Summer Camp

We are still waiting.

Some days he acts like he is going to come but then the contractions just fizzle out. I think I am more then ready to just get the show on the road.

Friday we found ourselves at the hospital. I had contractions every 3-5 minutes for a couple of hours regularly so the nurse at the clinic told me to head to the hospital. We were really excited thinking this is the beginning. Well, I was having regular contractions but they weren't strong enough. They told me to come in again if they got bad enough I couldn't talk through them. Oh yeah, on Wed. at the doctors office I was at a 3cm and I guess on Friday I was the same. The nurse lady at the birth place said they didn't want to admit me till I was at a 5cm. So we wait some more. I'm not a very good waiter.

All weekend we were at the hospital anyhow. We had our birth and parenting classes. Most of it was common sense but some was helpful. I think just good to know and have in the back of our minds. During the class we added up how much time it would take to feed and change the little one. 7.5 hours. That is a full time job. AHHHH That doesn't even count everything else that goes along with a baby. Someone should have done the math for us before all of this happened. In light of this realization... or number crunching... I have decided that having a newborn is going to be a lot like working at camp. And here is why:

1. When you sign-up to work at camp you think it is a really good idea. You don't think of all the work or lack of time to yourself. All you see in your mind is fireworks and balloons, maybe some confetti. The only thing that flashes through your mind is FUN! This too happens when you think of babies. The joys of having a baby overshadow any common sense or clarity of reality. I think it's God's trick to get us to procreate.

2. Time Factor. As previously mentioned there isn't a lot of time to yourself with a baby. Much like at camp. I remember coveting my 5-10minutes a day that I got to spend talking to an adult. It kept my sanity. Kept me going. This will be the same way the first few months of the babies life. What's an adult conversation? Have I been outside of the house in the last 4 days? When's the last time I've showered? All questions you ask yourself at camp and when you have a baby. The only difference is that at camp I smelt of horses and campfire. With the baby I will smell of spit-up and poop.

3. Lack of sleep. At camp you get a few hours of sleep a night on a good night. You rely a lot on caffeine and motivation. Baby... what you get to sleep at all?

4. And then just like camp when looking back on the past summer you remember all of the good times, some of the bad, but for the most part think that it would be a great idea to work their again. In the same way when the last child is 2 or3 years of age you look back on the first few months and remember the mostly good times. The struggles that you overcame and think once again that having another child is a good idea.

I remember the first week when the campers arrived. I was scared I was going to break them or mess them up for life. I didn't know what I was doing. What I really wanted was to sit back to watch someone else do it for a while. Someone had taught me some things during training but I couldn't remember them... how do I do that again?

So I'm ready. Bring it on. Just like I muddled my way through the first week or two of camp I will do the same with this little one. I will learn, I will find that I can do it, I will overcome and I will learn a lot about myself and my marriage. And through it all I will truly live.