...the last of 2008

2008 is a year I would say seemed too controversial to me.A lot has happened,I must say it is one year I decided to take some decisions, which normally I would either not want to contemplate out of fear of the unknown or would do out of my pragmatic nature,more still for the fact that I felt I had come of age.It was a year I had to do several things not thinking of whether it was right or wrong,except that in all I tried to follow my instincts,and listen to my Wife's opinion after I got married.I can categorically tell you I absolutely got it right from the start,by marrying the girl of my dreams;to start with,we had dated for no less than 5 years before we finally decided to get married.I had always dreamt of the ideal woman,my ideal woman.Who not necessarily needed not to be ideal,I am not perfect so I was interested in someone who was not proud enough to admit her flaws,that was exactly what I got.

Her name is Emerald(I actually gave her this name),and in a few months we would be expecting our first child.We had the scan when the baby was 28 weeks old.I always told Emerald I would want a girl child first,I honestly do not know where that desire sprang from but I guess I did not belong to that era which believed so much in a 'boy child' being first or a must in the number of kids one has.I guess I was not following that line of thought.I could not really say what Emerald wanted,though I could feel the excitement in her voice when she told me "... it is a boy".Did I hear you ask "...feel,are you not with her"? I am actually far away,somewhere around the north pole latitude:58°58' and Longitude: 5° 45' east,while my wife is on Latitude: 4°58'59"N and Longitude: 8°19'59"E.

It is really not quite easy becoming a father,I must say there are a lot one has to cope with.I am here in Stavanger,Norway taking a masters degree in Offshore technology,just hoping I could take my career to the next level and at the same time secure a better future for my family.While my Wife is currently in Calabar,Cross River State,Nigeria.We actually live in Port Harcourt,Rivers State,Nigeria.She had to go home to live with her mother ,so she can get some motherly attention during the critical periods of pregnancy and delivery(all because of my skeletal presence).I believe I have made the right decision in my choice of Wife.Most of the decisions I get to make I have to confer from her before I make the move.I have come to strongly buy her opinions in most discussions we have especially when it has to do with making decisions.I believe her input will always make it all the more right.So coming here leaving Emerald that far was not an easy one to make,but with eachother by the other's side we have been able to survive the last half of 2008.

I had done a lot of internet browsing to find sites which could educate us about parenthood,Emerald has also done the same thing,I remember while we were both in Paris,when I was at work all she did was browse the internet to find out information about what she should expect,once we decided to have a baby.Infact this helped us from the very begining,when she took in.Emerald had called me and showed me some bleeding from her 'PP' this we later discovered to be Implantation bleeding (vaginal bleeding during the earliest stages of pregnancy).Something I can say most couples are never observant of,even when some women experience it they do not know what it is.But once we became aware,we would not loose site of getting more awareness of what her condition was every step of the way.At some point I even had to sign up on a website welcomebabyhome.com,where I got information regarding the stages and what to expect in each stage of pregnancy.So weekly I and Emerald would go through and share what we have read from this website.

In the third month we went to register for Emerald's ante-natal,to ensure that both mother and child got the best medical observation throughout the period of pregnancy.In the weeks that have followed since we got to know the sex of the baby.We are now busy with a couple of things,like shopping for the baby,planning what will the the appropriate step as far as it bothers around the child.Today(31 December,...) Emerald has gone to do the last shopping for her hospital bag,she tells me she does not want to be caught of gaurd.Emerald's EDD is 9th February ,2009.I got this date marked somewhere in my head,stamped.I have been thinking of a name to give to our boy,do not worry in the weeks to follow,you will learn of his name.I have told Emerald that we should get our boy a gift,she has since done that,I cannot think of anything now.But I definitely would get something in the weeks to come just before I get to Nigeria.

I already have my tickets booked for 5 February,2009.i want to be there when the action begins.I plan to make a stop in Paris,France to do some little buying of 'this and that' I hope I am able to get what I need and still have some money to spare for miscellaneous expenses.I feel excited,going home,holding my almost due wife in my arms,putting my head on her tommy and listening to the little boy move.I definitely feel very excited becoming a father;holding my child in my arms,is definitely something I am looking forward to.I hope I am able to make the most of fatherhood cos ,that is what this blog is all about.i want to be able to have a record of all my activities,first as a husband and then as a father,at the same time entertain a handful who will come across this.Watchout for more exciting blogs on fatherhood...

Notes

Feel free to send in your comments,else just enjoy reading ,I hope I am able to give you something to look forward to weekly.