The Calm Before the Storm

We're down to counting hours, now, as opposed to days. Wow! Tonight, we're relaxing after dinner, watching television. Jude is playing in an on-line poker tournament (her latest pastime). It's a free tournament, not for money. That comes later, when I take her to Vegas to begin working in earnest on her second career, as a professional poker player. I was able to get a run in at Shelby Park late this afternoon, which was nice.

Jude's last day at work (pre-baby) was today, as she's taking tomorrow off. I'm glad she's going to have tomorrow to take it easy, spend some time alone and "get her game face on," as she describes it. She's pretty uncomfortable now, so the rest will do her good. I still have some things to wrap up at work, but I am going to try to get away mid-afternoon.

As I told Jude tonight after dinner, the last couple of months seem to have flown by. To me, the closer we've gotten to our due date, the faster time has passed. Early on, it seemed like the baby would never get here. We spent a lot of time thinking and talking about the pregnancy. The last few weeks, we've spent most of our time thinking and talking about caring for a real, live baby, in our house. Again, wow!

The other day, Jude said she was to the point where she really wanted to have the opportunity to see our baby's face for the first time, to look him in the eyes. I think that statement sums up where we are, mentally and emotionally, right now. We're ready, at least I think we are.

Yesterday, in response to an email from our good friend, Lela Hollabaugh, Jude said she was ready for Friday to get here, so she could have the baby. In fact, her exact words were, "At this point, I am looking forward to Friday. Bring it on, I say." Man, I love that woman. She's the strongest, bravest person I know.