Waiting for Myrtle

I'm not sure exactly when we started referring to Little Ms. Hardcore's unborn baby as Myrtle. I was calling LMHC "Fertile Myrtle" for a while, and then when she found out she was having a girl, the name Myrtle just kind of stuck. Before that we were calling it the Gummi Bear, because that's what it most resembled in the ultrasound, and Myrtle is a better alternative, no?

Now that I'm off contract, waiting for Myrtle has become my full time job. ("Funny," LMHC said to me, "mine too"). Her official due date is May 17, but last Tuesday her doctor said she would come within the week. Clearly, her doctor was wrong. But we've all been preparing. LMHC packed her bag for the hospital, and Mama and Papa Hardcore drove from Denver to be with her. I contributed by starting a dollar pool at work to bet on when Myrtle would come into the world, and by freaking out every time the phone rings. Also, I bookmarked the hospital in my Maps iPhone app.

I've never had a close friend who had a baby before. I've never been at a birth, or held a newborn, or fainted from sympathy pains. So this whole experience will be very new to me, and I could not be more excited or impatient.

Come on, Myrtle! We want to meet you!