4 weeks to go until the due date and we're told things could happen any time from the end of this week!
As we approach D-Day, I actually feel quite calm, serene in fact which, paradoxically, makes me feel a little nervous. I was expecting to be a bag of nerves and the fact that I'm not, makes me worry the eventual arrival could be a bigger shock to the system than even I expect.
In truth, much like in the build up to our wedding day, once you've organised everything and are merely waiting for the action to unfold, there's not actually much you can do to effect the outcome of things anyway.
I was much more stressed when, at the beginning of the pregnancy, it felt like there was a never ending list of things that needed to be bought, mended, cleared out, readied etc. trailing off into the distance. Now it's hard to remember the time when having a baby wasn't always just the way things were.
I'm not going to lie to anyone though, when I occasionally say to myself "You'll be a father in a month's time", I still get a brief swelling of panic that rises from the pit of my stomach and usually leaves unsociably out of my backside.
It soon passes though (literally) and I realise there's a very real possibility of my becoming one of those parents who go on and on and on and on about their darling little bundle of joy ad nauseum - something I'll be trying very hard to avoid especially as the vast majority of my friends are sans sproglet.
Having said that though, what amazes me is the excitement with which the news was greeted by friends who have been a fantastic calming influence.
When worrying about how my every action could influence my kid, it was a friend who wisely suggested that they will inevitably be the first to see faults in their parents character and usually do everything to avoid replicating those faults in their own personality.
From the personalised 'Mini McRae' cards to all the offers of babysitting, it's reassuring to know that friends will be there too, not just doing a runner at the first whiff of a soiled nappy.
It's enough to make me start feeling confident about this parenting lark again...that's a worry.
As we approach D-Day, I actually feel quite calm, serene in fact which, paradoxically, makes me feel a little nervous. I was expecting to be a bag of nerves and the fact that I'm not, makes me worry the eventual arrival could be a bigger shock to the system than even I expect.
In truth, much like in the build up to our wedding day, once you've organised everything and are merely waiting for the action to unfold, there's not actually much you can do to effect the outcome of things anyway.
I was much more stressed when, at the beginning of the pregnancy, it felt like there was a never ending list of things that needed to be bought, mended, cleared out, readied etc. trailing off into the distance. Now it's hard to remember the time when having a baby wasn't always just the way things were.
I'm not going to lie to anyone though, when I occasionally say to myself "You'll be a father in a month's time", I still get a brief swelling of panic that rises from the pit of my stomach and usually leaves unsociably out of my backside.
It soon passes though (literally) and I realise there's a very real possibility of my becoming one of those parents who go on and on and on and on about their darling little bundle of joy ad nauseum - something I'll be trying very hard to avoid especially as the vast majority of my friends are sans sproglet.
Having said that though, what amazes me is the excitement with which the news was greeted by friends who have been a fantastic calming influence.
When worrying about how my every action could influence my kid, it was a friend who wisely suggested that they will inevitably be the first to see faults in their parents character and usually do everything to avoid replicating those faults in their own personality.
From the personalised 'Mini McRae' cards to all the offers of babysitting, it's reassuring to know that friends will be there too, not just doing a runner at the first whiff of a soiled nappy.
It's enough to make me start feeling confident about this parenting lark again...that's a worry.
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