4AM in the morning on the 15th day of "Av", the jewish "valentine's day". That's the time our lives changed.
The water began to flow out of Shirley. We already knew that there's no reason to panic, it just means the baby wants to get born. What we were about to find out was that it takes time, almost 40 hours.
It's a rather large buffer for the change, but the change was bigger. Nothing can prepare you to the unexpected reality of a baby in the house.
Suddenly sleep was not granted. Going out means either someone to babysit, or taking half of the house with us. Almost overnight, all of my clothes turned to be "one time wearing only". A strange feature that wasn't known prior to that day.
Unfortunately for the "new born parents", babies don't come with a manual. To tell the truth, the instructions are time dependent, i.e. 5 minutes delay is a complete make over. We found that out usually at 11PM, and the proof continued 'till 3AM.
Yet the light shines. Suddenly, just a smile turns important, and the most basic actions a human does turn into a complex set. Turning from the back to front and vice versa made us happy for a week. The attempts to pet the dog sent us to heaven, and the syllables pronounced were confirming the location.
The walking experiments are a strange combination of heart-ache and exhilaration, depending on the "fall type". Falling can be painful, but the only way to learn to walk is by falling. Plus, learning to fall correctly is always a good idea.
It looks like being a parent is easy, but it's not. Every day is a struggle to give the little helpless flower the best, every night you pray you haven't done too many mistakes. Nothing, and it's absolutely nothing, can assure you you're doing right. There's assurance only when you're not doing it right, and only on rare occasions it comes in time.
Upon closing the first year we can look at our achievements and say: "we did it." The baby is jabbering full time job, everything is considered climb able - unless it runs away; the dog didn't run. The baby's folks learned the difference between the screams of "hungry", "tired", and "my diaper is full". Though understanding a baby is still a mystery to us.
And most important, a new baby (this time it's a boy) is expected by October.
The water began to flow out of Shirley. We already knew that there's no reason to panic, it just means the baby wants to get born. What we were about to find out was that it takes time, almost 40 hours.
It's a rather large buffer for the change, but the change was bigger. Nothing can prepare you to the unexpected reality of a baby in the house.
Suddenly sleep was not granted. Going out means either someone to babysit, or taking half of the house with us. Almost overnight, all of my clothes turned to be "one time wearing only". A strange feature that wasn't known prior to that day.
Unfortunately for the "new born parents", babies don't come with a manual. To tell the truth, the instructions are time dependent, i.e. 5 minutes delay is a complete make over. We found that out usually at 11PM, and the proof continued 'till 3AM.
Yet the light shines. Suddenly, just a smile turns important, and the most basic actions a human does turn into a complex set. Turning from the back to front and vice versa made us happy for a week. The attempts to pet the dog sent us to heaven, and the syllables pronounced were confirming the location.
The walking experiments are a strange combination of heart-ache and exhilaration, depending on the "fall type". Falling can be painful, but the only way to learn to walk is by falling. Plus, learning to fall correctly is always a good idea.
It looks like being a parent is easy, but it's not. Every day is a struggle to give the little helpless flower the best, every night you pray you haven't done too many mistakes. Nothing, and it's absolutely nothing, can assure you you're doing right. There's assurance only when you're not doing it right, and only on rare occasions it comes in time.
Upon closing the first year we can look at our achievements and say: "we did it." The baby is jabbering full time job, everything is considered climb able - unless it runs away; the dog didn't run. The baby's folks learned the difference between the screams of "hungry", "tired", and "my diaper is full". Though understanding a baby is still a mystery to us.
And most important, a new baby (this time it's a boy) is expected by October.
