puff and huff

So puff has his own room in the hospital (with kel), after two days of sharing a room with another new family who seemed to be unaware of the hospital’s visiting hours: a steady stream of visitors poured in day and night, so we had to have the curtains pulled, and he didn’t really get much in the way of natural light.

The new room is much cheerier: a big window lets in lots of natural light, and the sound of traffic will be good practice for him when he gets home. We’ve had a few more tests – his hearing has been checked (he passed), and he even had to have a couple of blood tests (not so much fun) to make sure everything is okay.

Next is to do a stack of paperwork – when a baby is born, they give you a pack of nappies and some wipes, a few health related charts, and a few forms to fill in. I’ve filled in his birth certificate form (it was a bit odd to put someone else’s name in the “name” part of a form), and still have to do the medicare paperwork: I think we’ll be doing that once everyone is home.

Interesting times. We’re trying now to make the most of how ever much time we have left as a couple, while also avoiding doing anything too strenuous.

Yesterday, we managed to go to the pool together (walking around in the pool seems to be good for kel’s back), visit a couple of cafes in Balmain, and even go into the city for laksa.

One high point was finding this little street.

And now, back to waiting. Thanks to everyone who is covering for me in some way while I wait with kel.

Well, today is the day that puff is “due”. This – as we’ve known all along – is no guarantee of anything. We’d been given two due dates in the past, the 16th, and the 20th. As a friend points out, the date of birth 20-08-2008 would be quite a memorable one to have, but at this stage, it looks like puff is going to be late.

Waiting for a baby is unlike any other kind of wait that I’ve experienced before. What you’re waiting for is going to be incredibly life changing, but you have no control over *when* it happens. I suspect this is good practice for once the baby arrives, when there’s a continual lack of control over when things happen.

It’s a mixed sensation: I’d really like puff to turn up, but to get there, kel has to go through rather a lot of suffering, so it’s hard to be enthusiastic about everything starting.

I guess I’m the one who’s starting to nest (or perhaps I didn’t want to read my college library book). Tired – after months – of not really understanding what we have in the pantry, I decided to take everything out of the pantry, and organise it my way. In the process, I’ve thrown out a lot of expired food, and found a lot of groceries that we had – unwittingly – in bulk.

We’re really into the territory of “the waiting” now, so we’re running out of good ways to fill in the time: the room is ready, the house is getting tidy, now the pantry is done.

Have now managed to move everything out of the baby’s room except the boxes that the cot came in and the futon. There’s a drop sheet on the floor, various painting equipment on said drop sheet: all that’s left is to clean the wall, and try out the sample colours. Too bad I’ve been getting home from work so late that I haven’t managed to have a go at it already. Still, the weekend looms: plenty of opportunity to get the painting done.