Conversation With Emily #238190

A little background first.

Background piece #1.  About six weeks ago, I was at home having a night of shallow sleep.  Emily was in her hospital bed, 15 miles away from home, allowing the menagerie full access to Emily's side of the bed.  As I went from being mostly asleep to very awake, I realized I had been sleep-contemplating pregnancy and all the complications that come from it.  And in this light sleep-deep thoughts mode, I wondered why the most important part of how we propagate our species is also the most fragile and complex.

So when I reached the point where I was fully awake, I found myself sitting fully upright in bed saying quite loudly, "Pancho, intelligent design, my ass."

For someone whose sleep thoughts are usually verbalized with statements like "that's horseshit" (according to Emily), this was pretty profound stuff coming from me.

Consequently whatever twist and turn each day brings in our journey with Charlotte, I will often remark, "intelligent design, my ass."

Background piece #2.  Emily's cousin Laurie informed us that when you change your baby's diaper and wipe her bum, the wiping motion stimulates the baby to poop again.

Conversation #238190
Sitting in the NICU with Charlotte.

Me: Man that is messed up.  Why would wiping a butt make a baby poop more?  There's no good reason for that.  That is one unintelligent design.

Emily: Well it's not like that happens with grown-ups, so that's pretty smart.

That made me laugh.  It also reminded me of when Emily wondered what the world would be like if adults cried when they were hungry, just like babies do.  Like she said, afternoon rush hour would be hilarious.  All these grown-ups sitting in cars all alone, stuck in traffic, crying their unintelligently designed asses off.