Waiting

"The waiting is the hardest part" -- Tom Petty

Argyle was due on Friday. If history had repeated itself, Em would have woken me up around 2 AM Friday morning  and 5 hours later it would have all been over. But when scheduled C-sections are not involved, labor and delivery is rarely predictable.

When MLTU was born we had little time to wait. That last week was full of activity. It was Em's final week at work and her entire family was coming to town for Easter. There was a lot of planning and phone calls about who was staying where, what we were doing and where to eat dinner. That Saturday was perfect. We had a long walk through the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, went to the Brooklyn Museum and had a huge "Easter dinner" at Moutard, our favorite French place in Park Slope.

And then, at 2 AM on her due date, MLTU began her rapid journey into the world. It was all over so fast, we hardly had time to think "when is this kid coming?"

But this time is a little different. For starters, there is no holiday this weekend to distract us and the "whole family" is 20 minutes down the road. Then there is the fact that Em's sister is in town to help with the birth so there is another person nearby who is also waiting. And finally there is the fact that this time we know that we likely only have a few hours from first contraction to delivery, so we are a little more anxious about making it to the hospital on time.

I left work on Friday with everyone saying "good luck" and "see you after Memorial Day". But now it looks more likely that I will be in the office tomorrow and on my 10 AM conference call.

On the one hand, Tom Petty was right, the waiting is the hardest part. I really want to meet this kid and find out what he or she is like. Em and I are both ready for this to be over and to have a newborn again.

But on the other hand this has been a great weekend. MLTU is at her summer home (the Grandparent's house) to make things easier when labor does begin and Em did not go to work this weekend. For the first time in a long time, we actually got to spend the whole weekend together. And just like before MLTU was born, we have had time to just hang out, watch TV (and eat dinner while watching TV) and take an hour long walk together.

Right before MLTU was born our doula told us that we should reflect on the moments before the birth because our time as a couple was about to end out our time as a family was about to begin. It seemed like a daunting statement at the time, but in retrospect, it made total sense. Once you have a child it is no longer "you and me" it is "all of us".

And while I would never in a million years go back to a time before MLTU was in our life, it has been nice to have a pause while we wait and enjoy the simple moments that couples have. Any day now the three of us will become the four of us.

Two final side notes:

- MLTU was looking at the infant car seat the other day and I said to her "Do you know who that is for?" She responded "My baby sister." After my heart melted, I explained to her that we don't know if Argyle is a girl or a boy to which she responded "My baby brother." Man I love that kid.

- During our walk Em had this brilliant observation on nostalgia: "I think that it is important to look back on the past with humor, because we were pretty stupid back then."

I love my wife.