Kicking up a Storm

Wow, this past few days the little fellow has been making his presence very much felt. I have felt movement - and even some muffled kicks - for a few weeks, but usually I have to be focusing to feel much of anything. But now that's changing, because as I go about my day, not thinking about the little Poppet too much I get a quick, sharp reminder that he is very much there.

Yesterday, during a meeting (about the tenth of the day), I was sat there with 12 other faculty discussing many pressing issues(!) and all of a sudden Poppet started to move and move and move. And in this very public forum of this large meeting, I thought how wonderful it was that I was having this very, very private moment with my little son (yikes, that's the first time I've really used the word 'son'.. makes me want to call him 'Sunny', or something).

Then, this morning, around 3am, I woke up for my twentieth run to the loo that night, and when I got to bed he was once again kicking, kicking, kicking! these weren't little flutter kicks that one can mistake for gas, these were little thumps that made it all but impossible to get back to sleep.

It is very, very surreal when I step back and reflect on what's going on, to think that there's a little person forming in there. Indeed a little person who has formed - but is just working on getting bigger.

This time is beginning to go really fast. And we don't have a single thing!

Nursery Themes Part 2

... so I am now starting to feel quite anxious that I didn't even THINK about stuff such as should the bedding and bumper be organic, should the dyes be natural, should the nursery be green...

And with those thoughts my image of the nursery is changing. I have been thinking about making sure the mattress is toxic-free, etc., and my sense is that I ought to do the same with the bedding. Organic bedding tends to be less bright and cheery - which is actually more my cuppa tea, and Linda could do some wonderful murals on the wall to brighten things up a bit.

These are the ones I've just found... and quite like (and won't break the bank)

I am quite partial to the willow set, which might be a nice backdrop for trees and woodland animals on the wall...

Nursery Themes

Another snow-day here in Maine, and I am really, really ready for winter to be over. And then I remember that I'll be VERY pregnant come June/July, and I am feeling nervous about the heat, the swelling.. yes, the rather large tummy :) But, before I have to contend with that we have our Florida vacation on the horizon!

We can't wait... 7 days on the Gulf Coast, doing nothing but reading, relaxing, playing tennis, swimming, hiking, and sitting on the balcony watching the sunset. And EVEN if the weather wasn't too wonderful, anything has to be better than these frigid temperatures and the mountains of snow we're dealing with.

While we're there we'll be thinking hard about nursery themes! I realize that this is all for ME, especially since we'll likely co-sleep or, in the very least, the baby will be in with us. But the thought of a nursery is just lovely, to me at least! So we're thinking of 'themes' - something to orient the room, something bright and colourful.

Or... maybe neutral and organic :)

I rather like these safari animals



Our friend, Linda, is a wonderful artist and she's offered to paint us a mural... which would be super. But what to do... The other thought is more of a woodland theme.



Would love your ideas...

Poppet on Film

Our new i-mac arrived yesterday! I wanted to upload a bit of video of poppet's scan last week, but couldn't work out how to do it. I found a very inefficient way with the new computer. We have almost an hour of DVD but I've just uploaded a few minutes. Warning: it is not terribly exciting :)

Misc.

HI everyone! Thanks for your input re: names. What a difficult decision. For the past few days, Rich and I have been practicing calling future poppet a specific name. Some names - which I just adore - don't seem quite to fit. I imagine our little kiddo to be both gentle and feisty, and certainly we want a name which connotes some spirit. And of course a name which fits such criteria must also be a name that is not 'too out there', not too common in the US or UK, but a name that fits both cultures. On top of that we want a name that isn't too snobby, too pretentious... and thus the list goes on.

We have it narrowed down to a few nicknames we like... Raffy/Ravi, Theo/Ted... and we're looking at longer, more adult names to attach them to. So far we really like Rafael. To be honest, it's far from our favourite name, but it's the name that so far seems to fit - especially with the Raffy nickname. We've been referring to Poppet as Raffy for the past couple of days, and I must admit that it sounds quite right.

But do keep those names coming...!!

In other news: I had my 20 week appointment today. Everything is looking very good. I've gained just over 7 pounds, my BP was 102/78, and when Deb measured by tummy it was right to my navel, exactly where it should be!1 I am amazed how much the body can care for itself even when it is being horribly sick all the time... and I am still very sick when I don't take my zofran (I discovered this the hard way when I ran out of my prescription on Monday... and thus didn't take any yesterday).

The Poppet is weighing 11oz! When I compared this to average weights at 19 weeks (the date of the scan) I discovered that the norm is around 8oz. 11oz is more in line with a 21week babe. I am of course worried that this little fellow is going to be a huge bruiser!!

Whilst all the blood work, etc. has been great, it looks as though I'll be referred to a high risk OB just to keep a check on my lupus status. I had an appointment with the rheumatologist last week who seemed to just think that I was experiencing skin lupus, and that nothing systemic was going on... and thus he didn't seem worried, but when having my ultrasound at the perinatologist's last week, they advised me to get a referral to their office. I am a little hesitant about it because it no doubt increases the chance of more interventions. But Deb said she'd speak to them... I trust her implicitly to look out for my wishes. The one thing that may end up happening, though, is that I deliver at Maine Med as opposed to Mercy. I am hopeful that it won't be necessary, though.

There were many things I was going to blog about, but I truly spend much of my day wandering around in a pregnancy fog. I must write about this... a phenomenon which involves me losing the ability to recall simple vocabulary, where my short term memory has all but disappeared, and where my motivation to work has ceased to exist.

Oh well, will try to remember what I wanted to say - tomorrow!

Boy Names...

Still feeling a bit shell-shocked about there being a little boy on his way... but just as excited as one can be. I was at the gym yesterday, watching the kids in childcare playing in the gym. One little brown-haired little boy - perhaps around 2ish - was wandering around, his little mouth slightly agape, watching the older kids playing around him. He was a little wobbly on his feet, a little lost, even, and ever so often he would have a go at kicking a ball. Then he would go back to watching everyone else... mouth open, sort of bewildered. And I though. 'there's our boy'.

We're definitely getting more used to the idea... though the references to 'him', 'his', 'he', etc. still bring about a shudder of shock!

But, the biggest thing that we're trying to contend with is a NAME! Since I had no expectation that we'd have a boy I didn't think seriously about names. I just came up with a list I sort of liked, not too much thought, honestly, and now we're stuck. not one name stands out... and we seem to have 'rules' or preferences which preclude some fairly decent names.

Here are some of the issues...

I don't like 'C' names. Rich doesn't want a name with a Royal connection (goodbye Charlie and Harry), neither of us is overly keen on Gaelic names, and we don't want a name that is too common, too posh, too 'out there', or 'too ordinary'. Oh, and a name not too masculine....

We seem to like Hebrew/Arabic names.. but need to find that goes with Oliver-Campbell.

We like names which give rise to nicknames... Nicknames we like are Sam, Raffy/Raffa, Eddie, Mac, etc.

Joel, a colleague at work, was telling me how in Japan an Uncle usually names the child, giving a name with certain meanings which the child grows up, hopefully, to embody. We rather like that idea.,,

So, friends, family (if any of you are reading) and readers... suggestions? Girls are so much easier! here's our list.. generated as I flipped through the baby name book last night.

Rafael - One Who is Healed By God (Hebrew)
Rafferty - One Who Wields Prosperity (Gaelic)
Rafi - One who is Exalted (Arabic)
Josiah - God Will Help (Hebew)
Issac - Full of Laughter (Hebrew)
Hugh - Having a Bright Mind (German)
Elias - Jehovah is my God (Hebrew)
Ravi - From the Sun (Hindi)
Xavier - Owner of a New House(!) (Basque/Arabic)
Ezra - a helper (Hebrew)
Sami - Arabic (One who has been exalted)
Samuel - Hebrew (God has heard)
Leo - Latin (resembling a lion)
Theo(dore) Greek (Gift from God)
Eben - As solid as a rock (Hebrew)

And it's a...

Hi everyone,

well, today was a pretty exciting day! We had out ultrasound at 8am. We had the sonographer we requested (the lovely Russian Dr.) and we bought a DVD to tape the ultrasound. We gave the Dr. an envelope with a pink and blue card in it. We asked her to place the 'right' card in the envelope so we could open it when we left. We asked not to be told during the scan... She was very lovely about it and asked if we would like a picture of the baby in with it. Lovely, we thought.

The scan was very thorough. Almost an hour.. perhaps even a little bit longer. She explained everything. Right from the beginning we could see a wonderful shot of the baby. The babe was lying on the placenta with their head nicely cushioned.. and, oh, so cute, the babe began to suck their thumb!! I had no idea that this sort of thing happened so quickly! What a clever baby :)






All the measurements were within normal ranges, and, in fact, everything looked perfect. The baby is measuring about a week ahead... almost 20 weeks. When it came to looking at the sex she told us to look away... We told her how we were certain it was a girl.

At the end she gave us the card and Rich and I went to a lovely little restaurant for brunch. I'm not sure how we withstood opening the card as we drove the short distance... but we did. We even managed to wait until our food arrived, though by this point I was beside myself with excitement.

A few pics of the big moment....

Some anticipatory angst...









This is the moment I spy the blue card... complete and utter shock. There was not one part of me that thought we might have a boy!!!!!









Yep, that's right, it's a.....