Thursday, March 07, 2013

wilbur or bertha?


I had my 20 week ultrasound awhile ago (27 weeks right now!) and got to see our sweet babe. And we are having a...

surprise baby!

We'll find out in June. We thought it would be fun to do this because we have absolutely no preference for a boy or girl and I love the picture I've painted in my mind of excruciating pain, one big push, baby's first wails, and then the midwife or Jamie shouts, "It's a - !" And then we all laugh and cry and pass out cigars. Kind of old-fashioned and fun, right? Right.

The other romantic, old-fashioned idea I have is to try for a natural childbirth. I'm scaaaaared. But I really want to do it. It's really trendy and all that, but I just want to know what it feels like. Basketball with spikes on fire is what I've heard... NBD. Also, I've watched a whole lotta Call the Midwife lately, which has only further romanticized natural childbirth for me. (And floral dresses. And living in London. And living in the 50s. And being a nun.) We have one little Debbie Downer coughJamiecough who hates the idea and "believes in modern medicine" and thinks I'm cuckoo. Really, to be fair, he just knows I'm a big wimp. I don't blame him.

I should also tell you that we don't have a boy and girl name picked yet! Well, we do have a girl name we both love and will probably use, but I know a lot of people think it's awful. This equal parts gives me pause and makes me want to use it, stat. I have a boy name that I love and has special meaning and Jamie hates it. Hates it. He is really trying to like it, bless his heart. If anyone would like to have a baby name discussion, I'm here and waiting and you know it's my number one favorite topic. I'm also willing to talk about the enigma of female hormones and how I know nothing about them but am 100% certain mine are wack, pregnant or not. Usually my postpartums are really interesting, but this time I'm letting my hormonal crazy flag fly during the pregnancy. Would someone like to discuss this with me? I can't imagine why you wouldn't. I've actually tried to instigate this conversation with several people and gotten blank stares...

So that is the status of Baby Sharp. Also, I'm huge and can't stop eating. This thrills my family. The other night we got crepes and I was still hungry. So then we got pho and I was still hungry. So then we got fountain drinks and treats and I decided we should stop even though I was still hungry. (Sounds like a really promising Eric Carle board book.) We dubbed the night "Taste of the Town." (To be said with the same inflection as "Treat Yoself.") It was wonderful. Jamie's favorite night of the year.

This post is obnoxious. This is why I don't blog anymore.

51 comments:

Eliza said...

this post reminds me of why you are my best friend.

Ash said...

Call the Midwife is the jam! It makes me want to be a midwife!

And I loved this post. You hit all of my favorite things to talk about: the natural childbirth debate, baby names, BBC miniseries, hormones, etc etc. Next post just touch on what's going on in Taylor Swift's brain and pie and you've pretty much covered everything I think about.

abby said...

Love you, scrot.

abby said...

Well, come on over! We really should chat. I do often wonder about Taylor Swift. And you could talk to my husband about pie, it's his favorite thing!

Anonymous said...

Abbey! We should talk. I'm a doula and also a well seasoned driver of the postpartum joy ride.
Find me on instagram if you like.
Hollyaplus.
x

Sarah said...

I love CALL THE MIDWIFE. Also enjoying FOYLE'S WAR. Have you seen it? So so good! In honor of the latter, I vote you name the baby Honeysuckle.

Sarah said...

Also, I am with Jamie, 100%.

sarah marie. said...

great post. loved every second as always. and you know i'm crazy right? did we talk about this already? on meds and all. even when pregnant. i think we did?

kate said...

This post is anything BUT obnoxious and this is why I miss the real bloggers. (Oh you started a fashion blog in 2011? I started a wish-I-was-a-mommy blog in 2007. Boom.)(Now <---THAT was obnoxious.)

I remember the boy name and I LOVE it. Jamie, get it together man!

kate said...

I really hope the name options are really wilbur and bertha.

Veronica said...

This is the only kind of post I wanna read. Also you can totally do it naturally if you want to. Somehow I did it and I had no idea what I was doing.

David and Shalynna said...

This is why you SHOULD blog more. You have the best blog.

David thinks I'm crazy for wanting to try this pregnancy natural too (never mind I cry every time I get a papsmear so of course I won't handle pushing out a baby without pain killers TMI?). I didn't realize that our husbands going into the medical field would make them this way! :)

I wonder if the names you are talking about are names we've talked about before on our Herriman trail walks or when we'd sit up in Oliver's room talking (sounds so wonderful right now). I think I may be right on the boy name, but I'm wondering about the girl name.

I'll email you. I love everything about you and what a darling profile that baby has! I am guessing it's a girl. And I'm guessing I'm having a third boy. And I'll hate you. :)

Bon said...

Call me obnoxious, but this is one of my favorite posts. Maybe cause I can relate? Also, I thought about doing natural childbirth for like 5 minutes and then woke up ;) But if you can do it, I'll think you are really cool and amazing. So not much will change really ;) The closest thing I could do was try not to get induced and here I am 4 days overdue. Yay! P.S. I'm also eating oreos at 8:30 in the morning so I understand the eating thing as well. I wish we lived closer!

Carly Hohl said...

Love the surprise baby idea! Also, natural childbirth terrifies and intrigues me at the same time.

hanner said...

i have lots to say about this post. (not as much to say as king regards up there...) but i'll just say 1) yay for not finding out (there's a long tradition of not finding out the sex in the terrill family), 2) yay for going natural (why does your husband care so much? he's not the one pushing out the babe, amiright??), and 3) yay for weird names that other people might not like. by "weird" i mean old pioneer-y names that aren't made up i guess. i have a niece named agnes, and lots of people think that's weird but whatever. anyway, BABIES!

susan said...

I'm loving the name Royal.

When I traveled around China (way back when) I would buy the 'hard seat' tickets on trains. It was uncomfortable for long stretches, but I was cheap and it allowed me to experience life+travel as I otherwise couldn't.

I consider childbirth decisions the same. Its about how much you want to pay and what you want to experience. It has nothing to do with bravery.

Emily Wright said...

great post - loved all the honesty. Had me laughing and wanting to have a conversation with you about all the crazy hormones/postpartum crap even though I don't really know you and just follow your blog.
Good luck with baby names and natural birthing - anxious to hear what you decide on both fronts.

Michele said...

NOT obnoxious. At ALL. Your posts always make me smile. I also think you are the best name picker I know & I wish I would have consulted you before I named my children, but I like their names lots too. I say go with what you like -it usually ends up not being that weird. All my kids were names we were hesitant about because they were not common at the time and some people thought they were too "old fashioned" when we named them, well, except for William, but turns out they are actually really popular names. [Ana, Isaac, Henry- for the curious]. I always romanticized natural childbirth, but after number one being nearly a Downton Abbey episode if we weren't in a hospital I always went with the hospital and number 2 being back labor with the cord wrapped around his neck I decided to give myself no guilt for taking the blessing of medication God has given to this generation. No shame in chickening out at the end; really there isn't. In the grand scheme of things (I always, well, Brian actually, had/have to remind myself of this in my "hormonal" times-pregnant, post-partum, monthly); in the grand scheme of things God is not going to say "Well...you almost made it into Heaven, if you just would have had those kids natural...(or breast-fed, or whatever it is I might be obsessing about deciding). I need that kind of perspective.
That said, awesome for you if you do all the things you want to do, because that is what it is about- what you guys want, not whatever books and others says is best.
Boy, I hope all that came across the way I meant..

Bethany said...

Abby- I'm so excited that you're considering natural childbirth! I didn't with any of mine, but with my third, I accidentally had Cambria natural-- right up until I was ready to push, that is :) The epidural didn't work, so they kept trying and got it to work right when I was ready to push. I realized at that point that I totally could have just had her without it and not had the not-so-fun side-effects of the epidural. Anyway, we're all different, though, so who knows. If I do have a #4, I think I want to go natural. Still in a hospital, though, but no medicine. I can't wait to see what you'll have and what name! Please choose Scout, if it's a girl :) I just remember you liked it :)

Michelle said...

Abby, you're the only reason I even check Blogger! (Ok, perhaps not the only reason, but pretty much!) You're so funny; I love your blog. Hip hooray for another little one!

robin said...

oh abby, you're a blog star! you're simply the best!

and i don't care what you name it, just have it on my birthday mmkay? june 6. make it happen.

sweetlissybug said...

I love your blog. I love that picture, too. I'm so excited for you and you are welcome to talk to me about anything anytime. I'm not really phased by much. :) Pregnancy made me hungry all the time, too. I mostly wanted candy and chocolate milk shakes, though. Not very healthy. :/

Kera said...

that is an attractive bebe. also...i remember when we went to pizza limone and you had a pizza, and then another one. i thought to myself..."i really like her."

Wendy said...

It was SO good to see you today. I love you.

kelly said...

I remember the almost religious search for the best situation for us to have the babies and all of the reading and realizing and learning that went into it. I think of myself as a birth minimalist. I just try to get as much extraneous stuff out of the way and let nature take its course. The trick is finding out what you think is extraneous. by my fourth I finally figured out that flexibility is really the key to a positive experience because every birth is different. I believe many births benefit from an epidural in cases where the lack of one might leave the mother feeling deranged from sleep deprivation and to the point of exhaustion. Then end game certainly isn't bragging rights earned by using no pain meds, it's health for you and your baby. That being said, I very much favor a natural birth and feel committed to it. Which is why for many many health reasons I chose to take the "less interventions the better" approach. Hot topic this one...
i CANT WAIT for the name reveal. I have a feeling I'm going to love it.

abby said...

Found you! I may come up with a list of questions for you... Be prepared.

abby said...

We hadn't heard of it but it's now in our queue. Thanks! Also, maybe you're joking about Honeysuckle but I love it.

abby said...

We talked about it and I appreciated it so much. We should do it again, for real.

abby said...

Thanks for the vote of confidence and thank you for all your you-ness. You know what I mean.

abby said...

You're in for a real treat because my options are not too far off.

abby said...

You did?! I wish we could chat about it.

abby said...

We really really really are overdue for a talk!

abby said...

I wish we did too Bon! I really want to hold that sweet June and remember that this is all worth it. We could also eat Oreos together, which I'm great at.

abby said...

Terrified and intrigued. Yep, that sums up my feelings too!

abby said...

I love the names in your family that I know of! Way to be, Terrills. I love pioneer-y names and I love the names people are only brave enough to use on their dogs. Agnes is an all-time fav. Not to mention Ida! Can't wait to see what you name your future babe.

abby said...

I love that train analogy! It's so true. I'm 100% interested in it for the experience alone. It truly is not for anyone but me. I think bravery is about deciding to be a parent, period.

abby said...

Thank you! It's nice to know there are kindred spirits out there on the Internet. :)

abby said...

I always love your comments! You did not need my help with names- they are perfect. You were ahead of your time! And yes, natural childbirth would be for me alone! I really don't care what anyone else thinks! (In this instance. Ha.)

abby said...

I do love Scout! Good memory! It has kind of fallen of my list but I'm not sure why. We should chat about your experience with Cambria. That's crazy!

abby said...

You're the best Michelle!!

abby said...

June 6 is such a possibility. My dad says if it comes on his birthday (the 5th), he'll pay me $100 to name it Dennis (after him). With the right incentive, this babe could be a Robin. Think about it...

abby said...

I really would love to chat with you! You're the best and it's been way too long! Let's set something up this summer.

abby said...

My moment of shame. I was so embarrassed but then the baby was like, Feed me I'm famished!! And then all that crap went down. Ha. All because Abby's a pig. Now all I can think about is Pizzeria Limone...

abby said...

Ditto and ditto!!!

abby said...

I really really really need to email you. I just get overwhelmed with all the questions I have. But you should be my natural childbirth/childcare coach. You know so much! We could FaceTime during labor. It would be awesome... Front row seat to this crazy train!

kate said...

This is exactly why you should blog every.single.day!

Love you, Abby!

kate said...

This is exactly why you should blog every.single.day!

Love you, Abby!

Eliza said...

Like many others, I love talking about all this stuff and have experience with both medical and natural birth. And with my last two babies, I got the first look and announced the sex as I held the little slippery screamers in my arms! Nothing like it in the world. Truly amazing. Good luck and please email me if u want to chat about anything at all! I have talked to SO many people for whom baby #3 (& its pregnancy) were the hormone roller coaster off the rails. "it gets better..." (with time & the right help!)

remi said...

The pink kit. Abby, you must get it and do it and love it. Okay the loving part is optional. My sisters and I have all done natural, one with, one without the pink kit and it was night and day. I'm telling you.

Sarah said...

I was not joking about Honeysuckle. I think it is DARLING! Foyle's War is our favorite show! Absolutely love it! I have completely given up on Call the Midwife. It just doesn't compare to Foyle's War. Not that they are the same genre, except both are british shows.

marta said...

hello and hooray for your new surprise baby! wishing you a happy healthy pregnancy. you are glowing and it was so wonderful to meet you for reals tonight. you and your friends are darling. will definitely be checking out the call the midwife show! thanks for the tip!