Week 28 Day 6

   I’ve read a lot of books on pregnancy & childbirth.  I can’t even remember which ones any more.  I’ve gotten a great deal of useful information from them, but they all kind of run together after a point. 

   So one morning as I’m skimming a chapter I mention some factoid about something else that could go wrong with the birth and my wife says “the right answer isn’t in ANY of these books!”

   And of course, she’s right.  We could read every book available and still miss the one thing that might be really useful.  And 100 years ago there probably weren’t any books on childbirth at all!  Yet the human species has managed to continue for a couple hundred thousand generations.

   I’ve decided that I’m going to stop feeling bad about not reading this book or missing that point.  Because in the end, we have to trust ourselves to say or do the right thing.  And when that fails… “oops!  We learned”  As another friend taught me.  
   The only way to not be an ass is by learning from my mistakes that mark me as an ass.  It’s like good and evil; you can’t know one unless the other exists

Week 28 Day 3

   Early on my wife decided she didn’t like the term “Preggo” or “Preggers”.  She warned me that I would get it if I ever called her either of those things.  I may have slipped up once or twice, but I don’t think she’s holding it against me… too much.

   But this got me thinking about all the other names that have been given to women who are pregnant and if their partners have any clue as to the effect that using them has.  I remember some friends years ago that were expecting and he actually called her “fatty”.  It seemed almost cute at the time but looking back at it, it is pretty appalling.  I can only imagine how this would make a woman feel.  Especially when experiencing major hormone changes along with the physical changes.  As if women weren’t already self-conscious enough in today’s media driven idea of appropriateness.

   Along with infantile name-calling, there are a slew of things that you could say to a pregnant woman if you want to be an ass.  Here is a good link of what NOT to say to pregnant women.

Week 28 Day 2

   I went to bed the other night after my wife as I sometimes do.  This was one of the few instances I was able to crawl into bed without waking her.  I rested my hand on her belly and felt the little one moving.  I thought for sure she’d be awake with the baby moving so much.  So I started prodding a little bit.  I was able to actually push in a half of an inch or so and get a reaction from our child-to-be.  At this point I thought my wife was surely awake and just humoring me.  But then I realized that she hadn’t stirred, moaned or made any indication of wakefulness.

   So there it is.  I totally played with the baby and didn’t even wake up my wife in the process.  ‘Course, if I HAD woken her, I can imagine the verbal berating I might have received.  So maybe I’m an ass for playing with the baby in her sleep.  Fine.  I’m an ass.