Avi, age 4. Don’t ask me about the expression, I just take the pictures…Â
Update on Baby Names
We’ve definitely made progress in the name department. In fact, the other day when Enoch casually asked Chuck if we had a name picked out for the baby, he answered, “Yes”.
Hmm. This was news to me.
So far, I can tell you this: we have a boy’s name picked out that is perfect. Ah…it feels good to have that settled. And we have a girl’s first name picked out (the only one either of us suggested…which makes it easy to agree on. Chuck has a middle name he wants to use for a girl, but I don’t think it “works”. So we’ll see. I can tell you that not one name on the list has ever been considered before. Oh, and the boy’s name? It from the New Testament this time.
Baby Preparations
When sorting through our spring/summer clothes, I found a mislabeled bin with baby blankets. And our cute little Robeez shoes! Yay, I thought they were gone. The last week of May I plan on washing baby things and getting prepared. If I start too soon, I’ll lose my mind before I reach my due date. For now, I have a notebook where I’m jotting down notes about meals to cook, baby poses I want to try (sorry, I’m a photographer), things to buy, things to wash, etc.Â
32 Week Pregnancy Update
I have developed a super-sonic nose. Everything scent bothers me. Good, bad, doesn’t matter. I can’t even stand to have my children too close to me…cause I can smell them. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t stink….it’s just my olfactory is apparently working over time. And causing me all sorts of grief. Don’t let that stop you from bringing me hot coffee and fresh pastry though…I’m sure I could manage.
The Birth Plan
And it’s official…our midwife is leaving town for a family reunion three days before my due date. We have a backup midwife, of course. Did you think we’d be irresponsible enough to not make arrangements? Just because we didn’t last time? Hey, we’re fast learners around here. The dilemma is going to be…do we try to get labor going (naturally) a little bit early? Or do we just let nature take its course, and let this baby pick his/her birthday and midwife? Anyone who’s been nine months pregnant understands that each day the last few weeks is equivalent to a week. Or a month. Or more.
Tucker was nearly a year old when I started this blog, so I haven’t talked about homebirth much. I suppose I should put together an entire post one of these days. The short story? Iris and Judah were born at a freestanding birth center in Alaska. Tilly, Enoch, Kalina, Jubilee, and Hezekiah were born at home. Tucker was born at the hospital due to our lack of planning (see link above). The other day I told Chuck (expecting  him to be horrified):
 “If I end up at the hospital again, I’m having an epidural”.
His answer? “I would”.Â
“What? Why would you say that?” I asked.
“Because I’m getting old and why go through all that pain if you don’t have to?”
I can’t wait to hear the name, all of your names are so unique! Do you have any advice for someone who would like to get into photography but does not know where to start?
LOL! Love your husbands response.
Yes those last days do drag by! I bet your children are getting very excited. 🙂 Congratulations. I can’t wait to see if it’s a boy or a girl. I have a feeling it’s a girl. 🙂
now I’m really worried that your going to use one of the names on my list! and then what will I do?
Do you have a naturalist available? You could consult considering the last wk or so of preg there are some herbs that you can take to help tone and tonic the uterus and help contractions be more “effective.” As an herbalist, I dont think its best for me to list there here in the case that someone thought they were ready and were not… so talk with your midwife/naturalist if that is available! And the convo at end of your post, still laughing… thanks, am having one of those overwhelming days where I have to keep asking God to take my burdens away, laughing was his answer to that prayer. Thanks for being a part of that!
My midwife is actually a naturopathic doctor, so she can definitely help in that area. And she is willing. So Jo, what are your feelings on using natural means to help start labor? Do you think it leads to longer labors? Do you think it is better to wait and let nature take its course?
I wouldnt worry too much, Emily. I can guarantee 100% you arent considering our boys name (very situation specific) and Im pretty sure our girls name wouldnt be on your list either (of course I dont know what you were going to name Simon if he were a girl…)
I was induced with Connor and had a 1 1/2 hour labor, 2 days before my Dr. left town for Thanksgiving(only part of the reason we decided to induce, I had severe preeclampsia and didn’t feel comfortable with a strange Dr handling that). I don’t know if I would want to induce again though.
I LOVE that picture of Avi. On a totally different note, will you ever put up pictures of yourself? I know you usually take the pictures but I’m sure Tilly could do pretty well too.
No doubt his epidural comment is only one reason you keep him around! What an understanding guy. Congrats on the name resolution- that can be more stressful than people think. My only advice to you on helping nature out is do NOT try castor oil. (That could be speaking from experience…..)
I was overdue with all three (from 10-14 days, each one feeling like a year or so!), so I let them induce by breaking my water (after trying every possible natural means of induction) and my 2nd labor was only 100 minutes from start to finish. My last one was the longest at 9 hours, and I did pretty much the same thing all three times (lots of walking) so I guess they are all individual events. And if I was having another I would probably go with Chuck’s advice and avoid some of the pain!
I love the epidural comment. I told my husband this last time around I was just going to go in and schedule a C-section. Just so I had a good excuse to stay in bed for 10 days. He was horrified. But I had my homebirth and am back in the saddle 10 days later. We thought we were going to have to use the backup midwife because she had two moms go into labor at the same time. But the other mom had a two hour labor and I had a 21 1/2 hour labor, so she was at both 🙂
May I ask, why the fascination with biblical names? It’s something that I’ve never understood and yet it is fairly common with families of strong religious beliefs.
Chuck and I are big on name meanings. We didnt want to name our children xx just because we liked the way it sounded. Therefore, we choose our names based on meaning or we name a child after someone we admire. Judah means praised by God, Avi means God is my father, Enoch so pleased God that he was taken up to be with Him, Hezekiah was one of the greatest kings of Judah, etc. So, since we are conservative Christians, we like meanings/names tied to our religion. Did that answer your question?
Yes, thanks Renee. I come from Ireland which as you know is/was a deeply religious country. And yet, it is rare to meet someone here with a biblical name. It seems far more common in the US, so I guess it is at least partially a cultural thing.
I believe it has become more popular in the last decade or so. When Judah was born 12 years ago, Old Testament names were considered bizarre. Now Ive met lots of little boys named: Asher, Malachi, Ezekiel, etc. What trend setters we are 🙂 Do you still live in Ireland?
Yes, I still live in Ireland. Though I have spent time in Denmark, Netherlands, UK & Cyprus, I always end up back here!
For names, might I suggest ‘Ariel’ for a girl (It means ‘Lion of God’), and ‘Jabin’ for a boy (It means ‘Perceptive’, and is pronounced Jaibihn )
Of course, you could just settle for ‘Shem’ which directly translates as ‘Name’…hehe.
Have you now decided what to do with your midwife being gone? I’ve never heard of jumpstarting labor naturally. What would that entail? Do you think you’ll go for it? Also, I read that Adalia took a doula course. Will she be with you when you deliver the baby?
Wow, that’s a lot of questions… Sorry if this comment seems like I’m being nosy 🙂