Baby Austin at 16 Weeks
There's a tiny person inside my wife!
We're 16 weeks along, and our first child actually looks like a little human being now (for a while there i had visions of an alien abduction). We're not getting ultrasounds because there seems something unnecessary at best about bouncing high-powered sound waves into, around, and through a developing child, but this picture does me just fine for "seeing" what the little tyke is looking like. We're not finding out the gender either, which rubs against the grain of our gender-crazed society.
The whole experience is still more cerebral than anything else, but i'm sure that soon enough it will start to take on an emotional reality for me. some of the changes i'm already experiencing are surprising and exciting to me.
For example, i suddenly find myself able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (if the orange popsicles or chicken tacos that Jessie NEEDS are on the other side). i've never believed in doing things which people - particularly women - are perfectly capable of doing themselves...not in a self-absorbed or jack-assy way, but because i wasnt comfortable with assuming that they needed help, or that i had some kind of right to bear their burdens. i hope that makes sense, but at any rate that seems to have dissolved in my home. Jessie can get popsicles herself, but i'm suddenly more than happy to do it, and lickety-split.
perhaps in the absence of the opportunity to do the work of bearing the child, i'm overcompensating by being johnny-on-the-spot. perhaps that's the contribution that i can make at this point. whatever it is, it feels good, and i'm glad that it does.
AND because i understand that people may offer this stuff anyway, you're all hereby invited to post advice, stories, name suggestions, etc...just as long as you understand that we're not obligated to use ANY of them. :)
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Comments (19)
Congratulations! But just possibly TMI. Children and having them and raising them are a pretty personal thing and I'm not sure it's appropriate for this forum. Maybe I'm wrong. Here's a forum that may be better suited to the subject:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/
Comment #1 Posted by: Anonymous | February 4, 2007 01:02 PM
Congratulations, you two! What a wonderful...gift! (Truly.) I assume, given what you've shown and written above, that baby Austin's birthday will be the day he was conveived, on his "Birth Certificate." Please let me, and all of us, know if I'm wrong. THANKS.
With best wishes for all, -J.
Comment #2 Posted by: Jay | February 4, 2007 01:10 PM
Ut Oh. see what I mean. It's already started.
Comment #3 Posted by: Anonymous | February 4, 2007 01:12 PM
While I congratulate you and your partner, you seem to have opened up a whole can of rabid anti-choice worms!
Comment #4 Posted by: Anonymous | February 4, 2007 03:23 PM
Life, its a beautiful thing ! Congratulations !
Comment #5 Posted by: Brian | February 4, 2007 04:24 PM
Congratulations Evan and Jessie! And, once again, we are all reminded that the personal is always political. May you parent your child with consciousness and joy.
Comment #6 Posted by: heather | February 4, 2007 06:18 PM
wa-HOO!
thank you, Heather. consciousness and joy are beautiful things to wish, and i gladly receive that from you.
Jay, can you help me understand what you mean regarding the baby's conception/birth/certificate? you kinda lost me there, and i need some clarity from you.
to all:
i dont see any reason for this subject to be taboo or suited only to themed discussions. i am grateful that i feel safe enough here to prompt a discussion on life and birth and the welcoming of a new human into our community!
sure, we may turn this into a discussion of some depth and political heat. but i've never seen a dialogue kill anyone, so what's there to be afraid of? if you dont like the choices i'm making, you can choose to be joyful that i'm raising my own and not yours!
Comment #7 Posted by: evan | February 4, 2007 07:36 PM
Congratulations and blessings to you all.
Comment #8 Posted by: Robert | February 4, 2007 09:21 PM
This is great Evan and Jessie -- families and birth a certainly a trip. Let's also try to spread some joy to 'anonymous' and maybe he/she will cheer up a bit. :-)
BTW, the link provided to Mothering is a great source.
Comment #9 Posted by: Kenley Neufeld | February 5, 2007 10:51 AM
Not to come down on you, because I like your posts and what you seem to stand for, but I just don't understand the point of this most recent post. Is this a journal entry that you wanted to share with us? I know the post is about sharing, but isn't it about sharing useful and relevant information for the community?
Comment #10 Posted by: kevin | February 5, 2007 04:57 PM
I think if evan wants to share this exciting news, he by all means should! Ojai Post really has no rules or structure and that's what's so great about it. Sometimes we authors will share random obscure thoughts, sometimes we'll offer something with teeth. evan's wonderful news falls somewhere in the continuum. If it's not for you, there's about 400 other posts you can click on! And, p.s., evan, congrats!
Comment #11 Posted by: Lisa Snider | February 5, 2007 05:38 PM
"Sometimes we authors will share random obscure thoughts, sometimes we'll offer something with teeth."
You authors eh? I can't wait for you to bless us all with something authored, oh author of authors.
Comment #12 Posted by: kevin | February 5, 2007 05:52 PM
hi kevin, and thanks! it's nice to have a "fan".
yeah, i guess this is sort of a journal entry..something of a more personal bent than some of the other things i've posted. i think Lisa's characterized the open nature of the Post very well. plus, my experience is that one never knows where a seemingly benign topic will take us. perhaps you can find use and relevance in my post by calling it "Young Couple Decides to Stay and Raise a Family in the Valley, Despite High Cost of Living". there's some community issues for ya.
please, kevin...calm down. if you've been reading the Post (which it's clear you have) then you know that starting sarcastic personal attacks is definitely NOT useful or relevant to our community. but i hear your frustration. if you were an author and were to post a new topic, what would it be? perhaps one of us knows something about it and could take the reins.
(ps, Lisa...thanks!!)
Comment #13 Posted by: evan | February 6, 2007 06:13 AM
from Ms. Cathy Elliot Jones, on Lisa's post:
A friend just called me over to observe Evan's excitingly graphic pregnancy news (and Evan, honey, running around getting popsicles does not make you and your beloved equals, or even both "pregnant," although I am sure your heart is in the right place).
and my response:
hey Cathy,
i love the term "excitingly graphic"! and thanks...i think. i assure you that my heart IS in the right place, although i will continue to strive for equality and shared pregnancy as much as that makes any sense. i dont like being penalized for something i cannot do.
at any rate, it suddenly came to mind to think of you like a sour-coated gummy worm: i know there's some sweet stuff in there somewhere, but have to grimace through the acidic powder first.
Comment #14 Posted by: evan | February 7, 2007 06:43 AM
Evan's response: see above
and my response:
(insert response here)
Comment #15 Posted by: Anonymous | February 7, 2007 12:58 PM
uhh...i dont get it.
Comment #16 Posted by: evan | February 7, 2007 06:49 PM
I am sooo happy for the two of you. I can't wait till my little ones have another one to run around with, when we get back from england that is. Congrats.
Comment #17 Posted by: joshua | February 13, 2007 03:58 AM
THANKS, Josh!
it's great to hear from you, and we're still thrilled at your excitement and support.
it's a beast trying to call you, what with the extreme time difference and our busy schedules. thanks for checking in...we haven't forgotten you!
Comment #18 Posted by: evan | February 13, 2007 09:01 AM
Jeez, who would have thought a baby announcement could be so controversial?
Comment #19 Posted by: Coleen Ashly | February 21, 2007 12:51 AM