#twitterbirth - the birth of a social media baby

contractions have already started (5:15 CST). #twitterbirth

With that post I began the process of updating the twitterverse on the pending arrival of Torry and my new son, Logan. In addition to keeping a running journal on twitter of short updates I continually updated my Facebook status for our friends and family.

Why did I do this? I am not really sure.

It helped calm my nervous tension - it helped connect so many people to one of the biggest moments of our lives - it gave us something else to focus on - it gave me a personal log of how I was feeling at any given time during the 23 hour process - and there is a lot of downtime in that 23 hour process.

But in truth, to me the biggest point was the connectivity. I was able to push out messages and emotional status and I had many people (mostly on Facebook) thanking me for the updates - I am sure there were just as many wanting me to shut up, but the great thing about social media is that you don't have to act on a conversation unless you want to.

I first became aware of the #twitterbirth hashtag on August 7 in a post from @icelander as he and his wife were preparing for the birth of their child. I thought it was a cool idea so I decided to give it a try - if it seemed odd or intrusive I would have stopped - but it didn't, it was actually pretty fun.

In the process I also read about other people in the twitter world having babies at the same time, some examples were @kellytirman and the birth in the first family of twitter @ev and @sara.

There are so many uses for social media, but in the end it is about connecting people and sharing what is important or valuable to you - to me, the birth or #twitterbirth of Logan is as important as it gets.

Welcome to the world Logan, you have a great big brother in Bailey and the worlds greatest mother. I am already in love.

The Fears of the Father

Any time in the next month, Torry (wife), Bailey (son) and I will be welcoming a new baby into our lives. This moment, of course, has brought a lot of excitement into our house. Bailey cannot wait to be a big brother, which is a role I know will suit him perfectly. Torry, although the pregnancy has been tough, is already in nesting mode and is so ready for this. Me, I am excited, but I am scared beyond description.

When Bailey was born just about anything that could be different was different. He is eight years old now, and Torry and I were 24 and 25 years old respectively when he was born. We lived the typical suburban life, even at that age. Both of us were employed and pretty fresh in our careers. For us everything was new, it was all exciting in a way most young parents can relate to.

Over the years Torry and I progressed in our careers, Bailey spent a lot of time in daycare and eventually moved on to Kindergarten and now is preparing for third grade. We have made a couple of significant moves, to Fishers, IN and then to our current location in downtown Chicago. Basically, the last eight years have been a whirlwind. But now, everything is different, but not in a bad sense.

We are living in a city environment and are out of the ‘burbs. Torry has put her career on hold and is doing a great job as a stay at home mother and care giver. Bailey now has a full time parent at his disposal, as will baby number two. And I am eight years older, and I feel every one of those years in my now out-of-shape body.

In those eight years we have experienced the horrible events of 9/11, we have seen our once strong economy decay, we are also more aware of the impact that each one of us has on the environment – it is just a different world to bring a child into. Add to the fact that we are living in Chicago and not the vinyl suburbs and the anxiety level rises. It is just an entirely different ballgame this time around.

In the end, I wouldn’t change our decision to add to our family for anything in the world. I know I am going to lose control of situations, but that is just part of the journey. It is going to be a crazy ride, and fear is a part of that, but I am glad to be taking it with Torry and Bailey.