So, it’s been a long while. I’ve not written to update in so long, and there’s so much that’s happened since I last posted. Don’t really know where to start to tell you the truth.

Some of you may know that Melly and I had been trying for a baby for almost a year. Things just didn’t seem to be happening, and so we decided to make sure things were working ok. Turns out I’ve got problems that were preventing us from falling pregnant. Down for the count you might say. Basically, after much testing, our fertility specialist said that our only option to fall pregnant was through IVF. I was pretty messed up after hearing that. I got quiet down about the whole thing, as being a Dad is basically the only aspiration or dream that I’ve had. I’ve never really cared to climb the corporate ladder, or chase career accolades, being a Dad is what I’ve always wanted. This was basically my only dream.

After getting over the initial shock, and after having talked to my Dad about the issue, I was encouraged to leave it in God’s hands. Dad explained, quiet rightly, that if God could make Abraham and Sarah preggers, when they were both over 90 years old, and on top of that Sarah being baron, then God is mighty enough to overcome this issue. I’m a skeptic though, and even though I have very strong beliefs in Christ and his power, my automatic reaction to people talking this way is a reaction of doubt. I figured though that at this point I had no other option, because the incredible odds of us actually falling pregnant were truly stacked against us. Neither of us were prepared to use IVF, mostly because for the chances of success to be reasonable, they need to fertilise usually about 8-10 eggs. Apparently there is a fairly high attrition rate. Though, if only 1 ends up being required for a successful implantation we would have been left with a whole heap of fertilised eggs that would be discarded. We were not ethically prepared to do this, as we see this as no different to abortion. So I, and by I mean we, left it in Christ’s hands.

For a while I was really down about the whole thing (understandably), but I did my best to trust Christ and leave things up to Him. Against all odds, about a month or so after hearing the bad news, Mel missed her period. The first thing she did, of course, was to use a pregnancy test. Which to her surprise came up with a positive result. That night I come home from work and she tells me to close my eyes… Being the trusting husband that I am, I comply, only to open them to the impossible…two lines. My jaw dropped, I was speechless… All I could say for what would have been the better part of ten minutes was, “How?!?!”

I told you before that I’m a skeptic. So we tested again…. three more times to be sure Each and every time a positive result. Next we made a Doctors appointment…again, blood tests confirmed what the pee tests had already shown. We were pregnant!!!! Awfullest feeling though, not being able to tell someone the best news in the world. Seeing as though it was just early days, and the chance of miscarriage being high, we decided not to spill the beans until we reached 3 months. What a long time that was, only made worse for Melly by the fact that she got terrible morning sickness, even up to four months through the pregnancy…poor darling It was really good though being able to tell my folks that they were gonna be Grandparents, tears of joy… tears of gladness and joy!

What was also good is how much of a testament the situation was to God’s faithfulness to those who place their faith in Him! My friends had helped me, as they always do, with dealing with the devastation of being initially told we wouldn’t be able to have kids on our own. They also witnessed my resolve to put my faith in God regardless of the odds, and then saw that faith come to fruit in our prayers being answered with unassisted conception. Praise God!

The next 3-4 months were filled with regular OB appointments, including ultrasounds and the like. I loved our first ultrasound best, a fantastic profile shot, I framed it and put it on my desk at work. Even at 13 weeks I was a proud Dad September came and went pretty fast. Our 4th wedding anniversary on the 6th, my birthday on the 8th, and Melly’s on the 14th. I got some fantastic gifts including a Janomi Sewing Machine and Star Wars Monopoly!!!!! Yes, that’s right, sewing machine. Melly and I decided that seeing she outright refuses to sew, that it was going to be a Dad thing. Besides which I took Home Economics all the way through High School and am no slouch with a needle and thread, mechanized at that!

To make September even better I was successful in an application for a 6 months secondment for a management roll at work. I was pretty stoked about this, I’d been trying for this progression for quiet a while, and it was good to finally be rewarded for my hard work. Not a lot has happened since September though, with work taking up more of my time I’ve not felt a great deal like doing much at all outside work hours except spending time with my pregnant wife. The new role is a lot more draining too, which means I often intravert after having been face to face with people for 8-10 hours each day. This intravertedness encompassed blogging too, as you might have noticed. I’ve not posted since the 12th of May, which is quiet slack. It’s been one of those things though. For a month or two I didn’t feel like talking to anyone about anything, and when we found out the good news we didn’t want to tell anyone until another month or so after that, by which time a huge amount of spam comments had accumulated on my blog, and with being tired from work I couldn’t be bothered spending some time fixing it all up, so it just went untouched for a long while. BUT, I’ve gotten the spam under control with a nice little Wordpress plug-in called AKismet, which checks all my comments against known spamming IP’s, typical spam content and so on. Now my blog is much easier to manage, so things will stay up to date… well here’s hoping For your information (FYI), AKismet got rid of 3297 spam comments off my blog that had been posted between May 12th and now. Spam, spam, spam, spam….

Christmas was good too. We had a friend from England stay with us over the Christmas period (Chris), and got to experience some awesome Vegan cooking during his stay, plus good company. Christmas day we had the family come to us. Lunch, fellowship and gifts at our place. I had a great time with the kids, Lily and Zane are awesome and as cliche as it is, it’s amazing how much they have grown since we last saw them a few months back. Lily’s even started losing her front teeth now! It’s quiet good now, Mark and his family are moving back to Toowoomba, so we’ll get to see heaps more of them which will be fantastic!

What else have we been up to? Well, we now have a few new pets. In addition to Gypsie and Darcy, we now have a canary (called Woodstock) and a fish (called Neptune). We did have two fish, the other one was called Atlantis, but unfortunately Atlantis’ swim bladder broke and he soon died. This only happened just the other day, and I’m sad about it. I hate all kinds of death. Even that of fishies.

I’ve also been playing a good amount of World of Warcraft. It’s been fantastic fun. I’ve met a good deal of nice people, made a lot of friends, even met a few of them in real life (IRL). Finally got my first character to level 60. A Tauren Hunter, named of course eSinner. That happened not too long after my last post. Since then I’ve almost leveled another character. This time an Orc Shaman called Allimental (currently at level 49). I play on the Firetree realm for all who care. So does Richie, Pete, and AK among my Toowoomba friends. Other than these three, many of my friends at work and otherwise criticise WoW. Funnily enough many of the same people don’t have issues with watching TV, or reading books. In my opinion (IMO) WoW is a lot more constructive and social than doing either of these things. Different horses for different courses though It’s been a good way to fill in time for the 9 month waiting game though.

That brings us to the present, and this present is only 2 days away! Yep, that’s right, Mel is going in for a cesarean this Thursday the 4th of January. After much deliberation, and considering Little Doyley (our name for the baby) is quiet large relative to the size of Melly’s pelvis, we chose to take the obstetricians suggestion and avoid the risks of a ‘natural’ delivery. Melly checks into the hospital at 12pm, and the delivery is scheduled for 2pm.

Now for the obvious questions. How does Melly feel? Well, the poor darling is really uncomfortable. I feel rather helpless too, not being able to do a great deal to relieve her from her discomfort. The last nine months has been a consistant lack of sleep for various reasons. Mostly due to Melly getting bad restless legs most nights, and more recently having to get up to pee ever half hour. All the experts at work and otherwise tell me there’s more sleeplessness to come though. What would I have done without their keen insight Mel’s also had a lot of swelling, especially in the feet and legs… yes, and the tummy…. smart alecs

How do I feel? Apart from feeling completely helpless I’m good. Emotionally, I’ve never had any hesitancy about becoming a Dad, it’s always been my dream, I know that I’ll make a good Father. It’s strange though, just over the past week or so I’ve started to get a little bit nervous about meeting my kid. I’ve thought all sorts of strange things. For instance, this evening I got a little worried about what I was gonna wear to the hospital. Wanting to look nice for my introduction to my little one and all. Melly kindly reminded me that she didn’t think the baby would care what I wore, and that I’d probably be wearing hospital garb in any case. At other times I’ve wondered whether my kid is gonna like me. I think because I want to be the best Dad in the world, like my Dad, and having your kid like you is a good start towards that end. Those are pretty big shoes to fill though, being the best Dad in the world, and can two people really share the title, and plus my feet aren’t overly big. So I worry about that some. Then I ponder whether in Mel’s tummy is a little prince or princess. To be honest (TBH) it makes no difference to me what we have, and for that reason we chose to keep the little one’s sex a secret to ourselves until the birth. At times though I think of all the good things about having a little girl, and just as fast as I think up half a dozen things for why I want a girl I think up just as many things for why I want a little boy. In the end I realise that it’s already been decided for me and I get to find out in less than 48 hours. I can’t wait to meet you!

The thing I worry the most about though is being a good example of Christ to my child. That, right there, is a huge responsibility, the ramifications of which extend far into eternity. The last thing I want is for my Kid’s understanding of who God is, and the unfailing love He has for them, to be distorted by any failings I may have in my role as their earthly father. So I’ve been praying for a lot of strength in that department lately. In the end though I realise that this is just the start of what is going to be a lifetime of periodic worry and concern for the future and wellbeing of our child, and all I need do is remind myself that God is good, he is good all the time, and he has looked after Melly and I so well this far, so I have nothing to do except have faith that the same is install for things to come.

Stay tuned for more info, you can be sure I will post again with the details of the birth come thursday, or sooner if I am feeling inspired. I’m currently on 6 weeks leave starting today, and don’t return to work until the 13th of February, this will give us plenty of time to settle into a routine with the baby and have a good amount of time to bond and such.

Anyhoo, tune in next time. Same Bat time, same Bat channel…

P.S. Happy New Year and all the best for the 2007!