Expecting the Unexpected
There comes a day in most people’s lives when they experience the joy and wonder of bringing a new human being into the world only to realize that the new baby they have is so much more than they had come to assume it would be. There are those who can warn you about the terrible sleep schedule you will be on or the ear splitting noises babies can somehow produce. They can warn you about the sheer number of diapers, and you will soon come to find that it was more of a low ball estimate of reality. You can learn about all of these from anyone who has had children, but what they won’t warn you about is the fact that it can start to become overwhelming, yet strangely satisfying right from the moment you find out it is coming.
Marriage, not exactly a cake walk in and of itself, but when you find the right person to spend your life with, you feel like you can take on the world and anything it can throw at you. That is when you decide you want to try to have children. Being a young married couple, my wife and I decided it was our chance to take on the challenge and conceive. After some time being unsuccessful in getting pregnant, we found that there were going to be some obstacles. My wife was determined to become a mother and would not be deterred. One morning, I woke up to a body jumping high and landing in the bed, nearly on top of me. I opened my eyes to find that there was a note in my face with a, not exactly sterile, surprise taped to it. The words ‘Good morning, Daddy’ confirmed what I could guess from the striped stick, we were having a baby. I cheered, hugged my wife, and promptly tried to go back to sleep. I work second shift after all. Sleep was not an option, and I would soon come to find out that it would never be on my own terms again.
First there was the doctor appointment. We had to really make sure that we were neither hallucinating nor that the test was defective, even though she had taken a half...