What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot

On Saturday, Brandon and I resumed an old gig playing a thirty minute set at the retirement home. Afterwords, a little lady came up to me and said, "I have a name for your son!"
"Okay," I replied, "I'd love to hear it."
"Scotty!" she announced proudly.

Two minutes later another sweet lady touched my arm saying, "Now I really have a name, and I've only ever known one man with this name, and he was a good man...Ateo." While she let the name resonate, she added, "It's Italian, but he was from Princeton, West Virginia."

Needless to say, once people found out we were having a boy, the next logical question has been, "What are you going to name him?"

And we have to keep saying, "We haven't picked a name yet."

I've had several Matts suggest the name "Matt" and Tim and David suggested we name him after their cat Bertram, or maybe just something simple and easy to spell. Kathy and a friend at work suggested Aiden, and Angie suggested Sawyer James.

Brandon said anything but Anthony Scott Story.

For the longest time, Brandon was opposed to baby name books, but I finally broke down and bought one at a used book store. It smells like smoke and has 40,000 boys names to wade through. Maybe the husband was right...nah. Anyhow, its not easy to choose. We have some family names that we like, but getting the right combination with a middle or first name isn't easy. With a last name like Story, it's easy to pick one that's sing-songy. Definitely a name that doesn't begin with an "S" or end in a "y" or "ie"

In my quest to learn more about boy's names, The Baby Name Wizard stands as my favorite name site. It rates a name's popularity over the ages, defines it's meaning, and allows people to comment about nicknames.

I just have this idea that seeing the little guy, one name might click more than another.

I like how names were occasionally given in the Bible. An angel of the Lord would come to the mother and say, "And the child shall be called..." It sort of takes the heat off the parents coming up with a good name. "Mommy, where did my name come from?" "Well dear, God named you." How special is that.

I want our boy to have a strong, simple name that means something to him and to us, and that in some way impels him towards a fulfilling future. I just don't know what that name is yet. And you know what, that's okay, because he hasn't been born yet. And once he gets here, he will have that name for the rest of his life (hopefully it will suit him well enough that he won't want to have it legally changed one day to something insane like Superman).

So, as Brandon and I continue to enjoy our random name discussions, we'll continue to deliver that disapointing answer, "We haven't picked a name yet."

"Doula, D-o-u-l-a, Doula"

That's a song Brandon made up the day we were going to meet the doula. I'm pretty excited about her.

According to her brochure, which cites Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus:

The original word "doula" comes from the Greek word for the most important female worker in the ancient Greek household, the woman who probably helped the lady of the house through her childbearing. The word has come to refer to a woman experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth.

Patty's a hippie. Pretty, no make up, refused brownies, drank her water without ice, forties. Recommended I start taking garlic suplements around week 30 because apparently it decreases positive stept tests, which cause mothers to have to take antibiotics while in labor. And she wasn't much of a joker. But hey, that's okay. I think she's a great person to help us through this. I mean, the woman's had five kids naturally, two of whom are twins. And she's worked with my doctor before. And she helped Adriel deliver Harper naturally even after being enduced. She'll help with everything from prep to labor to feeding, which makes me feel less like I'm floating on a raft towards a waterfall.

So, the first week in June, Brandon and I will meet with Patty for two hours of labor coaching. Which we will have to practice... It makes me laugh just to think about. Brandon's such a good sport.

Doula Sites:
www.DONA.org

drum roll please...

My students have been asking me for weeks now, is it a boy or a girl?
Yesterday, they placed their bets. Today, when I walked into each class, they bombarded me. So? What is your baby?

Going into the ultrasound, I really had no clue. I had two dreams that it was a boy. Then, after talking to my mom and sister who said they hoped it was a girl, I had two dreams it was a girl. My friends at school wanted a girl, so they could call her Jestine. I come from a family of four girls, my mom came from a family of three girls, and her mom came from a family of three girls. I personally was thinking, it'd be great if my first kid was a boy. And all along Brandon thought it was a boy. I kept thinking it might just be his masculine bias, but he was right!

Brandon and I will have a son!

It didn't take long into the ultrasound before the news was clear. It's astounding how much he's grown in the past two months, from a little shrimp to a tyke with fingers and toes, a spine and a brain, and a little peekapoo. He was moving around, opening and closing his mouth, a real live tiny person.

Brandon held my hand as we found out. It was a sweet moment, as this enigma became just a little clearer. I have a healthy son as far as the doctor can tell at this point, which is just perfect news.

We celebrated by purchasing our first official boy outfit: this tan cowboy kind of bodysuit with booties and a pattern of small bold stars. I called my Mom, who despite her laryngitis screamed. Brandon called his sister Angie, who suggested we name him Sawyer James. (The name suggestions have been nonstop since yesterday.) We called and texted several friends and loved ones to share the good news, and they were all remarkably excited with us.

I'm really glad to know. Maybe we will have more kids one day, and I won't want to know until they're born, but the first one is a big enough surprise for me, and I'm happy to have time to plan, and to think of him as a boy.

Sun is Shining

We'll lift our heads and give jah praises
Sun is shining, the weather is sweet
Make you want to move your dancing feet
~Bob Marley

I'm out of school for a snow day on this perfect sunny day that winks at the mention of spring.
In spite of the fact that the school year has just been lengthened until at least June 2, life is good.
My car is in perfect order, from an oil change, rotated tires, clean inside and out. I can't say the same for my house or a few ungraded papers, but all in all, things are moving in the direction of order.

Car is shining, the inside is clean
Make me want to move on to spring
~Mariel Story

Baby is growing, and so my appetite and belly grow with it. The little tyke is only six inches, yet I look like I'm incubating a large pizza (and I promise I haven't eaten a large pizza--could but it's too much sodium). Thankfully, I did get a few long t-shirts that cover the whole of it, and Jen passed along Shannon's old maternity clothes, many of which will keep me well-clothed through the summer.

Baby is growing, the belly is stout
Make me want to do maternity work out

Ann was sweet enough to get me one of those giant work-out balls, which I'm moving on to as soon as I finish writing. (Note: I am not pictured below. This woman's belly happens to be larger than mine, and my exercise ball is purple, not red.)

Tomorrow will be a good day because it's Friday and that means that after school, I head to Asheville with the Yayas. I think it will involve dinner at Salsa's, night at some posh little hotel with great cable, and an outing to the Biltmore. The last time we went out of town together, we high-tailed it to Charleston for Halloween. We dressed as the Village People. I was the construction worker, complete with a lighting bolt hard hat. The scariest costume, however, was someone dressed as the OctoMom. She wore a long black wig, giant plastic wax lips, and eight baby dolls strapped across her chest. That was the trip where we ate the best pecan-encrusted white-fish and corn bread at Jestine's--where I claimed to have a food baby named Jestine. Come to find out that I was, in fact, one day pregnant, which is sort of like not being pregnant at all, but that's how they count these things. Anyhow, now those crazy girls call my baby, boy or girl that he or she may be, Jestine. I have to say that for me, this trip will not include as many cocktails as that trip.

One more note about food--this one exciting. We joined Community Supported Agriculture! Frosted Hawk Farm, which is just down the road from us, grows a variety of organic vegetables, and by going in with Cindy and Declan, we have a share in 24 weeks worth of fresh, in-season produce. Good food for baby. We may eventually get a share of their poultry as well. This will mean somewhat of a change in how I go about preparing for a meal, since I'll have to base meal plan on what veggies we have, instead of starting with a recipe of my whim, going to the store, and buying those ingredients, still, it will be a good practice. And of course I still love my Kroger.