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Monday, February 15, 2010

"Her name is Carsen"



This post is going to be all about our baby girl. Why? Well because her arrival is a mere 9 weeks away and I'll be honest - she's on my mind a lot!

If you didn't know already, her name is going to be Emily Carsen and we're going to call her Carsen. She will be the 4th generation of Emilys on my mom's side of the family (skipping only my grandfather, my mom's dad, who was obviously not an Emily but gave his mother's name to my mom). The name Carsen is one that I just loved. I took care of a little girl named Carson when I worked at KinderCare and always liked the name after that. I thought it was unique for a girl but not weird.

I didn't really intend to keep her name a secret at all, and we shared it with our families right away. However, I also haven't really made any formal announcements just thinking that I didn't necessarily want to invite everyone's opinion. I've heard that when it comes to babies, people don't always observe the lines of propriety and may let me know how they feel about her name with little consideration for my feelings. I feel strongly enough about the name that no one would be able to sway me from using it, but at the same time that pretty much means you don't need to tell me if you don't like it because it won't matter. Anyway, I've gotten the question a lot - "Do you have a name picked out?" And again, not trying to keep it a secret really, I always tell people - "Her name is Carsen." While no one has given any negative feedback (thankfully), I can still tell by their reactions when they disapprove. The nurse taking care of Josh after his surgery just the other day responded with, "Oh. Pretty." in that deadpan kind of way that I knew she didn't mean it sincerely. It made me laugh on the inside because of how transparent her response was despite trying to conceal the disapproval. Don't ask if you don't want to hear the answer, right?

One thing I've noticed over the past few months since my belly has become more and more obvious is that people now greet IT instead of ME. Passing someone in the hallway at work they still say hello, maybe ask how I'm feeling or remark in some way about how I'm looking these days. But the funniest thing to me is that they always look at and speak to the belly. And I don't mean as if they're talking to the baby inside, they're still addressing me it's just that instead of eye contact they look at my belly. Fortunately this doesn't bother me one bit, just makes me giggle, and it makes me wonder if they realize they're doing it.

I have to admit, this baby girl is not shy about making her presence known. Not only does my belly show her off and make her presence plain as day, but she likes me to be reminded regularly that she's in there and that she's strong. I've really enjoyed feeling what seem like very purposeful movements even if they really are just random. I think I've identified the difference between regular kicking and hiccups. Somehow though, she still knows when her daddy is nearby. If I ever draw his attention to her movement either by placing his hand on my belly or by telling him to watch it jump (even if I whisper!) she almost always gets still. I'm hoping this indicates that she will be very well behaved for her dad :]

Tonight she did kick for him a bunch of times which he was very very excited about. She even pushed on his hand! He thought that was totally amazing. I was just glad she wasn't pushing on my ribs again. That seems to be her favorite place to stretch. It feels like something is being shoved up under the right side of my rib cage. I'm thinking it might be feet when she tries to stretch them out. We have also recently (like this week) been able to feel her even when she's not kicking. I think we found her back and an elbow or knee at one point.

I've also decided that since I have not done so thus far in my pregnancy, I will begin doing a weekly photo. Today marks 31 weeks of pregnancy with 9 weeks left to go. I figure this will be the period of time in which she grows the fastest anyway so the changes week-to-week should be the most apparent. I've gotten several requests from different friends to do this and I can't really explain my reason for not doing pictures so far. I don't know why I haven't. Maybe it's my busy schedule, maybe I've been waiting to "look pregnant" (uh, that happened a long time ago), maybe I've been waiting for a day I feel presentable enough for a photo (which is never). But tomorrow seems like as good a day as any so I'm going for it. I am also planning to do my official pregnancy photo shoot next weekend. And when I say official I mean, myself and my tripod as the photographers with my new friend Aperture 2 (thank you, Apple, for releasing Aperture 3 a month after I bought 2. Much appreciated.) as the editor. This will remain the plan as long as Josh is able to wear a pair of pants by the weekend. If not, we might just have to be careful to avoid catching his bandaged/braced leg in the photos :] So stay tuned for that post!

I'm off to a hot shower and cozy bed for the night. Schools are closed again tomorrow so I am just tickled to have another day at home with Josh! I have been working on some projects with my pictures so I'm excited to continue with that and otherwise just relax and snuggle :]

Hope everyone else is staying warm and cozy!

1 comment:

  1. I'm so tickled you finally dedicated a blog to the single topic of YOU and your pregnancy :0) I giggled so many times through out it, you're a fantastic writer! I can totally relate to the name thing (however I do REALLY love love LOVE the name Carsen for baby girl Beck, I think it's beautiful, strong and unique ((but not weird like you pointed out)) and also love that you're carrying on the name Emily, it's so sweet!) My last baby I named George... I STILL get that akward silence as someone tries to think of something nice and or positive to say about it LOL I'm at the point where I just laugh and say "go ahead don't like it, it's old fashioned I know" but you look at George? And it's SO him :0)As for the picture thing, I took pictures non stop only because after having a few (or four, whatever haha) I know what it's like to look back and think "I wish Id' taken more" even though at the time you really feel horrid and no picture ever turns out acceptable by your standards ;0) BUT I'm so excited you're doing it now :0) Good for you! I only have two of me preggo with my first, I was that bad :0(Okay so I've ranted on enough I suppose but I just wanted to say congratulations, AGAIN, because I'm just bubbling with excitement for you two! <3 Enjoy the next 9 weeks, I hope they go fast enough for you!

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