baby registry: Operation Baby a success

Spring ushers in sneezes, stuffy noses, puffy eyes and the famous yellow haze.

It also means rebirth, renewal and new life, which is appropriate because my husband and I just welcomed our new baby girl into the world.

The path to her arrival was long and arduous. We had a difficult time believing we would really bring home a healthy little one. I was afraid to “jinx” things, so I’ve spent the past nine months finding other things to write about.

But now that she’s here, I can gush about what a miracle she is and about how our lives turned into Operation Baby.

This little being began running our lives before she was even considering leaving her warm, cozy womb.

My dear husband approached preparation for her arrival like a field exercise. He had our hospital bags packed and ready to go six weeks in advance.

As a daddy-to-be, he conducted his own personal Daddy Boot Camp. He read the Boy Scout-like “Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads” cover to cover. Twice.

He prepared her sense of humor by telling her jokes — “Which branch of the military do babies join? The infantry.” — and started her on physical training, or PT, by playing whack-a-mole with her as she kicked.

Of course Operation Baby included lots of shopping, something Army guys don’t generally train for. And neither of us was prepared for the not-so-camouflaged “good parent” retail campaign.

(You know, the “you’ll-be-a-terrible-mother-if-you-don’t-use-a-wipe-warmer,” and “only-unfit-fathers-buy-the-least-expensive-diapers” messages.)

My love did enjoy waving the scanner gun around Babies “R” Us as we succumbed to the pressure and created a baby registry. But he disappeared somewhere around the stroller aisle.

He tried installing the car seat one day in my seventh month only to come in exhausted and harrumphing.

“I thought being a paratrooper prepared me to deal with belts, straps and buckles, but this thing is beyond me,” he lamented.

A few hours later he announced victory over the contraption and challenged the police inspector to, “Bring it on.” Unfortunately, the officer found the base slid more than an inch to the right and left, which required my ego-deflated hubby to try again.

After wrestling with the pack ’n play, the mobile and the bouncy seat, we overcame the bad parent feelings and decided to buy a gently used crib just so we wouldn’t have to figure out how to put it together, too.

Final preparations for Operation Baby kicked into overdrive when my water broke in the middle of the night. Having a few deadlines yet to meet, I worked for a couple of hours. (“You’ll never get any work done once she arrives!” everyone told me.)

My fabulous husband worked, too. He created a spreadsheet to time my contractions. Like any good Army brat, our beautiful girl arrived one day after her due date, ensuring that we know exactly who is in command at our house from now on.

Kelly Wright can receive messages at military@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3585.