Pre-dadhood - 2 months to go and counting

Today is January 8, 2018. I've recently turned 48.

In about 2 months I'm going to be a dad. There's a bit more to it, though. I'm going to be a stay at home dad. Where I am now is the culmination of a life that has taken more twists and turns than I can possibly imagine. My girlfriend suggested I offer a youtube channel that talked about the experience of becoming a dad. I found out very quickly that this face and voice are not necessarily Youtube friendly. Instead, I'm going back to the blog I started ages ago. Same old Blogger, new topic. I've got a music blog, and a ranting blog, but this should be different I simply want to share the experiences and changes that have happened and what I"ll be going through. If this helps even one person, then it will have been worth it.

As I type this, I've got my laptop on my lap desk, iTunes burning a CD, and a game running on my ipad. Today was an adderall day, so I'm somewhat more motivated than usual.

To avoid rambling too much, I'll try to simply summarize events that led me to where I am now. I can elaborate in the future if there are any questions.

I'm living with my girlfriend. We've been together a few years. Due to a recent medical issue, she had to discontinue her birth control medication. We had both given up on the idea of ever having kids, deciding our lives just were not heading in that direction.

After a discussion of the medical change and the opportunity to try to get pregnant, we did, and we were successful. Around this same time, my back problems went from bad to severe. I have since had to leave my job nearly completely, simply getting a few hours by doing some office work for them.

Mandy, my girlfriend, has been very insistent that I cease working as soon as possible. From a physical standpoint, she is stating the obvious. Because of my back, I cannot perform my job properly. It's been agreed that I will continue the office calls through her maternity leave, or until they find a replacement. Once she goes back to work, I'll be an official stay at home dad.

I'm nervous and excited. I've never so much as handled an infant but once. My girlfriend is awesome, and supportive, and doing everything she can to make me feel like everything will be OK. Disability is being pursued for me, but the flaws in our system are delaying that as expected. We did a gofundme to help with medical bills, and the remaining funds are being doled out slowly to ensure every doctor gets a piece every month.

It's going to be a long an interesting trip. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.