Thursday, December 4, 2008

D-Day +1: The Ongoing Saga



As much as JoAnna & I know that it's entirely normal to go past your due date, that it's possible to even go as long as 2 weeks past it, that we shouldn't be impatient or anxious, blah blah blah - it's kind of tough to not be a little bummed out about not having the boy yet.

We've found that we have a very tough time with patience in general, particularly when it comes to having good news. As soon as we knew that JoAnna was pregnant (at about 7 weeks pregnant), we were practically falling all over ourselves to refrain from telling the whole world. Call us silly or immature. But we just can't contain our excitement.

The same applies now. When we entered the 2-week period before the due date, we had it in our heads that "it can happen any day now!" As a result, we subconsciously put our lives on hold. We didn't really commit to much beyond eating, going to work and sleeping. Of course, this was ridiculous, and resulted in some extremely lame evenings.

The low point was the Friday night after Thanksgiving. In the past, this was a night we'd be out with friends having drinks, maybe going to a movie, anything. You know, having FUN. Instead, at 10pm we found ourselves sitting on the couch having just watched John & Kate +8 on TLC, and getting geared up to watch What Not to Wear. EXCITING, right? It was at this point that I put my lame glass of lame water down on the coffee table, stood up and and proclaimed:

"This fucking sucks."

Yes, we'd offically achieved loser status, and I was immature enough to state it.

Since that point we've realized that we simply need to continue living our lives. In other words, we should still "do stuff." If for any reason, to try to distract ourselves from what's on our minds constantly. Case in point, we put up our Christmas tree last night - 'cause let's be honest, that wasn't going to happen if we waited until after Timmy's arrival.

As far as tonight's concerned...hmm, is there an "Idiot's Guide to Filling Time as you Wait for your Stubborn Baby?"

- Patrick

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Patrick -
You just described your future Friday nights in perpetuity. Welcome to (impending) parenthood.

Greg

Rachael Kanapka said...

You think your evenings are lame NOW? Oh, just you wait! Fast forward a few weeks, and you'll be spending your evenings sitting in front of the same TV shows, but about 1 million times more tired, probably with spit up on your clothes, and possibly unshowered... just waiting to hear the starts of a cry from little Timmy, at which point you'll scream "Not it!" in the hopes that you beat JoAnna to it, so she'll be the one to go get him... ;) But all that said (and I'm not exaggerating even mildly, by the way), it's completely worth it and you'll love being a parent. (But I'm telling you, kiss your social life goodbye. You want to know what the last movie was that Bob and I saw in an actual theater? Dan in Real Life. That came out what, like over a year ago? And I didn't even care that it sucked, I was just so happy to be in the theater with my Milk Duds.)

Andrew Child said...

You know, Patrick, that pretty much describes my life since becoming a father. The key, for me anyway, is to embrace the lameness. That way when my son's a teenager and says, "Dad, you suck," I'll be able to calmly nod my head and say, "Ya, but you're still not getting the $#%&^ car keys 'til you mow the *&@%& lawn."

It's sort of a lame-zen thing but its working for me.

Patrick French said...

You all paint such a rosy picture. I can't wait. :)

Unknown said...

Oh, Patrick. Just remember it'll all be worth it when he's 7 and screams "I hate you" at you because you told him for the fourth time that he needs to clean his room.

Good times.

Patrick French said...

Temporary hatred's a good thing, right TC? Please? Tell me I'm right?