Twisty, Turny Roads

As most of you know, Keli, my wife, is pregnant with our third child and this surprise has taken some time to get used to. Years ago, back when we only had one kid, we talked and schemed that it “would be nice” to someday have three kids of our own and adopt a 4th. Hey, what did we know? We were younger than we are now and having only one kid tricks you into thinking that’s as difficult as it might get.

I was perfectly content with two kids. We had a healthy dose of one-of-each. Having even numbers works well for us: there’s two of us and two of them. Nobody to get left out on trips to amusement parks. Nobody to get exiled to the third row in the family minivan because two car seats take up damn near the entire middle row.

And so it goes that I was happy with only two spawns of my loin while my wife always wanted that third child. It turns out that about the time she accepted the idea of only being a quartet – BAM! – one of those little guys pulled a Houdini.

I love babies and while I would almost gladly take the option of gnawing off my left arm over another round of diapers, potty training, teething and pacifier-weening, I am actually getting very excited to have a new wee one.

On Thursday we found out that Keli is 7 weeks along and that puts the due date at December 18th. Yup, I know what you’re thinking, because I thought it too. Actually, I not only thought it, but I said it. Keli promptly told me to shut up.

This kid will be a Christmas baby. Given the whole unexpected factor to this one so far, I’m close to heading to the nearest bookie to put money down (while I actually HAVE money) that this kid will make its debut on Christmas day – give or take 16 hours. What makes me think this is more than a slim chance?

Our first unexpected surprise as a couple – also a pregnancy – was our daughter arriving on Thanksgiving morning. The nurse called her “my little sausage”.

Our feelings rise with excitement when we think of soft, tiny hands and dip when we think about the stress and financial toll of it all. But I’ll tell you what, seeing this new baby’s heart fluttering away on the monitor Thursday morning in the hospital brought an immediate smile to my face.

I believe that often times life happens in ways that we don’t understand because we’re right there living it, but when we have a chance to look at past events we can see how one event clearly led to another. We’re all roads on a map and when you follow the twists and curves of a single road it will inevitably cross paths with others, each with their own destination – some are straighter and easier journeys than others. Sometimes I feel like route of mine and Keli’s merged roads is as straight as a line on a Dick Cheney polygraph test result.

I don’t see it as a coincidence, then, that last night I sat down to catch up on some blogs I frequent and the very first one was a post by Mr. Lady over at Whiskey In My Sippy Cup. Her post made me feel happier about this new baby and it reminded me of the little things that I had forgotten about when you’re expecting.

And now it’s time to dig out the old Ramones and Led Zeppelin onesies we have packed away in storage.

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