14 Weeks to Go

That statement right up there shocks me. For some reason this week when my 26 week newsletter from BabyCenter rolled in, the most shocking part was seeing 14 more weeks to go. That seems like to little.

And it should make sense to me that time will fly now. It always does in the 3rd trimester (which I'm only 2 weeks from). And I know how fast it always seems to be from the first of the year to Zachariah's birthday at the beginning of March. It sneaks up on me every year. I think I'm ready, then it's here so soon. This little one is due at the end of March, so why should it be any less sneaky of a date.

The big deal this week was going to take my gestational diabetes 1 hour glucose test. I think I told you about them making me do this really early on. I didn't make it through the test, because I couldn't keep the liquid down. They gave up on that, used my fasting blood sugar number (I still don't know the number & am really curious...I think it's probably not high at all) and decided to put me on a blood sugar medication anyway. It's supposed to help regulate things. Still all my doctors seemed to think I was at a high risk for gestational diabetes. They look at my size, age (I am quite a bit older than I was for my last pregnancy), and the large size of my first baby. This all makes them think gestational diabetes...even though I did not have it last time either.

I was really nervous about doing the test, mostly because I didn't want to deal with having gestational diabetes. (I know plenty of people who have had it, and it's not a big deal. I just didn't want one more thing to worry about, you know.) So when a local number I didn't know popped up on my phone later in the day, I figured it was the doctor's office. I was surprised they'd have results that quickly. I was afraid to answer.

I did answer. It was the doctor's office, they had results. A nurse informed me that they got my lab results. Everything looked good, but I'm a little anemic. What!!?? That's it! Whew! That was a big sigh of relief. I took iron supplements last time, and it's not a big deal. I can deal with that. Yay for no gestational diabetes! You can't believe how relieved I was to hear that. It also kind of wants me to say "Ha ha, told you." to all of my doctors. (Is that bad?)

You'll also be happy to know that my last OB appointment set me at ease about the elevated blood pressure. I am taking medication for it, and apparently now that I'm on it they can still increase it by 6 times (!) before I'm maxed out. Good to know, and it relaxes them and should help the rest of the pregnancy.

So, it looks like things are going well. I'm glad to just have some calm and nothing to worry about. Well, that is unless you consider getting bedrooms switched and ready and all the other things I have to do in the next few months something to worry about. For now I won't.

The Name Game

*Updated to add another of my newest favorite names.*

After reading Sara's baby name post today, I kind of want to talk names a little more for our little guy. Sara is due exactly 1 day before me (and my last ultrasound actually dated me one day ahead), so now I feel really behind.

A little family naming history and thoughts:

I should state up front that most of the names I discuss are one's I've thought about. Matt has not approved or vetoed my list yet.

Matt and I have a difficult time picking out names. We tend to agree more quickly on girls' names, but obviously that has never helped us. I remember going back and forth just like this last time. So far we've both thrown out names that the other mostly shoots down. This has gone both ways. And every name that Zachariah has mentioned, one or the other of us has said no. (It's pretty cute watching Zachariah get involved in the discussions. We've tried to explain that we likely won't rely on his opinion in this matter, but it's fun to hear what he has to say.)

I'd say that our naming style leans towards traditional/biblical. I know when most people see our names- Matt(hew) and Sarah, plus our son's name- Zachariah, they think biblical/religious. That was never our intention. We truly just fell in love with the name Zachariah without really thinking about the religious connotations. That said, we are a Christian family who is very involved in our church, and of course knowing this name has some biblical significance was a nice bond. But I'm not against other names. However, I feel we will have to stick with traditional/biblical, so this name will fit with our strong Zachariah.

Matt's name is Matthew Charles. Charles is his father's name. His brother's middle name is the same as his father's middle name. Our first son is Zachariah Matthew, in the same sort of tradition. If I followed that tradition, our second son would be named Firstname Charles Lastname. While I wouldn't be against honoring Matt's dad like this (or Matt for that matter), I feel like I'm leaving my dad out in the mix. Plus Matt's sister gave her son the middle name Charles, so the name has been honored in the family already.

I wouldn't mind honoring our fathers, but feel I'd have to do both. My dad's name, Mark, just doesn't work well with our last name. They both are 1 syllable and end in "k". It just sounds too abrupt to my ears. If I use Charles Mark Lastname, it honors both dads and flows better. But that means our son will have the same First and Last name as my father-in-law. It's not a bad thing, but I think it would be a bit confusing. Plus Charles isn't a name I would normally choose for my baby.

At this point my preference is that the baby's middle name be after someone in my family. It would either be Mark (after my dad) or John (after my only deceased grandfather). I'm leaning towards John.

Names that have been mentioned:

Here are some names that I've considered for first name position. I'm not completely in love with all of these names, but they are starter ideas.

• Carter
• Ezra
• Harrison
• Isaac
• Isaiah
• Joel
• Josiah
• Tyler
• Lincoln
• Nolan
• Simon
• Peter
• *Daniel

So far Matt has said no to Joel and Josiah. He doesn't like anything that sounds like "Joe". He thinks Ezra (which was one of my first favorites, but I'm losing it now) is too "girly" sounding. Most of the rest he hasn't said anything, or I haven't share with him yet.

Zachariah's current pick is Leo. I don't mind it, but Matt doesn't like it at all.

Matt's pick is Johann. Johann Peter to be exact. While I didn't think badly of it at first, it's really rubbed me the wrong way. It would be pronounced "Yo-han", and I think that would be a little too "uppity". He was looking at names in his German heritage like Johann, Franz, Conrad, and some others. I said no to pretty much all of them.

How we name:

This list is not the end. I have a feeling it's only the beginning. I really want to pull some more ideas and thoughts out of Matt. I don't have any strong favorites at this point. I'm hoping we'll com across a few that work for us.

With Zachariah, and with this one too, I didn't want to name the baby until I saw him. We went into the delivery room with 3 favorites, which all worked with Matthew as the middle name. Last time our list was Jamin, Zachariah, and Ryan. We both agreed on all of them, but the first was my pick and my favorite. When he was born one of the nurses said, "What are you going to name this big boy? He needs a big, strong name." I knew right away she was right, and Jamin just did not suit him at all. He was a whopping 9 lbs 11 oz and needed a sturdy name. Zachariah just suited him.

I'm glad that I waited to meet him to make the final decision. Otherwise we would have scrambled to choose something else since my top choice didn't work.

We did not tell our family or friends all of our favorite names. I remember throwing a few of our ideas out to my mom, but I never gave any indication of what we might choose from those. It kept the opinions down. So when our baby was born, we presented them with the name at that time. It was his.

I'd like to take the same approach this time. I would like to have a few top names or name combinations (if we don't completely settle on a middle name before that). Then I want to name our baby when we first meet him.

Opinions:

OK, I've shared a LOT here. I think I needed to get it all out. Out of the names I've mentioned what do you like? Or do you have other ideas based on these here? I'd love to hear them. I'm open to anything.

Personality Preview

I'm curious about something. This is my second pregnancy, so of course I compare it to my first.

This baby boy is very squirmy and wiggly. He's been this way since the first ultrasound we had at 12 weeks. He didn't completely cooperate for our 20 week ultrasound. And as soon as I started feeling him wiggly and kick inside, at about 15 weeks, I haven't stopped feeling him.

Day and night this little guy is moving. Fortunately he's not big enough (or maybe strong) enough to wake me up at night with his movements, but if I'm awake I feel him. I tried to sleep in Saturday morning, but was rudely awaken by a baby bouncing on my very full bladder. I literally jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom (good thing it's not far).

When I was pregnant with Zachariah, I felt him often. But he didn't squirm all the time like this. He seemed then as a laid back, relaxed baby. And he pretty much lived up to that after he was born. It's funny, because I felt like I already knew his personality. Zachariah is still a pretty laid back kid. He takes things as they come and really has been a pretty easy child to parent.

Does that mean this one will be my active, rowdy boy? (Are we in for it this time?)

What has been your experience with how a baby "behaves" in the womb versus their personality after they are born? I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this matter.