I wanted to devote a journal to Obi since the time is drawing near, and I really haven't written one just to her. We are a matter of weeks (or days depending on how Jada is feeling from day to day) away from Obi's arrival. We're taking our steps to prepare for her arrival. I have a sleeping bag perpetually in the car. A bag is already packed for the hospital. We have our cameras on standby, though we are going to need to buy a new battery for the video camera since it doesn't last all that long any more. I stopped riding my bike to work just in case, and we even borrowed a digital camera from our friends Mike and Carrie. Now we just need to make it past next Saturday when we go to car seat clinic to get the seats in. The bases for the baby seats are just really hard to put in on our own. We've got triple coverage plans for Ellen for when Obi arrives. And a big thanks to all of you who have offered, and we may use. It is a big comfort to know that we have such a good support structure for Ellen in this time of what will be a time of big changes for her. I am working like a mad man trying to brain dump everything I know into documentation before it happens. If only I could just not have to attend meetings all day, it'd probably be easier.
Our friends threw a baby shower for us last weekend. It was a diaper shower. Everyone was assigned a diaper size to bring. We'll be pretty set for a while. It was great. Shannon came up with baby related questions as the game. I actually got some of them right! It was lots of fun. We want to thank Shannon, Erin, Dave, and Craig for hosting and putting it together for us. We really appreciated it.
We also have our concerns. It's really the same concern, just different ways. Jada's worried that she and Ellen won't be able to bond as much since I'll be working to keep her happy and occupied while Jada is feeding and holding Obi. Conversely, I'm worried that I won't be able to bond with Obi much for the same reason. We know we'll be able to work it out, but it's unknown territory for us. It's part of the excitement and panic that comes with having a baby. We know it can be done, and it has been done. But it's just our turn to go through the moments of doubt wondering if we can do it.
We're also very happy and excited. We've been setting up the room, buying new baby books for Ellen. It's going to be fun to see how Ellen reacts to her. It'll be great having a tiny baby in our arms again. Wearing her around in the front pack. Showing her new things. Ellen is looking forward anxiously to her baby sister. She listens intently when Dr. Broms plays the heart beat for us at the doctor's appointments. She kisses baby. Obi is going to be very lucky to have a big sister like Ellen.
We have kicked around several names, and we have some at the ready for when Obi is born. We'll see which one feels best when we hold her in our arms for the first time. We have also picked out Godparents already, though I don't know what the rules are for announcing that. I think we'll do it kind of like the NBA draft. We'll have a big announcement, and ask the respective parties to wear ridiculously large suits. It'll be fun.
Jada's last child birth class ended last week, so there's a high probability that one of them will be in the hospital at the same time we are. That'll be pretty funny if it happens.
We have our baby alert email list ready to go on my computer that we'll take with us, so as soon as she's born, we can get the news out. Obi's been healthy so far, and has a healthy kick. She's moving all over the place now. I think she really wants to get out, and Jada wants her out. But not before next weekend. We'll move into Alert level canary yellow, I think next week.
Journal Entry: February 18, 2003