But more importantly, we are pregnant! And by "we", I mean she is. But I am a firm believer in a "sympathy pregnancy," in which I sympathize with her food cravings and use that as an excuse to shove as much ice cream and cake and chocolate and hot wings and Chinese food and alcohol (I'm drinking for two, after all) down my gullet as I can for the remainder of the gestation period. During her pregnancy with James, I'm pretty sure that I gained as much weight as she did during those nine months. The difference being, she got to lose a lot of that weight in one day. I, on the other hand, had the privilege of carrying mine for about another nine months.
But I've got some catching up to do. Not that I haven't been eating ridiculously. I have been away from my family, and therefore, I have been eating like a bachelor again. Frozen pizzas, frozen burritos, frozen pot pies...There is a reason why the natural process for men in their twenties is to get married. It is because they know that their current diet will probably have them in the ground by age thirty-five. Marriage is a survival tool for men. We need that voice of reason to tell us that Coco Puffs are not acceptable for three full meals a day. And, I, being well into my thirties, cannot keep eating like this for very much longer. I can hear my arteries starting to cuss at me.
No, I have some catching up to do simply because Gina is three months ahead of me. You see, she was 15 weeks along before we found out the news. I can hear you now, saying, "How could you not know?" Well, let me explain before you get TLC on the phone. About the same time that morning sickness would have been prevalent, this year's nasty flu was circulating itself around our home, one family member at a time. And weight gain? Gina didn't really put any weight on. (However, the minute we found out, her belly started to swell by the minute. I started thinking of that movie "Jack" with Robin Williams.) And the little bit she did, we attributed it to the fact that she has been eating very similarly to me. That, combined with the recent stress of my absence, was a perfect explanation for the symptoms of pregnancy. It was actually a stranger she met at the Smithsonian while on a trip to D.C. that asked her if she was expecting. Gina, who didn't know she WAS expecting, was upset, thinking that she was just becoming fatter. But it prompted her to take the test that gave us the good news.
A new job, a baby on the way, and other big life changes have helped us to dry up our emotional "wells" pretty quickly. Even my kids are feeling it a bit. James gets awfully sad when he looks around to see that everyone, including the dog, is not at home. I'm away. My two oldest are with their mother. It gets distressing. It becomes saddening. We need some face time every day. So, I put together a slide show for my wife, my kids, and even myself, that we can watch when the loneliness becomes too much.
The song is "My Buddy" being performed by Dr. John.
I think it captures the situation we are in presently, but more importantly, it reminds me that my family members are my closest friends. We laugh, we play, we tell stories, we share. We are "buddies."
