Bringing Home Baby

Yesterday I experienced the joy of becoming a new father. I woke up excited and anxious. Bounding out of my bed I checked the status on the impending child birth. Where, when, and at what cost? I tried to settle my nerves by reading the Sunday paper but my eyes kept darting to pictures of other babies and soon my thoughts wandered.

The cost of a new child can astronomical. Obviously there’s the initial medical expense but then there’s all the additional costs you don’t think of like insurance, cables, and TiVos. By the time I left the house to scout hospitals my anxiety was at a new high.

Like any new parent I wanted to make sure we were getting our baby from the best facility. First up was Target. Good prices but they seemed unwilling to share any meaningful knowledge with a new parent like myself. Then it was Best Buy where the staff was nowhere to be found and the prices made me feel like I was having twins, although the delivery room was very nice. Finally there was American where the knowledge came fast and furious but the staff seemed likely to switch babies on us. I walked away from all three feeling no closer to my due date.

Then a moment of clarity…no matter what, any new baby was going to look better and act better then the old grown child sitting in my living room. Resolved and somewhat anxiety free I trekked back out to Target and after some Braxton-Hix contractions at one store I finally took delivery of my new baby at another.

I know I’m biased but she is so beautiful. Coming in at a nice length of 40 inches, she’s already a good sized girl. The anxiety level crept back up when we got home as I was worried how the dog would react to a new sibling but they got along well. Of course we also had to redecorate her room and rearrange all the cords and cables. Finally we had to kick her older brother out of the house which was a little emotional for the whole family. Yes he had far outstayed his welcome but he was a good kid for the most part except for that faded tattoo in the upper left corner of his screen.

I was up late staring into my new babies face and while I already love her, I can’t wait to see her grow. Soon she’ll have a HD hook up and a complexion as clear as the night sky. Like any new child it’s been an anxiety filled ride but I can’t wait for the next adventure to begin.