Knock knock... who's there?

The moment you've all been waiting for...
Or at least the names for the moment you're all waiting for. :P

Before I continue, I am obligated to point out that these still might change. Who knows how we will feel in 3 months from now, let alone when we actually go to fill out the forms at the hospital!

I am also obligated to point out that I'm super excited about these names! Ready? Here we go...

Drum roll please...

For a boy we have chosen Keagan Asher. Technically we like the way Keagan Asher sounds better than Asher Keagan, but all in all we like the name Asher better as a first name. Then there is the whole silliness of us wanting the middle name to start with an A because we both have A middle names. So... most likely it will be Keagan Asher.

For a girl we have chosen Lori.elle Ashlyn. We like the fact that Ashlyn is similar to Asher, so we're happy with the middle name. For the longest time we couldn't decide between Ellia or Lori.elle, though, because we love the nickname Ellie. But then a brilliant thought occurred me when I realized that there was an "Elle" at the end of Lori.elle, and thus I could still use the Ellie as a nickname. The way I envision it, Lori will be the standard nickname that friends use, but for special affectionate people (like family), maybe Ellie will work. I have always been Jen to my friends and Jenny or Niffer to my closest friends and family.

So there you have it:
Keagan* Asher
Lori.elle Ashlyn

Consider the topic open for comments. =)


* The spelling is still up for debate. In 2005, Keegan ranked as the 240th most popular name and Keagan ranked 653. The spelling of Keegan is 4 times more popular than Keagan. So... should we have a poll? Keegan or Keagan?

It's enough to make me cry

OK, just a quick post since I already wrote one this morning....

Part of the status report of the prosthetic limb we delivered for my project says the following:

Jesse grabbed a quarter, put it in a slot, picked up is hat and put it on, then took it off, shook people’s hands, and generally was a good showman. He expressed his enthusiasm for the project and for this type of prosthetic in particular; he said that an arm like this one would make it possible for a person like himself to do many things by himself that currently require assistance. He then said that if he could take it home, he would.

A bit of background - Jesse is the man who is testing our prosthetic arm. He lost his arms a while ago in an electrical accident. I'm sure many of you have seen him on TV. I've mentioned him once or twice before.

Anyway, it's easy to understand just how difficult some of those movements are for someone with a prosthetic arm to do (especially Jesse, who is missing both arms). And the fact that he was able to do those things on just his second day with the arm... well it's just amazing. It's mind-boggling really. I mean think about what this arm is going to mean to a man like Jesse!

And to know that I was involved in making it happen... well it seriously has brought tears to my eyes.

I'm too easy

One thing I've learned to accept about myself is that I'm way too easily persuaded. If you want me to agree with you about something, then all you have to do is tell me your opinion. In my defense, I do have limits... I doubt I'd agree with anyone about certain touchy subjects like gay rights or racism. However, on the whole, it doesn't take much to change my mind.

And my poor husband has to be the one who deals with the results. I'll totally agree with him on something one moment and then turn around and talk to someone else who has a different opinion. The next thing Michael knows is that I return disagreeing with him completely. Well, that is until he tells me his opinion again and the whole vicious cycle begins all over again.

Obviously with this "handicap" of mine, there are greater and lesser consequences. However, today I'm dealing with a silly lesser consequence. Or so it may seem silly to everyone else. It's not so pleasant for me. Oh, right... you still don't know what I'm talking about.

Well, to make it a short, detail-less story... I read yesterday about how I'm in my last week of my 2nd trimester and that one of the things that is common in this stage of the pregnancy is constipation. I swear as soon as I read that, I became constipated. Yes, I'm too easily persuaded. Like I said, I have issues. But this time, it's not pleasant for me at all.

How pathetic am I that I'm so easily persuaded that when I just read about how common something is, I convince myself that it must apply to me too. Ugh. I wish I could say a couple years of counseling and I'd be fine, but maybe I'm beyond that point.

Single and pregnant? Uh... congrats?

Again, I don't have much time to write, but for those who are wondering, the CDR is going well. I presented yesterday and I think that it went OK.

I had a friend who had a baby a few years ago and while pregnant, she out-grew her wedding ring. I know that it really bothered her at the time and she ended up wearing it on a necklace instead. I remember thinking that it was really cute, but completely unnessary to be upset about it.

Well, once again, I have to chalk that up to "ignorance is bliss".

Yesterday I presented my slides in front of a lot of people from all around the world. And many of these people hadn't seen me in quite some time and thus this was the first time to know I am pregnant. And since my mom and sister were in town to decorate the nursery, I had taken off my rings for the weekend. So... yesterday I was getting all sorts of comments about the pregnancy, but I couldn't help but notice that many of the conversations started with a look to my left ring finger.

UGH! I swear! I'm married! I'm not pregnant outside of wedlock! Please look at my finger today! I'm wearing the rings today! Look again! Let's have a "do over"!!

Hmmm... how to bend like that

I read that at this point in time (26 weeks and 3 days), we might be able to hear the baby's heart beat through mommy's belly. And since I doubt I can figure out how to bend myself in half to put my ear on my tummy, I guess we'll have to put this on the list of things that Michael can do that I can not. I try to tell myself that it's only fair because he can't feel the baby move as much or as often as I do, but still... I wanna hear the heartbeat! (did that sound as whinny as I wanted it to?)

I'd love to write more to tell you about my weekend, but sadly I have a really big presentation to give in 10 minutes and the last thing I should be doing is reading up on my baby's progress. =)

Huh. Would you look at that!

I do believe my belly button is getting more and more shallow. I wonder when it'll pop.

The Future is Here!

Not that this has anything to do with the baby, but I thought it might interest some people to see the project that I'm working on.

PBS recently aired a pilot documentary titled "Science Investigators". In the pilot segment, there is a brief overview of the DARPA program I'm working on with some nice human interest coverage of the Walter Reed Program and of Jesse Sullivan (the patient who will be evaluating our limb over the next few weeks).

Anyway, check it out...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/si/
Chapter 5 "Building a Bionic Arm"

It's strange to think that I'm involved in something that seems so "out there" when it comes to cutting edge technology. Do you know what I mean? This is one of those things that you never think you know the people working on it because they must be the smartest people in the world. Yet, here I am... one of them... or at least I'm trying to convince people I'm one of the smartest people in the world. lol. Do you think my baby will believe my act?*


* Sneaky, eh? Did you see how I twisted this around to make it about my baby after all? Hehehe.

It's different from this side

I remember two different women at work who were pregnant last year and I remember my reactions to them well. I do not work with either of them, but pass both of them relatively often in the hallway.

I apparently saw one girl relatively often because every time I saw her I found myself thinking "Damn! She's still pregnant? Hasn't she been pregnant for like a full year now??"

The other girl took me by surprise and apparently I didn't see her as often as I thought I did because when I did see her, I thought "Damn! How long has she been pregnant? Didn't I just see her yesterday with a flat tummy? She looks like she's going to pop!"

Well, it's interesting to be on the other side of that story now. I'm sure that there are people who see me often enough that eventually they will start to wonder just how long I plan on continuing this pregnancy thing.

And today, I experienced the first example of someone being surprised by my pregnancy. I walked into the lobby and the security guard did a double take of my tummy and exclaimed "Damn, girl! When did that happen?!" Apparently this would be an example of the second scenario from above, where this security guard probably feels like she sees me often enough that me being this far into my pregnancy should not be a surprise to her.

I had to giggle because I knew exactly the thought process that was going through her head.

Smart Baby

Today's Baby Progress:
Over the next few days brain wave activity will begin!

Uh, maybe I'm missing something here, but I've been reading for quite some time now that the baby is sensitive to sounds, and every now and then the baby seems to be really active when strange sounds (like running water in the bathtub) are present. So, tell me how that's possible? How can my baby be reacting to sounds without existing brain wave activity?

Anyone? Anyone?

$$$ (Cha Ching Cha Ching Cha Ching)

When Michael and I were planning for our wedding (which by the way, was a blast - both the wedding itself and planning for it), we were constantly surprised at how much people were getting rich off of the whole wedding concept. For example, if you buy little bottles of bubbles, they're easily 2-3 times more expensive if you buy the wedding ones. Buying little white flowers? Make sure you don't buy them from the wedding section of the store.

I'm beginning to realize that the same is true for pregnancies. I recently bought myself "Mozart for Mothers-to-be" because I had heard good reviews on it*. However, when it comes down to it, it's just Mozart, right? It's not like the picture of a pregnant woman on the cover changes the music. So yes, I'm beginning to see that I am a sucker for baby stuff.

Why was it easier to say "no" to the unnecessary wedding themed stuff? (no need to really answer.... I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I was aware of the entire cost of the wedding back then, whereas now I'm still ignorant of the overall cost of the baby).

So... here I am at work, listening to my Mozart for Mothers-to-be and trying to not be disappointed in the fact that I do not hear anything lullaby-like about the music (though I do love Mozart).

And just for an additional little chuckle, I'll share with you the selection of CDs they advertise inside the cover of this one:
Mozart in the Morning
Mozart at Midnight
Beethoven at Bedtime
Mozart for Meditation
Mozart for Your Mind
Debussy for Daydreaming
Chopin and Champagne
Rachmaninoff for Romance
Bach for Breakfast
Mozart on the Menu
Bach at Bedtime
Vivaldi for Valentines
Baroque at Bathtime

Do you see the pattern? Your baby will stay clean if you listen to Baroque music during bathtime. However, I would not attempt to listen to any Chopin because "bathtime" doesn't start with the letter C. If you listen to Chopin during bathtime, you'll end up with God knows what.

In for a romantic evening? Well your only option is to listen to Rachmaninoff. If you listen to Mozart, you'll either fall into deep meditation or your mind will begin to wander off to other things. Of course, if you don't like Rachmaninoff, you can always put off your romantic evening until Valentine's Day.

Besides, the thought of listening to Chopin at breakfast does make my stomach turn. Maybe we now know why.


* Though More Mozart for Mothers-to-be did not get good reviews because people were surprised that it was full of opera music. Uh... hello? Do people really not know that Mozart was known for his operas?