To the shock of everyone who has known me for years, I'm now an excellent secret keeper and love surprises. For the most part we were able to keep Baby Strand a secret for the first trimester. We've decided not to find out the gender at our ultrasound appointment, and I think the one that seems to annoy the most people, is that we are keeping the name a surprise. I will say that our name choices are not anywhere near the top 10 popular names. We have enough Lauras and Christophers in our family tree now! Although, for ideas we have looked back at some relatives. For those of you who want a baby name NOW you may use the family name Don Juan. Yes, you think this is just a boy's name, but let me explain. Donald is the name of both of Chris's grandfathers (and on that note both his grandmothers are MaryAnn...once again the confusing family tree). My grandmother's name was Kathleen Juan Henry (maiden name Kvool). I've been told that my great grandmother Lola never told the origin of the middle name Juan so it is one of those family things that we can only speculate about. So for the next few months I'm lovingly referring to the little bean as Don Juan whenever anyone asks for a name. Don't worry, this will not be like "breakfast for dinner" at the wedding that started as a joke and then became reality!
And true to the secretive portion of Don Juan's name, he/she is quite mysterious! Once again I had an ultrasound at my appointment because my doctor couldn't find the heartbeat with the doppler. This is odd at 16 weeks so she tried two different machines. My torso is so short, where is there to hide?! Finally after a nervous 15 minute wait they squeezed me in for a very quick ultrasound (yes, this is exactly what happened at my 12 week appointment). The ultrasound technician put the wand way over on the left side of my stomach and all scrunched up was our little Don Juan, with a healthy heart beating away at a steady 148 beats per minute. He/she kept opening and closing its mouth. Jennifer and I joked that since I just ate choclate cake that sneaky baby was being like everyone in our family and hiding to savor the cake so he/she wouldn't have to share. After they did a close up of the heart the tech took a few pictures and it looks like he/she was shaking its fist at us. Poor Chris, I called him after the appointment to let him know he keeps missing out on seeing his baby. He will be at the next appointment where we get the planned 20 week ultrasound. Once I get access to a scanner I'll get the pics up. We are now at 10 pictures since I've needed an ultrasound at every appointment, but some of the early ones look more like modern art so you'll just have to "interpret" Don Juan in the way you want to.
1 comment:
Laura, Just another thought regarding your grandmother's middle name. I have had two female patients with a first name of Juan. They were Chinese! Certainly no specific reference to your grandmother, just a little more grist for the speculation mill. We enjoy your postings. Uncle Rick
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