Enjoying the Silence

I just put my wife to bed; she stayed up late tonight.

During the first trimester, a woman's body is adjusting to the new life forming inside of her. My future baby, which by now is a robust 1.2 centimeters long, is growing at an astronomical rate. And of all the ways in which my wife will change - her hormones, her demeanor, her physical shape - we are well into the first change: she is tired.

Now, my wife could sleep before she was pregnant. For her, napping is an artform, something to be practiced, explored, and relished. But my non-pregnant wife would stand in awe of my pregnant wife.

Between the little body growing inside of her, sapping her strength, and breaking a caffeine addiction, my wife sleeps often. Her average bedtime has been 9 pm the past few weeks (to which another pregnant friend of mine admired, "wow, how does she stay up so late?"

On weekends, napping takes up most free time prior to Sunday at 6 pm. Granted, she can stay up if she chose to. But if there is no valid reason, why bother.

This frees me up a bit.

I've busied myself in this time by playing video games, writing on this here blog, catching up on television, reading, and generally being a couch potato.

It's ironic: on the verge of the most life-changing experience, my wife's body is easing us into the transition by giving us what we both have enjoyed, more sleep for her, more lazy quiet time for me.

I guess that's Life's little way of saying in that soothing voice, "Hey, I know this is gonna be tough, so enjoy a little forced downtime, on me. I know it'll get frustrating and will curtail your usual nighttime habits, but it's ok, just relax. Let the peace and quiet surround you."

And you know what, it is relaxing - the nights in, the lazy Saturdays, the general calm and quiet, all of it.

And somewhere, Life is chuckling, wearing a smile so broad that the curls of each lip puts a squint in the eye. "Enjoy it now, my friends," Life is saying, "because it will never be this quiet again."