It is 3:30 PM on March 23, 2008. I have been sitting here since 6:45 AM. Pretty sunny outside. As far as New England early “Spring” days are concerned, there is not much to complain about today. Looking out the window, I can see Fenway Park in the distance. This will be a point of “contention” for quite some time.
I am at the hospital with my wife, awaiting the arrival of our first child. The only sound in the room is that of the fetal monitor. It’s very quiet and calm right now as we wait to see what happens next, and believe me, we understand that we have no idea. Within the next zero to, well, who knows, hours, we will finally learn whether we have a son or a daughter. The nurse (of which we’ve had 3 so far today) thinks girl, I think boy. My wife thinks boy 1 minute, girl the next. My grandfather thinks boy. My mother thinks boy now, but girl before. My sister has no idea. Everyone has different opinions. None of them based on science.
I come from a pretty large family. Either today or tomorrow, a baby will born with the last name Brand. This will be the first time in 27 years that this has happened in my family. Apparently, my uncle Jeff is the closest-without-going-over winner of the pool. Of course, nobody told us.
So we’ll see what happens…I am sure of two things: We are in for a wild adventure and we can’t wait.
Three things: My wife just had a contraction…
