn and I are up to, but focused almost entirely on Seth.
I’m pretty excited. I think it’s going to be a blast to raise a kid, despite the lack of sleep (been prepping for that for years, to a mild extent), my penchant to worry (comes with the territory), the challenges of being a good parent (lesser people than Lynn and me have raised pretty decent children), etc. I get pretty jittery thinking about things like the first time he holds my finger, the first time he (sort of) smiles, the first time he falls asleep in my arms, and much more.
But all of that’s still for a week away. I’ve still got 8 more days to reflect on the other side of the coin, to marvel at the strength and beauty of the woman who is making this at all possible for us.
I told Lynn the other day that she’s been a pretty fantastic pregnant woman. In reality, I can’t imagine a more strikingly noble way to grow and carry an unborn child for nine months then what Lynn has done. She’s selflessly labored through each nauseous morning, each pang of heartburn, each restless night’s sleep, all with an unwavering sense of good humor.
It hasn’t mattered to her that she’s basically been turned into a human science experiment – regularly poked and prodded and measured and interrogated and examined. She’s just smiled and joked and devoted as much time as she needed to preparing for Seth’s arrival.
I’ll never be able to repay the debt of gratitude that I feel to my wife as I think about what will greet us in eight days’ time. Even were I physiologically equipped to do what Lynn’s done, I could never have done it with the grace and the dignity and the spirit that Lynn’s brought to her pregnancy. Seth’s going to be a lucky guy to have a mom so full of unending love and devotion to him and to our entire family.
Thanks, Lynn.