Birthing Class

My wife and I have been attending a birthing class once a week for the last few weeks. You know, "Hee-hee-hee-hoooo . . . ." Well, this past week was the class when they talk about complications and show you the video of various actual deliveries -- c-sections, vaginal births with and without drugs, that kind of thing.

Freaked out now? Yes indeedy. After the discussion about the various pain medication options for the mother, I asked what drugs were available for the father. Everyone laughed, but the men were not laughing quite as hard as the women (including the instructor). I think they secretly knew what I knew: I was serious.

Memorable Moment #2: There's Two of Them?!?

Memorable Moment #2 from the first 29 1/2 weeks (see my previous posts) has to be finding out that we were having twins. As is common, we did not find out from the first sonogram, which only showed Baby A. (No, we have not picked names yet.) Baby B was hiding early on.

I actually missed the first sonogram due to work. Surely, it will not be the first moment of my children's lives that I miss while providing for them. My wife had brought home pictures, though. Strangely enough, despite clearly seeing only one baby, I had asked my wife if it could be twins. She of course responded that this was highly unlikely.

A couple of weeks later, staring at a screen in the doctor's office, I saw this image pop up:





Now I'm no doctor, but even I know two babies when I see them. In case you are wondering what to look for at your first or second sonogram, that is it.

There are certain moments -- and the emotions that came with them -- that every man will remember his whole life: your first love, losing to Mercyhurst 4-2 in the league finals your senior year after out-shooting them 42-20 (not that I still have nightmares about that 10 years later or anything), seeing the planes hit on September 11. Finding out you're having twins is one of those moments.

What was it like for you? I don't think I have ever felt that many things at once. Joy. Fear. Pride. Inadequacy. All mixed together. Driving home, all I could think about was how I could possibly provide for two children when only one had been expected. It suddenly seemed ridiculously arrogant to think that I could even serve as a father to one kid, let alone two. I think my stomach finally settled down a few hours later.