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A. The baby is expected in mid-July. I hesitate to share an exact date because, as we all know, babies do not care about exact dates, and I am not really all that interested either. Mid-July seems a perfectly fine estimate, in my opinion, and I am doing my best to think about that time frame rather than any specific date.
Q. How far along are you? (similar to the question above)
A. I was 14 weeks on Monday (when we shared the news).
Q. How are you feeling?
A. Pretty good. Had a little bit of morning sickness (and for me it was pretty much only feeling sick in the morning) from about weeks 8-10, but usually once I ate something I was fine for the rest of the day. I was fearing feeling much sicker, so I was very pleasantly surprised that it wasn't worse this time around.
Q. When do you find out if the baby is a boy or a girl?
A. Short answer: We'll find out when the baby is born.
Long answer: Jonathan doesn't really mind either way, but I have a definite opinion. Since I was a teenager, I always knew that I wanted the sex of my children to be a surprise until I met them in person. My mum, sister, and I enjoyed watching TLC's A Baby Story during vacations, and I can remember when people on the show first started being able to find out the sex of their baby. We all agreed that it would be more fun not to know until the baby arrived. These days in North America it seems standard to know ahead of time and almost strange not to find out, so I know I'm in the minority on this decision, but my reasons are as follows:
1) Millions of women around the world do not have the privilege to know ahead of time if their baby is a girl or a boy, so why should I deserve it? (I know this could be taken way out of context, so I'll just mention that although millions of women around the world do not have access to a lot of other western necessities and conveniences, I am not taking this philosophy that far. I will follow most routine western prenatal practices, but have no concerns about waiving unnecessary conveniences, like finding out the sex of the baby.)
2) We don't want a bunch of gender-specific items, especially the larger scale ones that we'll want to use for multiple children. One of the best ways to avoid that is to simply not find out what we're having ahead of time.
3) I know it's always a surprise, whether you find out during your pregnancy or at the birth, but I just can't imagine giving up that fun surprise factor of being able to find out for myself whether my baby is a girl or a boy.
Of course there is at least one drawback to not knowing ahead of time: We'll have to try to have at least one boy name and one girl name prepared ahead of time. For us that will probably be a challenge, since we barely agree on any names so far, but compared to all the pros, that is a negligible con, at least in my opinion.
Q. Are you going to announce the name before the baby's born?
A. No, probably not even to family members. The reasons for this are:
1) We might not even have concrete name ideas until very close to the baby's birth.
2) We think it'd be a good idea to see our baby first before attaching a name to him/her. I've heard plenty of stories about parents who had a name all picked out for their baby and upon meeting him/her, realized that the infant looked nothing like the name and had to hastily pick out a different one. Agreeing to see the baby first eliminates this possibility.
3) Honestly, I'm just not very comfortable with the thought of sharing names before the baby is born. Almost everyone has very strong opinions on names, and often times aren't afraid to share them. But once there is an actual baby to go along with the name, people usually enjoy the baby so much that the name, even if it isn't a favourite for that particular person, is graciously accepted and opinions are kept to a minimum. And of course, there are always those instances (though probably few and far between) where someone hears the name you have chosen for your baby and picks it just ahead of you... We don't think anyone we know would do that, but it's still something to consider.
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Those are all the questions we could think of to answer, but if you want to know something else, just ask us in the comments and we'll do our best to let you know! :)
I saw this on FB. FANTASTIC. I'm married now, did you know that? Delight does not want to be pregnant right now, but is fascinated by baby names, so we have an inverse problem.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right to hold the baby name, tho. Be like Zachariah, who named his son JOHN of all things.
Thanks, Robby! We're excited! Yes, I did see that you are married now (on FB, too, of course). I love seeing the photos of your adorable pup, too! I agree with Delight that baby names are quite fascinating. Part of my love of story writing is thinking up amazingly cool (and sometimes strange) names for characters. Back in high school I made up a whole list of potential baby names (first and middle) and my preferences haven't changed much since then. Problem is that none of those names are ones Jonathan likes, and he doesn't have too many of his own suggestions yet. I'm sure we'll find one we both agree on at some point, but for now, we're not stressing. Definitely going to wait to share our choice, though, just like Zachariah! A good practice, I think. :)
DeleteGrama always said, if they like the baby they will learn to like the name.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to think of just the right name for someone you have not seen yet.
You will find just the right one at the right time.
Aren't you glad we did not call you some of the names we talked about?
Yes, great advice that I gleaned from my special Gram.
DeleteI agree, we'll come up with the right name at the right time. We're not worried yet.
Definitely glad for my name. I think you chose the right one!