Romantic Notions

The first time I found out I was pregnant, I had some unmet romantic expectations in regards to Jeff's reaction. In every movie I'd ever seen where a man's beloved wife revealed that she was expecting the man acted ecstatic. There were whoops and hollers on his part and he'd usually grab up his light wife and twirl her around. Their smiles were so wide and happy that they could light and warm the universe if the sun didn't happen to be around.

I carried this picture around in my mind so you can imagine the shock when Jeff's reaction to my first pregnancy was quite the opposite. For one thing, he's only an inch taller than me and little. So on a bad day there could be the off chance that I might weigh a pound or two more than him. Lifting and twirling is out of the question. He was also ticked that we'd somehow gotten pregnant on our own after "wasting" a few thousand dollars at Dr. Andrew's fertility clinic. Add into the mix some financial fears and looming reality of a baby killing our carefree lifestyle and you get a man that was not too thrilled. It was disappointing. Luckily he warmed up to the idea of a baby just in time for Nicky to arrive and he's been wrapped around her finger ever since.

I'd like to say now that subsequent pregnancy announcements have been met with my ideal picture of a radiantly happy husband but they haven't. Jeff is a wonderful husband and father but a pregnant wife and new babies are not his idea of a good time. He meets the news with responsible resignation. His only joy is knowing we are that much closer to having it all over with. I can't say that I blame him. Life does go smoother when people wipe their own bottoms and sleep all night. And how fun am I when I am pregnant?

Having said all this, I wasn't expecting my ideal reaction to come from someone else in the house. I'd thought I'd mentioned that we were going to have a new baby to Nicky but I guess I wasn't direct enough because she acted clueless. Today she got it. She was jumping around while I was laying on the floor with a sick tummy. She landed on my stomach and I said, "be careful! There is a little baby in there."

Her smile could have warmed the earth.

"THERE IS? When is it coming out? Tomorrow?"

"No, it needs some time to grow. It will be out maybe a little after Andy's birthday."

Man, if she could have lifted me and twirled me she would have. Since she couldn't, she laid right on top of me and pulled a blanket over us. She said that way she could be warm and the little baby would be warm in between us. Then she went on to say,

"I'm going to help with everything. I'll change its little clothes, strap it in its seat, change the diapers, give the binky. I want to hold it while we go down the slide even when it is really little. We will know if it is a boy if it has short hair or a girl if it has long hair."

She kept giggling and smiling for a full ten minutes. That moment will always be a bright spot in my memory. I finally got some sweet unadulterated joy for my procreative efforts.