Becoming more real...

When we first found out that we were pregnant, life wasn't too different. Sure it was exciting to (at first) have a secret and (later) to begin revealing it, but otherwise, it was just pee on a stick... and then blood at the doctor's office.

Granted, for Libby, things changed dramatically a long time ago. Nausea... unusual cravings (even if she didn't realize that they were unusual)... unbelievable fatigue. But for me, things didn't change all that dramatically - other than trying to keep Libby comfy and happy. But we're at 17 weeks and 5 days now, and there are physical signs to verify what's going on. I can feel her uterus (way bigger than normal non-pregnant size). And she's actually starting to show! It's more and more real by the day, and that's super exciting.

It makes it a lot easier for me to get excited about looking at jogging strollers at Babies 'R Us, when it's a more real feeling. When I can almost picture myself pushing a little guy or girl around in it. How fun! Even considering different diaper options is more... well, I won't go too far with it, but it's more tolerable now than previously.

And of course, there's the name selecting process. It had always been superficial joking before, but they're becoming more and more serious. That's fun. Although, the Oliver Ignatius Aloysius Peter Egle seems to come up less often. (Sorry, Great Grandfather Egle. Hope you understand.)

Two of my chief residents recently had babies... well, their wives did. They both are extremely excited. For one, it's his first child, and he says, "Now, I have an even better reason to rush home at night." The other already had a few sons but he had his first daughter. He reports dutifully that she is already astoundingly spoiled. Hearing their experience makes me excited, both for them and for what lies ahead for us. Both tell me that they look forward way more to their call now than ever before because they get more sleep on-call at the hospital than they do at home at night. And since I'm writing this on-call, I should probably stop now. I might as well take advantage of a little time to rest, since that seems to be the thing to do.