I don’t know where, exactly, I got it in my head that taking Cheri to Motherhood Maternity would be a bad thing. That store saved us from having the worst Saturday ever.

It all started when our apartment complex’s pool was opened Saturday. We look forward to this every year, even though we really don’t make the most use out of it. We agreed since we were both off work this week we’d take a dip at least once a day, weather permitting. That, of course, requires getting Cheri a new bathing suit to accommodate her pregnant state. I thought for sure having one of the largest shopping malls in Iowa right in our backyard would be sufficient enough to find a choice of suits for her. Boy, I messed that one up. Having done no research before venturing out, we bounced from one store to the next. Target had all of one ugly choice, an all-black number Cheri didn’t exactly like (and didn’t hold her rapidly expanding bust line anyway). JCPenny was also a bust, as was Younker’s, Sears, Dillard’s, and all the stores in between. Cheri didn’t have a meltdown, but was certainly feeling emotional about this, since she was discovering she was a new market share that was being neglected. Fortunately, a teeny, tiny, tiny, teeny little Motherhood Maternity store in the middle of the mall was open, and we cut our losses and went in.

Thankfully, I am happy to report the clerks were incredibly kind and understanding. One clerk explained that most of the big box stores have gotten out of the maternity clothing market, save for their online storefronts. This seems sad to me, since I, as a man, have never had to think twice about grabbing new trunks for the summer. Anyway, Cheri got the help she needed, and within a half-hour, left with a cute new suit, and a new bottle for the baby. Yes, Motherhood has you coming and going: we are on their mailing list, and will soon be getting a copy of Parenting Magazine in the mail. I’m actually all for it. This was simply another experience of the pregnancy made more real. Cheri was happy and we took a dip in the pool later that day. A sad side note today: it rained and got really cold. But then, we discovered something else that was promising. The Gordman’s across the street from the mall also had maternity clothes. Today I bought a light blue polo for Cheri there.

Nothing much to say at the moment, but that I’ve got a few places identified. Out of sheer cost, I had to turn down an option to use the UI’s on-campus day care. I’ve heard very good things about it, and a colleague endorses it fully. It’s $1300 a month, though, and try as I might, I don’t think I can make that happen. I’ll summarize other candidates shortly.

I had a slimmer George doll as a child. I loved it. I also loved the books (the George books; the books you see here came much later). Naturally, I hope the new child has the same relationship. We’ll wait and see about that, but we have the doll ready, at least. Thanks to Mom for this one.

Cheri saw this at Target, and the wallet came out. We really should start building the baby registry, I guess.

… I’m not going to miss covering a pager. Like, at all. Cheri agrees. I’ve been doing this for six years. I figure, I’m approaching 40, which I’ve declared is the Watershed Year. I haven’t determined yet why 40 is going to be important. I’ve just decided it is.

I had this in the Timeline already, but I didn’t want to just bury it there.

James: “I want a boy”. Katharine: “I want a girl.” James: “Well, if it’s a girl, I guess there’s nothing that can be done about that.” He then began to discuss a Discovery Channel documentary he saw about gender reassignment. We shot that possibility down then and there.

I disclosed early to a co-worker we were expecting. That was, oh, at week six? I had no grand scheme for announcing things at work. I suspect this is due to two things. As a man, the notion of a life-changing work arrangement due to pregnancy is less common. Also, I figure, why the drama? Nobody tracks my progress in the tabloids. I do that myself, right here.

As for that first bit, the man-culture bit: It has become clear to me I’ve made some huge assumptions about how I’d conduct myself, and what I’d engage in if/when parenting became a reality. To first qualify this statement: I consider myself more open to different things. I think of myself as, oh, less constrained to Midwestern folkways.

That said, did I ever think I’d quit my job? From the time I could ask myself that question until this year, the answer was always the same: Never. Not ever.

Perfectly sane people have asked me if I’d take a permanent leave of absence. One the face of it, this is fair to ask. I’m a hospital social worker. Cheri is a state attorney. Ultimately, we both work for the same government system, but she makes more. Had the recession never happened, our pay gaps would have widened further this year. Of course, that’s not happening now; wages are frozen for many people. Both of us acknowledge neither of us can take a huge leave. We’re in a boat shared with millions of people. We incurred debts to go to school, now we need to eliminate them. We also want the things new families want, such as a house. I’ll get into that in another post, but for now, both of us see ourselves as continuing to work.

My job, however, does not exist in my own private vacuum. A case in point: my voluntary on-call scheduling. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is to come in on the weekend and work with families who are facing the death of a loved one. I also work with the state organ procurement organization should the family support organ donation. It’s grueling work, but also work I love to do.

As of today, I quit that.

I didn’t want to quit, but I couldn’t take just a few months off; new people have be trained, and that is more work and more complicated, had I kept a foot in it. As of July 1st, I’ll make even less money (though negligible in the long term). But, I’ll have my weekends back.

Here’s a video I’ve shared elsewhere, but will post here since it’s on-topic.

Attempting to be the cook on a daily basis, I’ve found my dishes to be horrifyingly hit-and-miss. Cheri took a bite of Papa Murphy’s pizza last week, and damn near barfed. But she did do three ounces of grilled steak today. This made me very happy, as steak is very easy to prepare. In Iowa, we have an abundance of it.

Breakfast is another story. If I get up early enough, I can whip up a toasted egg-and muenster-cheese bagel. That seems to go over well. Cheri commutes a long distance every weekday, and my hope is to help her not pull into McDonald’s every day. Not that she can’t do that, of course, but it’s just cheaper to send her off with something to eat. I may have to come up with a menu. Hmmm.

To sum up, Cheri’s definitive quote: “Everything just tastes wierd.”

Steve and Cheri, to be precise. Now you know the big news. There appears to be a third person entering the long-standing fold of two. Sure, this stuff happens all the time, but it’s happening to us for the first time. 

This is also my first time setting up a blog using a hosting site.