'Bout Time for an Update
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For the past week it's been get up early to get to work so I can leave early to get to the hospital and then get home so I can get to bed early to get up early to get to work so I can leave early...
No real updates on the medical front. The Missus continues to be stable, and at this point (34 weeks) and although things should be fine if she were to deliver today, the doctors are going to keep her on the anti-contraction medicine for another week and keep her in the hospital, just to be safe. The baby seems to be doing great - string heartbeat, lots of movement, especially during mealtimes that involve the consumption of strawberries.
The boy loves him some strawberries.
On the emotional front both of us are coping in our own ways. She watches a LOT of television, despite the portable DVD player and movies and books and magazines. I on the other hand haven't watched any television (besides what I watch with her while I'm there). Much of my new sense of "calm" (if you want to call it that) came from reading one of Reforming Slacker's posts; although her intent for the post was not meant to be palliative, it sparked the thought in my head that yeah, this isn't exactly a rare occurrence in the world, and although it's new to me, this has probably happened millions of times before, and I'm not really an exception as much as a member of a fast-growing population of parents with similar stories to tell.
Quick, spontaneous plug for Reforming Slacker. You get poetry, you get paintings, you get wonderful insights which lately have referenced some of my favorite things, like Nabokov and Eastern philosophy. Plus, her cursor looks like a cup of coffee. Cool.
So, a quick list of other things that keep my mind off of things, and allow me to blow off some stress during the whole "wait for the baby" process.
- Horror Movies - I have no idea why this is, but it seems that right now my mind is best distracted by all things extreme, music, and movies above all. And although I recently got turned on to the greatness that is Michael Apted's UP SERIES, it's mainly been classic horror films like HALLOWEEN, PHANTASM, and SUSPERIA that do the best job.
- Death Metal - Hand in hand with the horror movies, the louder the music, the better ti soothes me. As the house gets more prepared, the need for all things violent has diminished. Yesterday my mother drove down and we managed to return and/or exchange the batch of baby stuff the Missus needed done, got to the bank, sorted all the baby clothes and put them in bins, and emptied the room so I can paint today. All to Neil Young's HAWESOME Live at Massey Hall, 1971. This morning, however, I'm playing The Melvins' Houdini at a volume that may not be legal in some southern states.
- Microwaveable Food - Wow, you can microwave just about anything nowadays, can't you?
- 7-11 Coffee - How does Starbucks even stay in business when, right down the street 7-11 serves genetically superior coffee at 1/3 the cost? Throw some free WI-FI in there and I'll call it home.
