What's in a Name?

A lot, apparently.

These days, that's all anyone wants to know about this baby. What will we name her? We don't have a clue.

Neither one of us wants her name to be ordinary. We don't want to give her a name that's already taken by someone in our families, someone with whom we work, with whom we have had a past relationship, etc. That knocks out about three-quarters of the good names right there. Her Dad wants a unique sounding name, I'd like to name her something that's not too girlie-girl or too masculine. Her Dad's last name ends with the long "e" sound, so I have ruled out any first names that end that way as well. She has thus far proven to be a fighter, so I'd like to find a name that means "feisty" or "one who overcomes."

I'm thinking about pulling out the ol' Latin dictionary and making up my own name. When I say that out loud, however, I get all sorts of looks. Why can't you make up your own name?

Perhaps we should just put off naming her and let her pick her own name. After all, I think we have six or seven years to come up with one.

Just kidding everyone. Calm down.

My prediction is that a night or two before she enters this world, I'll have a dream in which the perfect name will come to me. Of course, if I keep dreaming about food, she might end up with something like "Krispy Kreme" or "Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese." I wonder if she would mind that.

It's a Girl!

Wow, am I behind!

We had our first "official" doctor's appointment in April and found out that we are having a little girl. There was no mistaking that shot on the ultrasound, although Dad got as close to the screen as possible just to make sure no one had missed a penis in there somewhere.

She was a little uncooperative during the first appointment and the ultrasound had to be finished before our second appointment, which was just a couple weeks ago. She finally rolled over so they could get a good shot of her spine and better views of her heart. The technician surprised us with some 4D shots of her as well. That was amazing! It was in real time and you could see that she was trying to suck her thumb. At one point, she actually had one of those not-really-a-smile-but-it-still-looks-like-a-smile smiles on her face. The detail in those 4D shots was amazing. I think she has my nose.

Everything is going splendidly, except for the massive amount of swelling I am experiencing in my legs, ankles, and feet. I work in a factory and am on my feet for at least eight hours a day. My doctor has recommended compression stockings, but I am trying like heck to find other ways to prevent and deal with the swelling. It's hot enough at work as it is without the added heat compression stockings would add.

The baby, whom we still affectionately call Howie, is the most active baby I have ever carried. She is awake about eighty percent of the day. She's got more moves than Walter Payton! It's a good thing, I suppose, until you're trying to eat or relax and your insides are being used for kickboxing practice. The doctor said he thought she weighed just over a pound, but I forgot to ask him how long he thought she was. I don't have a lot of room for a hefty baby, but all my babies have been really long.

We have started a pool of sorts with family members as to when we all think she'll make her appearance. The doctor is expecting her in the early to middle part of September, but I think she'll wait a little longer than that. She'll come when she's good and ready.

Coming up with a name is proving difficult. Every name we come up with either already belongs to someone in our family or can be rhymed with something--um--inappropriate. (Dad is a little freaked out about having a girl. He remembers what he was like as a young man and it's scaring the royal crap out of him. I think it's cute.) We did find about three names we really like, but can't come up with any great middle names to go with them.

Other than that, not much going on. My youngest son is going through a rough patch. It's a long, ugly story and perhaps I'll get into it the next time. We're back to working five days a week after only working three or four days a week every other week since the new year and that's good news. The humidity didn't take long to rear it's moist head and that's bad news, but what can you do about the weather. Oh yeah, and Jeff Gordon is leading in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points. Woohoo!

Okay, I'm off to find some roomier pants. Howie is apparently feeling the need to jazzercise or something. Go, Howie, go!

"Howie"

I never expected my first prenatal visit for this pregnancy to be in the emergency room, but there we were--on St. Patrick's Day no less--sitting in room number 7, waiting for what I thought would be horrible news. I've given birth to three healthy babies, but I did lose one between child number two & three. I was about as far along as I was on St. Patty's Day when I miscarried, so I was trying to prepare myself for the worst. I remembered all too well what miscarriage was like. Although this started out a little differently and I wasn't having the pain I'd had with the other, I just couldn't let myself get my hopes up.

This baby had been a long time coming (over three years), and with my age (late thirties) I had already decided that this would be my last. We'd found out in January we were expecting and the baby had affectionately been nicknamed "Howie." Now I wasn't sure if we would ever meet Howie face to face.

After a few routine tests, a nurse popped in and asked us if anyone had been by to take us for an ultrasound. I could not imagine seeing my lifeless baby on a computer screen, but a few minutes later a nurse was wheeling me down to ultrasound. As much as I dreaded what might come next, I think my boyfriend was dreading it more. This is his first child. He had absolutely no idea what to expect.

While the ultrasound tech prepared the equipment, I took a big breath and held it. Have you ever experienced a moment in your life where time seemed to slow down--where you were so focused on one particular thing that the building could have fallen down around you and you wouldn't even have noticed? This was one of those moments for me.

Just as the transducer touched my belly, I could see Howie. He was all curled up in a tiny little ball, facing away from us. The tech moved the transducer ever so slightly to my right and I could see his little heart. I'll never forget that moment as long as I live. Howie's little heart was there alright--beating away just as it should be. I couldn't hold my emotions in any longer. I started to bawl like a baby. My boyfriend, not having ever seen an ultrasound before, didn't know whether I was crying out of joy or sorrow. Poor guy was standing there, holding my hand, looking at the computer screen trying to figure out why I was having an emotional meltdown.

I gathered myself together as best I could and explained to my boyfriend that we were looking at our baby, alive and well. That's when he lost it. The tech must have realized at that point that we had been facing the possibility that this would not be such a joyous occasion. That's when she offered us both tissues and started to point out everything as it showed up on the screen.

Howie was upside down (which didn't surprise either of us--we're both sort of upside down people, too), hanging out with his legs crossed at the ankles. He sure didn't like being squished by that transducer. He was kicking at it Kung Fu-style every chance he got. What a relief! The tech didn't see any abnormalities anywhere. Howie's got all his fingers and toes, both arms and legs, and everything else he should have. Of course, we won't know whether he's really a "Howie" or a "Howie-ette" for a few more weeks, but for now, he's just our little Howie.

As I write this, we are about 15 weeks along. Howie is currently awake and practicing his Kung Fu again. I wonder if he's still upside down or if he realizes yet how much he's loved. Hopefully that will be our only scare and the rest of the pregnancy will go along as smoothly as possible.

Hang in there, Howie! We can't wait to meet you!