The Countdown til Cora Sue
Lately I find that I feel like a combination of a kid on Christmas Eve and Bill Murray's character in the movie Groundhog Day. Or maybe I'm stuck in that old Tom Petty song... The waaaaiiiting is the hardest part, everyday... something something something, I can't remember the lyrics without hearing the song but you get the point.
Let me clarify this analogy a bit for the uninitiated. In the movie Groundhog Day, Murray plays a weatherman who's stuck with the unenviable assignment of covering the weather and emergence of Punxsutawney Phil and the festivities that turn the Nation's attention on this small Pennsylvania town one day each year. The trouble is that everyday Murray wakes up only to find that it's still Groundhog day. He finds he's repeating the same day over and over again. To get out of this he must fix what's wrong in his life.
I don't feel like I need to fix anything so wrong in my life that God or the universe is punishing me in some way but allowing me the opportunity to get things right. Each morning when I wake up, I'm starting to feel like it's the same routine again and again, will she arrive today, or maybe tonight, or most likely not at all.
So each night I head to bed giddy as a kid on Christmas Eve, hoping that tonight's the night. That tonight my wife will wake me up, or at least give me a good wack across the chest and proclaim that now's the time!
Now if this all sounds unreasonable and that I'm crazy for wanting to jump right into sleepless nights, etc, well maybe I am.
Let's look at some facts for just a moment. My wife, Sydney has had a remarkable pregnancy. No morning sickness, zero, none. No strange cravings for odd foods or strange combinations. No close calls, no emergency runs to the doctor's office or hospital. No indigestion, no heartburn, none of the maladies that plague so many pregnancy's. In fact up until two weeks ago she's had no swelling, we believe a round
of three or four days in one week of meals out may have caused a rise in her blood pressure and an increase in swelling, only to see her BP go back to normal after a day and the swelling all but completely disappear after two or three days. We truly have been blessed with a total lack of drama throughout this pregnancy.
I attribute much of her good condition to the following. Sydney was in excellent physical shape when we conceived this baby. She swam on a regular basis, stuck to a very healthy diet, her weight and blood pressure were both right on target. Throughout her pregnancy she has continued this regiment of exercise and healthy diet. She even added walking to her routine to augment her lack of being able to swim as many laps as she had been.
Next there's rest. Since around the twenty eight week mark, the start of the dreaded third trimester, she's been off work. This is in part due to her being a teacher and in part due to her specialized teaching. She won't have any students until this December, so she is simply using some of her personal days so she can prepare for the baby's arrival and also to rest.
Last but not least for us is prayer. Say what you will but we have prayed daily. We have prayed for her health and safety and for the safety of our unborn child. I firmly believe that God has blessed this pregnancy and the child my wife carries.
Still though, the due date is this week, and I have to be honest I fully expected our baby girl to be born sometime sooner rather than later. After all, Sydney is 35, she has a mother who had toxemia and preeclampsia while carrying her. Syd herself was born sometime around the thirty week mark. I have spent most of this pregnancy on eggshells waiting for something to happen, similar to what happened with her and her mother all those years ago. It hasn't and for that I thank God everyday.
Cora's later arrival too has helped in that we have the house ready. Sydney spent much of the early summer cleaning out rooms. Last fall I remodeled our bathroom which means it's now ready for our new addition as well. This spring and early summer we completed work on what is to be Cora's bedroom. This bright and colorful room received new paint, new carpet, new or refinished furniture, and all kinds of colorful and friendly decorations. Last weekend I purchased a carpet cleaner, a big heavy duty model that
heats it's own water and scrubs deep. I spent several hours running that machine all over the house (except Cora's room with the new carpet). What a difference it made on our floors.
Our bags are packed, Sydney thought of everything, in fact there's so much stuff that you'd think we were going out of town for two weeks, not to the hospital for a couple of nights. The bags are even loaded into her car already. All we need to do on the way out the door is feed the cat, grab the phones and iPad, and remember to lock the doors.
The car seat is loaded in the car, strapped in securely, I check it once a week and adjust as needed. I have tinted the window's on Sydney's new car to keep the sun off our new arrival as she rides along. I had the oil changed a month ago, expecting something to happen any day.
Baby clothes are sorted, washed and put in the appropriate places. Baby toys that were given to us have been unpacked and cleaned, batteries purchased and tested in each one.
Early this spring I was given the opportunity to start freelance writing again, perhaps part of the reason why I haven't blogged in so long. This extra income has helped buy things for Cora's room, and will help offset the cost of her childcare and needs once she arrives. I don't believe in coincidence, and as such I once again give credit to the Lord above for showing me an opportunity when our family needed it the most.
Now we're down to crunch time. There was a blue moon just days before labor day. I don't believe in such, but it was fun to imagine that Cora might be born under such circumstances. Well that myth is out the window for us because it had no affect on said baby. Nor did my birthday, the labor day holiday, or a hurricane the remnants of which supposedly passed through our area.
I'm anxious to see our baby girl for the first time. To hold her, to hear her cry, to kiss her little face, even to change her diapers. This may sound odd for a lot of men, but all I have hoped and prayed for is a healthy child, it never mattered to me whether we had a girl or a boy. I look forward to spending time with this new life, to watching her grow. I realize that not everyday will be perfect, but life never is. It's an old cliche that patience is a virtue. That may be true, but it's a virtue because it's so darn difficult to maintain.
One of the things I do for both my own entertainment and to make Sydney laugh is make up alternate lyrics for familiar songs (or make up a song of my own) and walk around the house singing it. Lately it's been a variation of Buffalo Bill from It's a Wonderful Life. The original goes something like Buffalo Bill won't you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight. I've been replacing Buffalo Bill with "lil Cora
Sue".Sydney laughs every time.
I should be happy and relieved that everything has gone so well, so far. For me this is like being at the end of a big project, in fact for Sydney and I this is our greatest undertaking ever, both individually and as a married couple. So I'm anxious for this part of the project to be over and the next chapter to begin.
Some have suggested that Sydney eat spicy food to get things going, swearing that it sent them into labor. We already eat a lot of spicy stuff, so this won't work either. She already exercises regularly so strenuous activity is also out.
Maybe I should start a project, something involved, I've been talking about a kitchen remodel since I finished the bathroom last year. That would probably do it, as soon as I started ripping up the floor, or working on the plumbing, Sydney would probably walk in to tell me it's time to go. Elbow deep in dirt and dust and I'd have to go to the hospital a filthy mess.
Seriously though, I just can't wait, everyday right now feels like Christmas eve. Anxiously I await, sometimes waking in the middle of the night and finding it difficult to fall back asleep because I'm so excited. There are times when I can't wipe the smile off my face thinking about what it'll be like to see her for the first time. What it will be like to hear her laugh, and watch her play. I can't wait to get my present. lil, Cora Sue won't you come out tonight, won't you come out tonight, lil Cora Sue won't you come out tonight, and plaaaaaaay by the light of the mooooon!
