A handful of emotions all at once

So, a good friend of mine who is also a colleague recently wrote a column about his current situation.

He and his wife are also expecting a child.

Their child, however, will be born three months before ours.

Merry and I are expecting our first child. The little one is supposed to be here in the middle of October.

In his column, my friend asked himself a few questions.

He also pointed out some firsts that he has experienced along the way.

And I thought I'd do the same.

I am a musician and practically every Saturday, spend time in Indianapolis playing music in the band I am in.

One Saturday in the middle of March, I came home and should have immediately known something was up.

Merry was definitely acting different. But why?

She had asked me how practice was and it went well.

Then, as I sat down on the couch, she handed me a baby bib.

I wasn't sure what it was for initially. It just didn't click.

My response?

"Is this for the dog?"

Yes, I know. Very silly, but you're just going to have to give me a break. I really didn't know how to react.

But then, she showed me.

She had taken three pregnancy tests that afternoon and all came out positive.

We were overjoyed.

Still, we didn't want to share the news quite yet.

So we waited until she had a doctor's appointment to confirm the pregnancy.

Yep. It was real.

At her first doctor's appointment, she discovered she was further along than anticipated. Unfortunately, I missed the ultrasound.

My first in what will probably be a few misses here and there.

Even though she and I knew, we had difficulty deciding whether we wanted to tell family or not.

What to do?

We elected to wait.

But after her second doctor's appointment, we couldn't keep the secret anymore.

Keeping a secret like that is impossible.

But we kept it for a while.

Still, I thought I'd share with my colleague some answers to some of the questions he posed:

* Is my friend going through the same things I was? -- I don't really know. Personally, I was overjoyed. Having a child is something Merry and I have been planning for. But still, the news sneaks up on you

* Was I ready to rearrange the house? -- Like yourself, probably not. In fact, I am currently painting what will be a nursery and have discovered I can't stand painting

* Have we started purchasing clothes, etc.? -- Yes, in fact we have. But we're buying stuff that can be either for a boy or girl. We have chosen to be surprised by that as Merry and I both believe it's one of the last actual surprises one can receive.

And yes, I agree. While it's nice that colleagues, friends, readers, etc., have congratulated me in the past week, Merry deserves plenty more accolades than I. She's much further ahead on this journey than I am.

It seems I continue to play catch up.

But I'll be there every step of the way.

And yes, it is nice to know there's another friend of mine going through this.

Just three months ahead.

But the conversations will be wonderful, I'm sure.