Where has the time gone?

A bit late to the game. She's into her 14th week now and the baby bump won't stay hidden for much longer. We just announced it to my parents this past weekend. I made a complete mess of it, of course, but everyone is excited. I've already started making a list of things that we'll need and it's tiny so far, but no doubt it will grow as the due date nears. I can't imagine the amount of preparation we'll need to do. I planned most of our wedding and while I thought I had most of it done, my wife didn't think so. At this stage I know there's still a lot of planning to be done and it must just be the tip of the iceberg.

Somewhat luckily, a couple of friends recently had kids of their own. I suggested to my wife that she should ask them about the preparations that they made, and more specifically the hospital/doctor they chose. Again I can't help but feel that we're a bit late choosing the doctor. In any case we're not exactly too late and there is still quite a ways to go.

I would have to say that baby stuff is definitely something that you only think about and research when you need to, just like weddings. Although it would be weird to remember, things have change drastically since I was a baby myself. I can now check up on my baby from anywhere in the world using my smartphone. My brothers and I had to settle with being heard over staticky radio. The sheer amount of baby products is overwhelming: just choosing the stroller and carseat will probably require months of research. Of course this is the age of crowdfunding and registries so we might at least be able to afford some of the stuff. I would hope that some friends can chip in and gift us some of these items. 

What would I do if I had access to a 24/7 webcam pointed directly at my child? I think that I would be like many parents, if not all, and have a tiny video stream in the corner of my computer monitor while I work. I also think that I could survive without the stream but I would be supremely disappointed if we didn't manage to secure one as a gift.

I think that's enough dreaming for now. There's much work to be done and I want to be the one to do it.