Our Journey to Five (#3)

Wednesday, October 20th

I had my 13 week doctor's appointment this morning. True to form for my doctor (I've had the same guy for all 3 pregnancies), it literally lasted 3 minutes. He's nothing if not efficient, and, at this point, I really don't have any questions to extend my visits...

I heard the heart beat again, pounding away at 150-160 beats per minute. Mr. Gallo (my boss, in case you don't know - I guess I don't reference him here that much) says that means it's a boy. He wants me to name him Rocko if it is. Proooooobably not going to make the short list.

Speaking of names. I can't remember if I've mentioned on here yet that that we've got "leaders in the clubhouse" for both genders. That doesn't mean, though, that I've stopped looking and thinking about it! I'm a big fan of the Social Security Administration (SSA) website, as you can search for the popularity of names for any given year. For me, I don't really want my children to have mega-popular names, so I shoot for names that are in the hundreds over the past several years. For example, "Ivy", during the three years before her birth, was found at numbers 406 (2003), 388 (2004) and 306 (2005). And "Macie" was at 455 (2005), 479 (2006), and 447 (2007). Even the more popular "Macy" spelling didn't make it higher than 243 in those 3 years.

So I'm shooting for unique, I guess, but not too crazy. And, of course, an "ie" spelling. But probably only if it's a girl, since that ending is a bit feminine sounding. Why do I like "ie" ends to names? Not sure, other than that they're generally easy to cut down to one-syllable nicknames, which, for some reason, is an important factor for me. Not sure why, since both Dale and I have taken to calling both of the girls "Booger" or "Boog" these days (feeling the need to shout-out to "Boog" Ross from my college days!).

But, back to names. The "not too crazy" requirement comes mostly from my husband. Dale likes boring names, especially for boys. I won't list any here, lest one of you read your OWN name and then have to go through life knowing that I think your name is boring.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that I think our "leaders in the clubhouse" are here to stay. We've actually found a boy name that I really like and Dale believes he can stomach for the rest of his life. It's a bit more popular than I would otherwise prefer (it is barely over 100 on the SSA site, and even dropped into the 90's for five years a decade ago). But, as of right now, I haven't been able to convince Dale to get past the word "no" when I suggest a different name. Not even an "I'll think about it".

So I'm wondering if I should share the names with you all? Nah, I think I'll wait. At least until we find out the gender on November 23rd (hopefully the babe cooperates!). That gives me a little more time to convince Dale to keep an open mind to my sometimes-crazy alternative suggestions...