Sunday, April 24, 2011

Ah, to be 21 and clueless...

Some people just make you feel old. During my pregnancy, people would ask, "Is this your first?" which made me realize that I was no longer a young 21-year old buck. And, it wasn't wildly inappropriate to think that I might have more than one child at the age of 27.

At the hospital, we encountered a few student nurses who had this same ability for reminding me that I was no longer partying on Water Street.

Some student nurses were amazing - I couldn't even tell they were students because of their undeniable confidence. Other students barged into the room, fumbled with papers and were generally a slow, hot mess. One nurse was so out of it - I felt so bad for her that I tried my best to make her feel comfortable. I was her first c-section patient and I literally heard her hold her breath as she examined my scar. (Girl, pull it together!) 

While she was in the room doing God knows what, Dan asked if I had used my breathalyzer (his term for a breathing devise the doctors had me use throughout the day to improve my lung capacity following the operation). Our student nurses paused and timidly said "It's really funny that he called it a breathalyzer."    From her delivery and tone, I could tell it was funny that he - this new old dad called it a breathalyzer - instead of the actual reference being slightly humorous. Then it hit me...

We are in a hospital. We just had a baby. Therefore, we are old, uncool and it's shocking to think that we get hammered or are any fun.

This same student nurse had to make a house visit to check on Ingrid and I a week later. She arrived with two giggly friends in tow, asked a series of vague questions and they all couldn't get over "how laid back we all were about the new baby!"

I get it. A baby at 21 would really mess up their plans for a career and a life. Then, I realized how thankful I am to have these "good ol days" behind me. The days of drinking cheap liquor four nights a week, sleeping four hours a night, eating junk and overspending are over. Thankfully, they have been replaced with drinking good vodka a few nights a month, cherishing sleep, finding the pleasure in cooking and eating well, in general - having fun being a boring adult with a new baby.

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