At the End of the Tunnel is an Extremely Ornate Light
I have a bunch of blogs backed up. Wait. That sounds disgusting.
Pretend I didn’t say that. What I mean is: I keep thinking of things
I want to blog about, but before I do I get distracted by emails or
real writing or my wife getting pregnant. I know. You could argue
that I have prioritization issues. On the other hand, you could argue
I don’t. It’s not like anyone pays me for these. I only do them for
the look on your face. That’s right. I’m watching you. I’m watching
you right now. See that webcam? Give me a little wave. Hello,
my pretty. Hello.
But that’s beside the point. The point is: my wife is pregnant. I can’t believe you didn’t react more when I mentioned that a second ago. You barely frowned. Oh, wait. I see. You were wondering if you already knew about that. I guess I didn’t really telegraph it. I just kind of slipped it in there. But enough about the conception. Ha ha! Joke. We used IVF. Not because we have to. We just like to employ advanced medical technology wherever possible. It’s expensive, but we think it’s worth it. They say you can’t genetically engineer your embryos, but once you get inside and they close the door, you totally can. We went for a female green-eyed redhead with a propensity to sneeze in sunlight and a tail like a fish.
Last Friday we went along for our 20-week scan. We decided to find out the sex this time, because Jen wanted to find out the sex and I couldn’t stand the idea of her knowing something I didn’t. It would have thrown off the delicate power balance of the whole relationship. You might think that’s silly but that’s what they said about Palestine. I don’t want a repeat of that. Not in my house. So off we went, and Dr. Andrew showed us that we’re having a girl! He showed us in a way that would be truly mortifying if the girl was aware of it, by the way. I kind of feel sorry for girls today growing up with DVDs of their prenatal scans tucked away in their parents’ bedside tables. You just know they’re going to come out at the 21st party. Anyway, there it is: we will have two girls, and the new one will own nothing new until she leaves home.
Before Finlay was born, her placeholder name was “Popsicle” (Poppy for short), because she was brewed from a frozen embryo. As we were walking out of the clinic, Finlay said, “We should call her Chandelier.” I don’t know where that came from. But that’s the placeholder. Chandelier Barry. A new light in the world.
Comments
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Location: Seattle
Posted: 5498 days ago
Arjun Ravi Narayan (#98)
Location: India
Posted: 5498 days ago
Location: Blue Mountains
Posted: 5498 days ago
spinne (#427)
Quote: "I'm not here to cock around."
Posted: 5498 days ago
Location: Sydney
Quote: "vote with your wallet"
Posted: 5498 days ago
Jane (#321)
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Quote: "Which is worse: Ignorance or apathy? Who knows? Who cares?"
Posted: 5498 days ago
I ordered red heads (with curls!) for my two kids as well, to match their dad. But we went the low-tech route (ha ha) like the Luddites that we are and got the order wrong on #1.
Still waiting for #2 (now 7 months old) to grow some hair (and some teeth for that matter) before we know if she has the much desired red locks.
PS. being a girl, second child or otherwise, I think you will find that the only person who gets nothing new till she leaves home is you Max!
Location: Spokane, Washington
Quote: "Corgis are like potato chips"
Posted: 5498 days ago
Tell Fin I approve!
Tommy Mandel (#2554)
Location: nYc
Quote: ""Hah," she said."
Posted: 5498 days ago
Me, two daughters later (23 and 19, almost) the best I can do is reread Jennifer Government, which I did just this month, after I got it back from a professor colleague of mine-who really liked it. And well professors of black history might be expected to do. There! I didn't end that sentence with a preposition after all! But was it a sentence??
But enough about me. I heartily recommend the two daughters gambit, not that I had the least choice about it myself, although their mother attributed it to a broccoli deficiency in my diet, real or imagined.
It sure sounds like you are enjoying this, one of life's high points, so I'm going to bed now.
Location: Melbourne
Posted: 5498 days ago
Jayson Lawrence Nessi (#927)
Location: Chicago
Quote: "where is maxwell yearick"
Posted: 5498 days ago
Location: Saukville, Wisconsin
Quote: ""A hamster's like a small camel" - Ben Katz"
Posted: 5498 days ago
Location: Olathe, KS
Quote: ""Every day we must persevere. For we are engaged in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress."Adapted from the masthead of "The Economist""
Posted: 5498 days ago
Billy McMahon (#4690)
Location: Variable
Quote: "revolution"
Posted: 5498 days ago
AlteraX (#1984)
Location: Portugal
Quote: "My 62 year-old dad is reading Jen Gov. He's an Economist. - 2005"
Posted: 5498 days ago
Congratz to the 4! I wish all a nice "remaining pregnancy", delivery (and so on) and hope we'll soon be looking at photo's 'Chan'. Side by side by those of Fin at the same age to try and figure who's is who : D
Andrew Riley (#1970)
Location: Parker, Colorado, USA
Quote: "Predictions are difficult, especially about the future."
Posted: 5498 days ago
ryandake (#2199)
Location: scenic monterey, ca
Quote: ""The rest is not our business.""
Posted: 5498 days ago
Posted: 5498 days ago
Johz (#4719)
Location: Birmingham (In the Good Ol' UK)
Quote: "So Quoth Me"
Posted: 5497 days ago
Aaron the Evil HR Guy (#2252)
Location: Denver
Quote: "'The HR Department is a breeding ground for monsters' Michael Scott"
Posted: 5497 days ago
If the dreaded thought hasn't occured yet, you will be severly outnumbered now.
Location: New York
Quote: "It's fun to have fun but you have to know how."
Posted: 5497 days ago
Location: USA
Quote: "What unseen pen etched eternal things in the hearts of humankind... but never let them in our minds?"
Posted: 5497 days ago
gaylin laughlin (#2504)
Location: Seattle
Quote: ""My life is so much better today than yesterday" Me"
Posted: 5497 days ago
Nothing in life is more special than that!
Thanks for the beautiful news --and looking forward to much more...
Cheers!
Brittany O. (#1688)
Location: Montana
Quote: "people are kind of overrated "
Posted: 5497 days ago
By the way, my friend started calling her mom's pregnant belly Celestial and that stuck. So Chandelier isn't so bad.
Congrats, again
Posted: 5497 days ago
Sueblimely (#3315)
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Quote: "+"
Posted: 5497 days ago
John Reynolds (#2534)
Location: New York, USA
Posted: 5497 days ago
Erin (#1481)
Location: Seattle
Quote: "Living is easy with eyes closed"
Posted: 5497 days ago
Location: Sydney, Australia
Quote: "Why are the pretty ones always insane?"
Posted: 5497 days ago
Lucky Fin, now she'll have a little sister to boss around!
Swimfroggy (#1713)
Location: Southern California
Quote: "Just....why?"
Posted: 5497 days ago
Location: Fremont, California
Quote: "www.caffeinatedmuslim.com"
Posted: 5497 days ago
Location: Iceland
Posted: 5497 days ago
Til hamingju! = Congratulations!
Location: 127.0.0.1
Quote: "That's not change! That's more of the same!"
Posted: 5496 days ago
Linnea1928 (#2654)
Location: Rosemount, MN
Posted: 5496 days ago
Zwangzug (#3872)
Location: GMT -6
Quote: "It ain't over till it's over"
Posted: 5495 days ago
Nora Jean Stone (#1170)
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Quote: "Do Wa Ditty, Life in the CITY, where the Women are Strong and the Men are Pretty... anon"
Posted: 5495 days ago
Location: Darwin, Australia
Quote: "Inconceivable!"
Posted: 5493 days ago
blab (#1632)
Location: The Sandwich Isles
Quote: "Adventure is just poor planning"
Posted: 5492 days ago
towr (#1914)
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 5491 days ago
NRM (#2294)
Posted: 5490 days ago
Lora (#3425)
Location: UK
Posted: 5488 days ago
I leave my email alone for a while and this is what happens! I loved your post, it sounds like you were a little delirious.
Have you thought about a real name yet? I recommend Lora.
CONGRATS!!!
xxxx
Mats (#1057)
Location: Turku, Finland, Europe, Earth
Quote: ""The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist knows it." James Branch Cabell via Robert Oppenheimer"
Posted: 5485 days ago
and what's up with that misleading title? I've been delaying reading this blog for two weeks because I've been too busy and now my congratulations just seem like those of some Johnny-come-lately instead of a devoted fans!
@Adam Willard: I wouldn't be surprised if we approach something like GATTACA within the next 10 or 20 years
@Nora Jean Stone: Whoa, you're 60? I read your quote and your post all the way up to "She is now my best friend and we're old as dirt, 60 and 61" thinking you're 30-ish, MAYBE 40! I had this image of you as a pre-teen running up and down the hills of San Fran in worn-out shoes chasing the cast of Starsky&Hutch (that's what I would have done as a pre-teen in San Francisco in the 70's) but I guess you were about 25 when that show started... You never see older-than-40-people (not old) using computers or cellphones or anything in commercials or movies so I guess that image doesn't pop up in peoples heads that often.
It's probably the nice climate there in SF keeping you young and fresh!
Abgrund (#3357)
Location: Atlantis
Quote: ""Redeem your mind from the hockshops of authority." - Ayn Rand"
Posted: 5476 days ago
That is totally what I read.
Abby (#4878)
Location: Cincinnati
Posted: 5457 days ago
Mats (#1057)
Location: Turku, Finland, Europe, Earth
Quote: ""The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist knows it." James Branch Cabell via Robert Oppenheimer"
Posted: 5414 days ago
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