What's in a Name?

There are two questions every pregnant woman answers as soon as someone notices her baby bump- "Is it a boy or a girl?" followed by, "Have you decided on a name?" Most everyone who knows us knows that at this point the answer to the latter is, no.

When it comes to choosing a name for a child, there's a lot of pressure.  Their name will define them, determine who their friends could be, or whether or not they're made fun of on the playground, make or break their future resume, or even decide where they will sit during a middle school awards ceremony... which is where I met my best friend... as we struck up a conversation making fun of other people's names.

What's fun about names is that everyone has an opinion on every one of them, and even without a name our baby has acquired a few already.  He's "Baby Kanye," "Rocky," "Drake," and even "Alfred Robin" after Drew wouldn't let me name him Bruce Wayne or my nephew's suggestion: Batman.

Most of his current names stem from inside jokes, yet I'm not sure why they trend towards famous rappers.  Needless to say, they are all on the list of names we will not be choosing.  Also on that list are the suggestions from nearly all of my male friends and co-workers, who when I told the news immediately threw their own names in the ring.  I have yet to witness a female do this.  Maybe it's a macho thing? Anyway, I don't think Drew would be too pleased if I suggested we name our first born after the IT guy at work.  No offense Mike.

Though we'd like the name to be unique, we decided it doesn't have to be as unique as the names so many celebrities have been coming up with recently, which seem to be predominantly inanimate objects.  I'm looking at you, Gweneth Paltrow.  Sure, it might seem like a good idea when you're exhausted from the work of labor and you get handed that birth certificate to just glance across the room and go with "Lampshade Curtain Bautista," but I don't think we'd be doing him any favors in the long run.

Truthfully, Drew and I have a few top choices up our sleeves but we're waiting until we meet our son to make it final.  In the back of my mind I'm still holding out hope that on the day of his arrival he'll stand up, give Drew a hearty handshake and introduce himself properly.  That would certainly make things easy for us.

Strange Side Effects

I don't have swollen feet.  I didn't have months of terrible morning sickness.  I haven't been dizzy or faint, or plagued by several of the stereotypical side-effects of pregnancy, especially in the third trimester.  Perhaps that's because it's just not my body's style to go with something so mainstream.  No, instead I have been diagnosed with Valsalva Retinopathy.  Two words that hadn't entered my vocabulary until now.

On Saturday morning, I woke up with a blind spot in my vision, specifically in my right eye.  I figured if I ignored it, it would just go away, but by 9pm it was still there.  The same shape and size, annoyingly in my way.  That's when I hit the computer and started researching, which is never a good idea when you have absolutely no handle on the field of medicine.  After calling the midwife and ruling out preeclampsia, I scheduled an eye appointment Monday.  

I went to a nearby ophthalmologist because I don't have an eye doctor.  I don't have an eye doctor because I don't wear glasses or contacts, nor have I ever had any eye problems, which was pretty obvious by my excessive flinching every time the ophthalmologist got anywhere near my eyes.  After my check-up, he referred me to a retina specialist that same day.  A very apologetic me with dilated eyes headed downtown for round two.

Round two was a nightmare.  So many drops, bright lights, poking, prodding.  Even the pictures covering the exam room walls were disturbing real life renderings of corneas and capillaries.  I wondered where they'd managed to find a calendar covered in creepy eyeball pictures.  

When all was said and done, the specialist brought me to another room and said he'd return to explain his diagnosis and go over the photos.  Then, I realized as other younger staff members entered the room and stood around, that this must be pretty interesting.  

The specialist returned to explain and show everyone in the room including me, that intra-abdominal pressure from the pregnancy had helped cause a retinal hemorrhage.  It was most likely brought on by a simple cough, and will probably resolve itself after I have the baby.  He showed me the photo collage of my eyeball, pointing out the hemorrhage.  I have to admit, while it was as disturbing as those photos on the wall, it was also kind of cool.  Maybe I'll even make next year's calendar.

I've taken the liberty of making a rendering of what the inside of my eye looks like, for those of you who are interested in the science behind what's going on in my eyeball and would like a visual aid.

 

Overall, in the past nine months I've been on more doctor visits than the past 20 years, and have seen and learned more about my insides than I'd retained from any biology class.  While this latest adventure was a little scary, I'm still confident that I will get through the last obstacle of labor and delivery just fine.  Even if I have to do it practically blind-folded.

The Final Countdown

4... 3... 2... 1...

That's all that's on my mind as we embark on week 36! I can now technically be considered "full term," so we will have weekly appointments until the big day in just four weeks! (hopefully)

Drew and I have nearly everything we feel we need for our little guy's arrival, and we're working on assembling, installing and arranging it all.  Soon, I'll have to pack a bag for the hospital just in case.

It's so exciting/slightly terrifying to think about how close we are to holding our son.  

Will things ever be the same again?

It's the final countdown.

Baby Shower!

Drew and I have been showered with love and gifts for our little superhero!

His sister hosted wonderful superhero-themed baby shower this weekend, complete with pinball, Nintendo Wii, and kryptonite punch!

 We loved spending time with friends and family, and with plenty of wonderful presents for baby boy, we can't wait to put them to use in just 5 more weeks!