high fidelity

this is a blog about how much i love ted. i've been thinking about how to compose this entry for about a week now, and i still can't decide how to start. so i'll begin twice.

first, some words from that lyrical boy band, modest mouse:
'you're the places that i wanted to go.'

second, an anecdote from last week:
i had my 28 week midwife appointment last tuesday, which was the visit during which i had bloodwork to test for gestational diabetes, anemia, and because we live in north carolina, syphilis. this involved drinking a pretty disgusting red beverage exactly one hour before my blood was drawn. ted has been to all of my appointments so far, and he wants to come to all the rest, but i thought the prospect of blood being involved this time might put him off.

not so.

when i got home that afternoon to drink my drink, he was scarfing down tacos like there was no tomorrow. preparing for what could have been a long visit without any hope of food, he was strategically eating a hefty snack to get him through the next few hours. we ended up leaving really early for the appointment in order to get there on time. this of course involved waiting forever to get called in for the bloodwork. when i was finally called, ted headed down the hall with me and was going to go into the room, but they told him that i would be sent back out to the waiting room before the midwife saw us, so he trooped back out there to wait.

now, if you know ted, you know that he can't stand needles or the sight of blood. it's not even a really funny joke to play on him because his reaction is so strong. trust me, i learned this the hard way with frozen cherries.

i'm still impressed that he was willing to be so near a procedure that makes him so uncomfortable. after two tries to get my blood (the first puncture mysteriously closed), we made our way back to the examination room, only to be forgotten briefly by the midwife. after being measured and hearing the baby's heartbeat and listening to incessant anecdotes (this is the midwife we're not fond of; can you tell?), jordan and i were once again pronounced in good health. ted and i left in search of delicious fizzy drinks and made our way eastward to durham.

i appreciate so much that he goes on these visits with me, not only to share in the celebratory drink afterwards, but to be there every time we hear jordan's heart pumping away. it's never convenient to swing over to chapel hill for an hour during the work week, but ted continues to do it, and i'm so grateful to him.

he also does this fantastic, quotidian thing: when i get home, or when he stops playing 'bioshock,' he asks me how i am *and* how jordan is. this kid may be parasitically sucking up all the nutrients in my body, but ted recognizes that we are in some ways separate beings and can have separate kinds of days, even though we inhabit the same elastic expanse of skin.

there are millions of other reasons i love ted, and not all of them have to do with his impressive ability to be paternal and my best pal at the same time. for instance, i also love how he dances like a deranged hobbit in order to induce me to dance with him like a slightly more normal, but ever-so-white person, at dance-friendly events. i love that he thinks he's tested out of birth classes. i love that he doesn't begrudge jordan for having nicer stuff than he has. and i love that he insisted that this tiny baby have excellent bose speakers to listen to whenever music is necessary, which is often. high fidelity for sure.