A Little Advice... don't trip

I'm sitting with a much deserved triple shot of Jameson. I somehow dug out the energy to work a straight 12 hour shift by myself. The rainy days didn't help much with the feeling of loneliness and no one to talk to aside from the daily business talk that turns me into a robot. Over the past month, the sun has peeked through the clouds for only about 6 hours, and during those six hours I felt like a vampire not being able to keep my eyes open. So I worked alone and managed to survive, and still found the time to run outside for the one hour that the sun was out. Two had the day off, one is out to a week long training and one more had to rush home to his new bride suffering from the early symptoms of pregnancy. This guy has been tripping since he found out that he'll become a father in less than 9 months. I remember tripping as much as this guy, so everyday he has come to me for advice.

I can only share the same advice to anyone expecting or that has plans to someday have children. Just go with it. I don't know what it feels like to be pregnant. Unless science someday proves me wrong, and God forbid scientists toy with nature, a man will never feel what it's like to be pregnant. But turn the tables around and women will never know what its like for a man to take care of a pregnant woman. (This is not a strike against women!) A pregnant woman's physical and emotional pain fuels the doubt of every guys mental stability and shoots down his ego. We try to do everything, try to make you comfortable, go the extra mile to pick up that wicked combination of late night cravings like chocolate and something sour, and clean out the local grocery store with things she asks for just to keep an ample supply of food. You don't even know it but we even research what food you should and shouldn't eat and also have the hospital necessity checklist etched in our minds. But a pregnant woman will always complain that she is not comfortable enough, returning from your late night sour mango search results in one bite, and none of the food you stock up on will ever be touched. And I guarantee it, this will happen to every guy (it has happened to everyone I know with children and has remained one of the "what are we supposed to do's")- there will come a time when you and your pregnant wife will be watching TV at night and you think that everything is going greater than ever and all of a sudden she goes into another room crying, won't tell you why, and will eventually tell you to leave her alone. And you WILL get in trouble for asking what's wrong and trying to comfort her at that moment. My best advice: deal with it and accept it. Nothing you can do can make things better. You can never do enough. Pregnancy produces some of the worst mood swings- one minute you have Tinkerbell, the next you may have Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Just deal with it. Its only bad in the beginning; Everything eventually gets better and in the end it is the greatest feeling in the world to hold your own baby. You may lose some hair, sneak a couple more cigarettes, gain weight, or drink that extra beer, but it is well worth it. My co-worker told me that he hopes they have twins so that he doesn't have to relive the whole thing again. Trust me, in the end you'll forget it and it won't matter anymore.

To all the ladies, when we have the guys over to have a few drinks or if we feel like watching something you don't want to, it doesn't mean we love you less or we're trying to pick a fight. We still remember. We always remember. Otherwise we wouldn't trip so much...