Friday, November 13, 2009

Bottles in Waiting

There are baby bottles in our kitchen cabinets, there are diapers hanging behind the nursery door. There is a second car seat riding expectantly in Moonshot’s car and there is a newly replenished bottle of whiskey atop the fridge. Yes, the House of Gren is ready for a second go-round at this whole parenting thing. True, some of us are more ready than others. For myself, I’m excited to meet my son, but I’m not sure how that compares to my wife’s desire to have the still-mysterious tyke stop pummeling her kidneys, stomping her small intestines, elbowing the back of her ribs, and generally making her grimace unexpectedly at all hours of the day and night. Lutine is also quite ready. She has painted young Dean many pictures and continually requests that we buy infant toys at the store, announcing that they are “so cute” and “Baby Dean needs that.” Her new favored play locale is Dean’s room…rattles and plush toys spread across the floor with a “how will Baby Dean play with this?”

In all, we’re as prepared as we can be…which is to say ready to be blindsided.

We’ve scheduled a C-Section for November 18th but are keeping our fingers crossed that we won’t reach that cut-off. Given her choice, Moonshot would rather go for the natural childbirth that brought us Norah. However, for reasons that are perhaps a bit more graphic than some of the readers here are likely to want…she’s unwilling to go natural on a baby as big as Norah again. And so, we’ve given Dean his first parental ultimatum. “If you’re not outta that uterus by the count of three, young man…the doctor is coming in after you!” To which young Dean is apparently replying with his sister's sense of defiance. there being absolutely no movement toward birth in the week preceding yesterday's check-up. "Yeah?" he says. "Come and get me, then." Of course, if he is truly like our Lutine...he'll make a mad dash for the exit just as we go into surgery prep.

In addition to our family, the entire neighborhood seems ready for Dean to join the community. They threw a shower for us a few weeks back and there is apparently a sign-up sheet floating around to supply meals to the new parents. If I haven't said so before, allow me to say now that I love our new neighborhood. I still miss the actual house we left last year, but the trade off has been well worth it. Between all the extra tools I now have access to in the neighbors' garages, the number of kids Norah and Dean will be able to play with, and the general wonder of living among a group of people who care about what you're doing without prying...I'm getting used to suburbia. I am sad, however it report that my friend three doors down...we'll call him Bob Appleton...lost the dollar he put into the "when will the Gren's have their baby" pool. He had picked yesterday and I was really hoping he was right...Moonshot and I were really hoping to have gotten started on that whiskey by this weekend.

7 comments:

Mark said...

Great update on the impending delivery (however gory it may or may not be). Were you writing about anything else but this, I would lambaste you regarding your prolonged retreat from the internets.

I know you wish for sooner, but I'm hoping Dean holds out for Monday, because my birthday is November 16. If he waits 'til the scheduled c-section, however, I'm sure I'll still manage to remember his birthday year after year.

Sounds like Lutine is getting into it, and that always helps.

I'm just going to not tell Shannon about this whole thing. Baby fever is running high enough here locally.

Simon said...

Your preparedness, as noted by the full whiskey bottle, speaks well of having learned from past experience, Mr. Gren.

It's awfully nice to know that your whole neighbourhood is also behind your impending birthing ultimatums. Dean will arrive in pretty short order, whether by his own will and accord or with the obstinacy that is his birthright.

Please do let us all know when the arrival happens. Mostly, of course, because I want an excuse to raise a wee dram in your honour!

Moksha Gren said...

Mark - I shall make no more apologies concerning my absences...lest every appearance I make begin with an apology.

I would love nothing more than for Dean to join us on November 16th...now for that added reason that you guys would share a birthday. I know his Grandpa was hoping for a shared birthday as well (Nov 20th) but there were no openings for c-sections that day. So, we're splitting the difference between you and Grampa Husker.

And I'll be sure to send all the really cute pictures to Shannon. All the cool kids are having two kids these days. And you DO want to be cool, right?

Simon - We have found that a good bottle of bourbon accompanied by the occasional glass of Scotch is absolutely necessary for good parenting. With limited down time... you have to be able to hit maximum relaxation in as short a period as possible.

And rest assured that I will be tweeting away from the hospital. Folks are only minimally interested in what I had for lunch, but I know there are folks out there who are deeply interested in what happens with Dean. You will not be forgotten during the chaos, good sir.

émilie b said...

That sounds like a boy. They had to (what verb do you use in English? we use "provoke" in French) Xavier's birth with a kickstarter drug, and manually break the water, and pull him outta there with the (again, missing a word... that thing that looks like a plunger?) before he came out. A full day of contractions, and 2 hours of pushing.

Orly, though... well Orly's my little fairy, and she just popped out, natural birth, a few days before her due date. It probably helped that she was small and light.

Dean's a cute name. :)
Good luck to Moonshot and you (and Dean!) for the actual birth.

...And wow, those are some awfully friendly neighbours! Maybe it helps that you live more South? The snow banks prevent any contact (visual or verbal) with my neighbours for half the year!

Moksha Gren said...

Emilie - In English we say "induce"...but I take you're meaning. Norah was rather reluctant to come out as well, so Dean has a nice precedent in this matter. She didn't require plungers...but there was physical and chemical coaxing involved.

Glad you like the name. We're getting somewhat mixed reactions to it...but we love so everyone will have to deal ;) It always makes me think of "The Iron Giant" so I'm always smiling inside when I say his name.

As for our neighbors...I can't really blame the South on that. These people are oddly communal for St Louis. Local folks react with exactly your level of surprise when I tell them about the meal donations and such. So I don't think it's your snow...it's just that we live among freakishly nice people that are doing their best not to let the Grens' curmudgeonly ways bring down their neighborly rating ;)

matheus said...

cool

LearningByReading said...

First few sentences are a very creative way of presaging kiddo number 2. May he be healthy and happy!