The Baby FAQ

I thought Jason and I would try having a blog as a way to share our lives and thoughts on impending parenthood with our loved ones and friends.  Here's a post with answers to questions I'm getting a lot these days.

What's your due date?
August 1, so I guess we could officially become parents anytime between July 15 and August 15 if all goes normally.  Most likely this kiddo will be a Leo.

Are you going to find out if it's a boy or a girl?
Hell no!  How often in life do you get to be pleasantly surprised no matter the outcome?  We know it has four limbs, two kidneys, and a strong heartbeat - that's good enough for me for now.  And, not knowing until birth has the added bonus of preventing people from purchasing blue or pink onesies months in advance.

Do you have names picked out?
Kinda sorta working on it. The couple of times we've tried to discuss this subject, it's degraded into Jason suggesting fabulous names such as T-Bone.  I think we'll get more serious soon.  For now, we refer it as The Muffin - I don't bake a bun in my oven, I bake muffins.  Muffins rock.

Are you going to give birth at home? Use a midwife?
Yeah we're the kind of people who would like to give birth at home using a midwife.  But, neither a home birth nor a midwife is covered by our insurance.  We're still looking into options and trying to figure out just how out-of-pocket we go to do something out-of-system.  Most likely the path of least resistance will win and we'll be putting on the big show at Exempla Good Samaritan in Layfayette.  I am still in shock that I have to leave the Boulder Bubble to pop out a baby when there's a perfectly good hospital right in town.  But, Good Sam is a baby-friendly hospital and I'm working on collecting good birth stories from that hospital so I feel less bitter.

Who's your OB?
I don't really have one; Kaiser is the McDonald's of healthcare and you get what you get.  The doc who delivers me is whoever is "on shift" at the hospital.  I thought this sounded terribly impersonal until I started asking questions about Kaiser and Good Sam ... someone pointed out to me that the advantage of "on shift" docs is that they won't pressure you into any sort of intervention.  They're going home at 8pm whether or not you've popped the sprog.  I like the idea that I won't be pressured simply because the doc wants to go home.  Regardless, I'm happy that I'll have a good advocate and birth partner in Jason.

Where are the baby bump photos?
So, at 6 months I definitely have a pretty big ol' belly, but I feel a little bit shy about showing it off on the Internet.  I'll try to get over that.  Mostly because my mom will throttle me if she doesn't get to see my belly grow on a regular basis.

I totally thought you two would never have kids...
The only constant in life is change.  For the record, Jason has been wanting kids for at least the last 12 years.  Andria was the big holdout - too self-interested in having DINK fun while also (still) harboring loads of doubts about the wisdom of introducing more people into an already overpopulated world at a time when our planet is teetering on environmental collapse, that's just setting up the next generation for a lot of pain.   Anyway... that Jason guy is pretty persistent, and makes a good argument that we have an obligation to populate the world with awesome people who will make the world more awesome.  Oh, and the first 10 minutes of the movie Idiocracy are pretty convincing, too.  So here we go.

Andria, are you going back to work?
If I didn't go back to work, we'd have to sell the house.  But seriously, I'm not sure I'm suited to being a 100% stay-at-home mom, so I'm planning on going back to work after a couple of months. Also, since my career is based on advancing science and staying up on technology, if I took any significant time off, I'm not sure I'd be able to get back into the field. I'm seriously considering part-time as a way to stay "in the game" at work, earn some money, but also create more time for The Muffin and Jason.

What are you going to do for childcare?
There's a super awesome daycare center at my work, it's a 5-min walk from my office. The daycare center is all about daytime visits and feedings.  So I know where I'll be for coffee breaks.