Decisions, decisions

I feel like there are so many questions, so many things to decide, even right after the baby news comes. Well, probably because there are. Although you can usually stall a little until a few months go by and then you realize, HOLY COW…we’ve got some decisions to make! I would be lying if I said that we had even a fraction of much of it figured out, but I thought I would post a few notes about some of the decisions Jeff and I have made thus far.

Genetic testing
Our next doctor appointment is this Friday (Friday, September 19th). It is during this appointment that we have the option of testing my blood to see if there is an increased probability that our baby will suffer from some well known birth defects (neural tube defects such as Spina Bifida and chromosome abnormalities such as Down syndrome are examples). This is called a Quad Screen. It’s so difficult to even think about anything being wrong with our baby, but there were several factors aiding in our decision to forgo the test. We decided that if the worst case scenario happened and all indications showed a high probability that something was wrong with our baby, we would still continue with the pregnancy regardless. Also as I mentioned, the test gives a probability and not a definite answer regarding such aliments, so we thought it would be best not to worry for the next several months based on a probability. In addition, if the results of the blood test warranted further testing, those next steps could cause harm to the baby. Albeit rare, that was a notion too scary for us. There is so much worry as it is, and we will worry until our baby is born whether he or she is healthy. Then, we’ll have every day thereafter to worry if everything is OK with him or her, so we are taking what anxiety we can out of the equation. I know that some like to have the test done because there can be a lot to be said for being as prepared as possible, and that makes complete sense too. However, for us it made more sense to go the other route and it’s a decision we feel good about.


Hospital delivery
So this next one may leave some of you thinking we have lost it a little, but let me explain. Even though we live just a couple miles from a beautiful hospital, we have opted for driving into the heart of the city to have our baby. This could mean a 30-40 minute commute, on a good day. Needless to say we’re hoping that a March snowstorm doesn’t make for further delay! There are two hospitals my doctor will deliver at and even though the other one is closer, we have made the decision to deliver at Abbott. Not only is it conveniently located adjacent to Children’s Hospital should something go awry, it’s a great hospital. Plus, it’s my doctor’s preferred hospital and since I would love for him to deliver our baby even though it’s not always the case, the chances are better by going to Abbott. I’ve known several people who have delivered their babies at this hospital and who’ve had wonderful experiences. And although it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing place out there, it’s top notch. At a mere one and a half pounds of a baby upon birth, I watched in awe the miracle of my friend’s baby boy’s life surviving before my eyes at Abbott and Children’s. Since then I have had a special place in my heart for those hospitals. Now, if my water breaks at 3:00 in the morning with the wrath of one of our lovely state’s winters in full effect, I may be less than thrilled with the long haul to the hospital. And if my husband’s leg has to be amputated because of how hard I’m squeezing it on the way, I may feel pretty badly (as I’m screaming at him to hurry his turtle paced driving butt up while reminding him without using my quiet voice that he helped to get us into this mess in the first place and everything from here on out is entirely his fault), but our decision stands.


Pink or blue
The question of whether or not we are going to find out if we're having a boy or a girl has come up a lot lately and is probably what people are wondering about the most. We decided fairly early on that we would like to be surprised, so unless there is something that “stands out” on an ultrasound that gives it away accidentally, we’ll be waiting for the indication of sugar and spice and everything nice or snips and snails and puppy dogs tails until the delivery room. There are definite advantages of knowing the sex of the baby right off the bat, but for us, the aspect of the surprise really excites us. It has been fun speculating in our own minds already. Still, the anticipation is slightly agonizing. I think Jeff is even more ready for the wait to meet our baby to be over than I am, and we’re not even half way there yet!


Baby names
Even before we found out I was pregnant we had some baby names on the list. The list has grown now and needs some narrowing down, not to mention, we could even use some more options (feel free to comment on any of your favorites you don’t want to use for yourselves!). We’re pretty set on a few of them, maybe one or two in particular, but are still in discussions. Don’t you all love the vagueness? Since we’ve learned a few lessons about sharing some names that haven’t gone over as well as we may have hoped (and that was just with our parents!), we don’t know if we’ll be sharing the final list. I know, I know, it’s completely annoying. We’ll probably give a few choices to keep the hungry at bay, but I guess we’d rather have you tell us you hate our baby’s name once he or she is born. Of course, I’m sure we’ll equate that to the fact that you hate our baby, but that’s on you. :)


Here are a few girl names one or both of us like, but that we have most likely ruled out for now (or at least for this baby): Sophia, Bianca, Lola and my favorite name if I married an Italian, Giovanna. Well yes, I married that Italian man of mine, but with a last name like ours, it’s not quite working for us! So, a little reluctantly, I have moved on. For boy names, Jeff wasn’t a fan of my Nash suggestion (and now I’m fine with it going away too) and we have pretty much decided that Jeff’s suggestion of Cristiano probably won’t make the cut. If I could guarantee that he wouldn’t be called Cris, I’d be all for it. But Cris with no “h” isn’t as desirable for us. Landon was an option, but that one is off now too. Bundlebreeder’s name if he wouldn’t have been a Jeff, Rocco, has also fallen off the list. The good news is that with all of these off of our list, we have names we agree on that we like more than any of those mentioned for our kiddo, so we’re in pretty good shape. Well, we’re in decent shape. Great shape would be that we have fully decided on our top two choices and that is not the case. And my gosh, is it customary for kids in our country to have middle names too? Yeah, we’re so not there yet.

As for decorating the nursery,


childproofing the house,


choosing a daycare (or deciding on my work status post-baby altogether)


and a plethora of other decisions and preparations needing to be made, we still have a quite a bit to figure out. We did get a new vehicle for baby (and for mama!), so we've been enjoying having an SUV again. We will be especially happy about it once the snow starts falling around here, which could be right around the corner with how it's been feeling sometimes. Ugh.


If there are burning questions anyone would like to ask, please feel free to ask away. There will be so many new things to think about as each day comes, but we are on our way to making a few decisions...slowly but surely.