9 months ago at my grandfather’s funeral my sister told me she was pregnant.  Tonight she is headed to the hospital in labor.  I don’t think I’ll sleep a wink.  It’s like Christmas eve as a kid, except as an adult about to meet my first niece or nephew, I know the gift is so much more exciting than what Santa brought down the chimney.  Last time I felt like this was the night before Kevin and I bought our first house.  Both are once in a lifetime experiences that just make me giddy with joy, and if you know me, you know I am not the joyful type.

I wish for so many things for my little niece or nephew.  Can you believe it’s the 11th hour and no one knows if it’s a boy or girl?  We have a large betting pool going with guesses on sex, date of birth, and weight. If it’s a 9 pound 2 ounce girl born January 20th, Kevin stands to make $80.  Of course if he does, I will make him give it to the baby’s college fund. He will want to keep it for silly things like 8-bit Nintendo game downloads on Wii.

I hope my little niece or nephew sees more of the world than I’ve seen.  I hope he or she sees advances in science and technology that I can only dream of now.  I pray he or she genuinely likes the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, light beer, and peanut butter bacon rollups.  I hope he or she finds true friends that can be trusted with middle school secrets and not losing wedding rings on the big day.  I hope he or she knows his or her cousins well, my kids future included.

I am waiting for the best call I’ve ever gotten from my sister.  The one where she tells me the rest of the story she started 9 months ago.