MY (LACK OF) PATIENCE REVEALED

It is 3:48PM on Tuesday afternoon. And by 'Tuesday' I mean it is the day Rich and my dad are painting our house, it's 1.5 days before I'm officially finished with my current job, 3 days before Rich graduates as a Doctor of Osteopathy, and exactly one week before the movers come. On top of all that, today marks the beginning of week 22 in the pregnancy and my co-workers just finished throwing me a surprise baby/farewell shower. So as I was saying, at 3:51PM on this Tuesday, my mind is nowhere near this office. I'd rather be looking for another job, buying homey items or working on our yard. I could be trying to fit into a dress for Rich's award dinner and graduation, packing boxes at the apartment, or helping the guys paint (er... maybe supervising is a better term, since I'm not allowed to inhale paint fumes or drink beer, which is what their day consists of). I have a whole exciting list in my head.

On the other hand, I am feeling sad to go. I have some fantastic coworkers and I work with many really great clients. Today I've been calling many of these clients to tell them I'll be leaving in a few days, and I've received some really sad but supportive responses. It's affirming and it's humbling to know that the rapport I've built and the services my program offers have made a positive impact on others who live in a very, very difficult world. As for my coworkers, I mentioned before that they took time out of their busy work days to plan and throw a baby shower for me. It was so full of joy, thoughtfulness and love... I was overwhelmed. I will truly miss their support, example and friendship.

As I sit here thinking about my time spent at MFS (and the arrival of 5:00PM) I can feel the baby swimming around and kicking furiously inside my belly. He or she has been extremely active lately, and the kicks have changed from one little 'pong' here and there to whole bunches of 'ping-pong-pows!' all at once. This baby has at least 4 limbs (we won't have to count those when he or she arrives). Additionally, our little bundle of joy is now almost 1 foot long and almost 1 pound in weight. Before we know it we'll have another little person to be filling up that new home of ours. But I've got to focus on one step at a time for now. It's 4:24PM and my 'lunch break' is surely over.

WHAT'S IN A NAME

In the beginning of the pregnancy, Rich and I made a short list of baby names sorted by gender and 'middle' or 'first' name. After only a couple of weeks Rich gave up on the obscurity of this task because he wanted to wait until we knew the baby's sex before really racking our brains over names. I was not terribly thrilled about this strategy (and whined here and there when I heard a new name I liked) but for the most part we stuck with it up until today. Now the joke is on my husband, as we still have to choose names without knowing the gender.

I'm writing this somewhat unusual post to ask any of our close friends and family who read it to submit their own name suggestions. We are by no means short of ideas, and we're certainly not going to take votes on the best name (sorry to disappoint)... but it's fairly important to Rich and I to come up with a name that is meaningful. It could have religious meaning, meaning or history within our family, etc. What better way to more thoroughly search for meaningful names than to ask the people who mean the most in our lives (and who will play a big role in our baby's life)? So if anyone thinks of a striking or meaningful name, feel free to suggest it over email (aislinnu@gmail.com) or to post a comment on the blog.

And for the record... the name 'Marlo' has already been submitted by Rich's 9-year-old brother. You will all have to really amp up the creativity to beat his growing list! Also, for a thoughtful story about naming children, read this post from one of my favorite bloggers (I should mention that the saint spoken of is the same patron I took my name from when I was confirmed as a member of the Catholic Church. She is known as a visionary and a political zealot. She often advised the pope).

ALREADY A LOVELY, STUBBORN BABY

A brief update: We had our ultrasound appointment at 3PM today and the it went great... we have what looks like a very healthy baby. Every body part that the ultrasound tech measured (mine and baby's) was the right size and in the right place. Our first 'photo' of the baby is below, and he/she is beautiful. Unfortunately, we also found out that we have quite the stubborn little baby (whose genes did that trait come from!). The baby spent the entire half hour on camera either moving away from the ultrasound doppler, or sitting with legs crossed, or playing with his/her feet. After finishing her standard measurements, the ultrasound tech tried for a good 8-10 minutes to pester the baby into changing positions and to get a better view, but nothing worked. Rich and I will just have to find out the old fashioned way whether we're having a baby boy or a baby girl. Thanks for sharing in our excitement about today's appointment... wish we had more information to pass along. :-)