"Buddy" it is

Last night, as we were preparing to fall asleep, I remembered something I wanted to tell JB. I rolled over and said, "My Aunt Linda suggested we call the 'luvy' a 'buddy'!" Well JB loved it, said it was perfect, and quite an appropriate, fairly-masculine, but something our daughter could use too sorta phrase. So, thanks for all the advice as 'buddy' it is. John is very pleased and satisfied.

Jodi and Tiffany

Joia and Jodi

Last night, the wifia met for dinner at Guiseppi's Wharf for our monthly book club. We do this one Thursday a month although the last few have had nothing to do with any books as we always sort of forget to talk about books. Last night we finally did choose our next read. Since I was the only one who had read Angela's Ashes, the gang decided it would be a good next choice. So Angela's Ashes it is. It is always great fun to get together with the wives without their little guys in tow.

Having dinner with Jodi, Tiffany, and Joia (as well as Joia's friend Laura) reminded me just how blessed I am to have met such a wonderful group of women during my time here. I cannot imagine how unbelievably difficult intern year would have been without them here.

Tif was the first person I met here and being as she lives around the block, has been the gal I call for any emergency, question, or just period of boredom. She also has personal understanding of infertility as it has been very close to her family. This has allowed her, despite having a young son, to be able to understand and empathise with my journey without actually travelling it. I have been blessed by her honesty and compassion and her height! (It's always good to have a tall friend!) And she and her husband Matt also have a strong love and appreciation of JB's cooking which makes for some fun evenings. Their young son William has also managed to crawl into my heart pretty successfully. He is two but is already showing signs that he will be a comedian, just like his daddy.

Joia has never travelled the road of infertility but she is one of those ladies that just truly "gets it" without having gone through it. I remember that during the first few weeks we here, she stumbled onto my blog and took the time to send me an email helping to pad the distance I was creating between all the other wives with kids and my "lonely infertile self." That email truly helped me feel that even though I was different, I was welcome, and would be met with understanding. She has often thought ahead to a situation or activity that might have been too hard for me and acknowledged that it might cause me pain. She may not think much of this, but not many people are able to do that as quite honestly, we are all so caught up in our own lives that thinking about someone else's isn't often easy. But Joia has done it. She also loves to eat food of all sorts, especially desserts, as much as I do, and cooks them with mucho gusto!

Jodi was a blessing to me, initially, because she didn't have children. I was so relieved when I found out that at least one other woman in our wifia group did not have children. But her southern charm and willingness to help out any friend in need at any point is written all over her. She has been a Godsend in helping with Scrubs during our absences and is always up for any adventure that any of us want to take. If I called Jodi at any point in any day to request a lunch or walk or trip to the store, she'd be there in a heartbeat. She is one of those loyal friends you can always depend on.

Of course, there are other women in our wifia group as well: Andrea, Sarah, and Johanna that weren't there tonight and they are equal blessings but I decided to just talk about the three that I spent last evening with. New friends in a new place help pad the emptiness of old friends and your old lives more. But don't worry old friends -- you still rock!

In other news . . .

Barring baby's arrival, JB is going to swap call with Shannon this evening. He is going to take a Friday call tonight in exchange for a three day weekend in late May when we are sure baby will be here. I don't want him to be gone but know I will appreciate the extra time with him after Isaac gets here. So, I'll sacrifice now to benefit later.

I also got an email from Bri late last night. She is doing well. As she says, "There is nothing much to report except waiting." She feels like it will be very soon but other than that, we just wait for the call.

Don't worry, I will keep you all posted, and in my absence, my sister-in-law Gabbi has volunteered to keep the blog updated with details that I can't provide from the car on the way to the Fort Lauderdale or the hospital in Broward. Gabbi is quite efficient and entertaining and I have great confidence in her skills. :)