Babywatch 2023

Just in case anyone forgot or doesn’t know, we’re expecting in June. And it’s our seventh. And our first girl. Now that you’re up to speed, let’s talk logistics and numbers. 

There are 25 days until the due date. Now, while the likelihood of the baby being born on the due date is unlikely, it’s amazing how quickly the due date went from being that thing far in the intangible future to being an increasingly palpable reality. It’s ridiculous how, even the seventh time through, this sneaks up on you. 

It takes approximately 23 minutes to get to the birthing center. Depending on the time of day and traffic the travel time can vary quite a bit. Regardless of how long it actually takes though, it will feel like it takes exactly 8,000 minutes to drive to the birthing center when my wife is in active labor.

The more kids you have, the more the midwives warn you that the baby can come quickly once labor has started and you shouldn’t delay coming in. Therefore our on-call list of family and friends who can get here quickly and either watch or stay with the boys is as long as it’s ever been. We have more than 10 people who may get that call. 

There is always a lot of unpredictability with birth, but to add some additional unpredictability this time my entire family will be out of town the week before the due date. So if you’re reading this and know me personally…you should answer my phone calls in June.

There are some preparations common to any expectant parents. We have an overnight bag packed, a name picked out, and a baby carseat in the van. However, in our case adding a carseat was more of a logistical issue than expected.

You’d think it’d be easier for us since the van has 12 seats and space isn’t really a limiting factor. However, it’s somewhat deceiving. It turns out you have to move all the other car seats in order to add another one that you can reach from the door. This is due to the van only having certain seats with anchors and having narrow seats that can’t fit certain car seats. You’d think I’d be a car seat install/removal expert by now but it’s still a wrestling match in which the car seat isn’t always the one that gets pinned. 

With all the numbers that go into the new-baby-on-the-way logistical calculations there’s one number that’s more important than the rest. Zero. 

Zero is the number of babies I’ve delivered or have been born at home. And zero is the number of babies I ever hope to deliver or have born at home.