The Name Game

So, since Baby P finally let out the big secret that she's a girl I have torturing myself trying to come up with the perfect name. See, if it was a boy we knew 100% that he would be Declan Leo. The Mr. and I both agreed on Declan years ago (long before a baby was in the plans) and love the name, and Leo is his dad's middle name, Grandpa and Great-Grandpa's first name. It was perfect. So, for the first half of the pregnancy we threw around girls names and both approved of Anika, but of course, now that it's time to actually commit to a girl name I just can't do it.

Do I still like Anika? Most definitely, especially since the Mr. and I both have 3 syllable first names that end with an 'A' it is fun that it fits the mold. However, I am terrified that people will mispronounce it all of the time. We like the pronunciation of Ah-nick-ah, but I've already encountered people who try to pronounce it Ann-ick-ah or the dreaded Ah-neek-ah. Is it worth the risk of having to correct people on a regular basis? I've tried to come up with another girl name that I like as much and I'm having a very hard time. Turns out I'm very picky....for instance I stay away with anything that ends with an 'ee' sound because our last name does as well and needless to say it ends up being way too many ee's if it's in the first name as well. That and the other issue is that I come from a large family, supersize actually, with 57 first cousins. Yup, that's right, so a lot of names are already taken. For instance Addison, love it, but already used.

So, any suggestions? Throw them my way. If not, we'll keep throwing around ideas and probably, at the end of the day baby girl will be Anika. Anika Noelle to be exact. Guess we'll see what happens!

The Big Announcement

Our baby finally cooperated!

We're having a sweet baby GIRL!

And let me tell you, we were shocked. From the beginning we were both positive that this little one was a boy, but it looks like we had a sneaky little girl all along :)

Bump Update

Well I totally failed at getting a 26 week bump picture, but I still have a few old ones I haven't posted yet. Here we go!

Week 20

Turns out my week 20 picture is being weird and I can't get it to upload correctly. So, just picture me with a slightly larger stomach...and for some reason my butt sticking out because that's obviously a flattering pose, duh!


Week 22

Week 24

Ultrasound Round 2

Baby: 2 Parents: 0

Looks like our little one is going to be the best behaved kindergarten student out there. He/she is still breech and just sitting in there with his/her legs crossed. The Mr. and I couldn't help but just laugh this time around.

Good news is that our nurse practitioner is awesome and told us to make sure to schedule our next appointment (28 weeks) with her again and we'll sneak in for another quick ultrasound to see if he/she has flipped. She made it sound that as long as baby is breech we won't be able to tell what the gender is so we're crossing our fingers that he/she will flip head down in the next four weeks.

What a stinker!

Round Two

Okay, sweet babe. You have a second chance to spread your legs, please be a trooper and do so for your mom and dad! We so badly want to know what to call you. It's getting pretty old referring to you as an 'it.' So, pretty please cooperate right around 4 pm today. K? Thanks.

Mama

Uncooperative

At 20 weeks in utero, my child has already shown his/her stubborn side. We were so excited for our ultrasound and within the first couple minutes the ultrasound tech made a comment that our sweet babe had his/her legs crossed with a hand between them. In other words, there was little to no chance of finding out the sex. After about a half hour she had my get up to empty my bladder in hopes baby may move in the process. No such luck. So, here we are, 21 weeks and no clue if we are having a boy or a girl. I've begun to accept the idea of having to wait until delivery, however, the Mr. not so much. He very much still wants to find out. So, I have a call into the doctor's office to see if we can have another scheduled, and if not, we have a back up plan of paying for a 3d ultrasound. Guess we'll see what happens!

Related to the ultrasound, I was able to read the radiologist's review of the images and it turns out I have an anterior placenta. I have to say I was pretty relieved to hear that because although I feel baby move occasionally it's definitely not near as much as I thought I would. The anterior placenta helps to explain it though. The only time I really feel baby is when I'm laying down for a longer period of time, but never when I'm standing and very rarely when I'm sitting. I guess he/she is just aiming most of the kicks right into the placenta. Good news though is that the other night when I was laying in bed, baby was pretty active and luckily the Mr. was able to feel one strong kick. I was so happy that he was able to share in that.

In other big news of the week, the Mr. stepped foot in a Babies R Us for the first time ever! This may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, for him it totally is. We didn't start a registry yet, but it was pretty nice just walking around with him as we looked at all the different 'gear' and discussed the different things we would need. We tested out some rocker/gliders and decided that we're going with a white crib since we're going to refinish a dresser we already own and though white would be easiest to color match. He seems to be getting excited about working on these projects. First step: clean out the spare bedroom. Oof, that is NOT going to be fun. Needless to say it has been our dumping ground for miscellaneous stuff for the last four years, oops!

Today is the Day

Well folks, today is the day! The 20 week ultrasound is finally here! By 2:30 this afternoon we should know whether we are having a son or a daughter, our Declan or our Anika. I am so excited!