Glucose Rematch, Swag and Namesakes

So, I made mention of the fact that the glucose test kicked my butt last week, right?  Good.  Well, I failed that test.  I have to retake it tomorrow and I can't say that I'm thrilled about it.  Luckily, Rik is going with me so I should be able to make it through without keeling over and revisiting the fruit punch shower of 2012.  I guess we'll know in about 12 hours.  I have to have blood taken 4 times so that's 4 excellent opportunities to test my theory that Rik is my security blanket and if he's there, I'm all good.

Things are going pretty great around here as we get ready to meet our little fellow.  I know I still have all but a week of my third trimester left to go, but this is the point where it all gets real.  Like, really real.  There's a crib upstairs for goodness sake.  A CRIB.  Amazing.

I haven't had that many symptoms to complain about the past few months.  The back pain finally eased up and I thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant my whole second trimester.  I had my energy back, no pain to speak of, no moodiness or anything like that...It was rather nice!  I mean, I'm a pretty pleasant person naturally, so what else did you expect? Ha!

I haven't had any cravings other than wanting hot wings a few times.  I've gained a total of 14 lbs at the last dr's visit (last Tues) but I think I've gained 2 more lbs since then.  I have only gotten one little stretch mark and that's on my tushy which I find kind of odd since that's not the part of me that's stretching or expanding that much (YET).  I've always had a bigger bum though so I can't say I'm shocked really.  I'm expecting that I'll end up with a few on my stomach for no other reason than I can't IMAGINE my skin stretching any further without tearing and yet, I know it will.  My belly button is almost flat now, which I find very peculiar looking.  The inside of a belly button is not attractive.  I know you grow up with your parents telling you your perfect in every way and all that jazz, but they never looked in your belly button.  Seriously, yuck.  ((And what's up with these websites making jokes about "look on the bright side, you can finally clean out all that lint"?  Ga-ross!  If you've been harboring that much lint in your belly button for that long, I find it highly doubtful you're going to be excited to part with it now!))  

The baby is super active and I could honestly sit and watch him wiggle and move and kick 24/7 and never get tired of it.  I always wondered if it'd freak me out or if I'd be all into it....Me? Totally into it.  I love it and I'll miss it when he's here.  Sure, I'll be thrilled he is here to hug and kiss but just in case this is the only time I get to experience this, I'm going to relish in every bump and nudge I can.  So far, I have carried him pretty low but also very out....He hasn't once gotten up in my ribs or anything like that.  I am sure he will soon, but so far, he's stayed more to the right side (if I'm looking down) and pretty low.  I don't know what he's got against my left side, but the kid rarely makes it all the way over there for a visit...ha, he just kicked or punched over there just now so apparently, he's letting me know what's up.  I've gone up a bit in the booby contraptions.  That was a n awesome day too b/c it was like going from feeling imprisoned in a straight jacket to running free in the warm sunshine after a long winter!  I haven't had any serious swelling other than my rings getting a little tight the other night.

Scrip Scrap's room is adorable so far.   Of course, all we have is paint on the walls, a crib and a dresser, but hey, it's a start.  I love just going in there and looking around at his little space.  I have a few ideas of what I would like it to look like eventually but I'm not in a huge hurry to finish it since he'll probably be in our room for a while.  Our bedroom is on the main floor and his is up about 20 stairs on the opposite side of the house.  I don't think we'll be leaving him up there alone for quite a while.  We're converting our front room into a playroom and I think that will be much better for him since it's just around the corner from our bedroom.

I will say that our boy is going to have serious swag.  I mean, that's my goal anyway. (I've been obsessing over little boys clothing lately.  Not in an unhealthy way, but still....it may need to be addressed.)   Rik was a ballplayer (still is) and a coach, we are obsessed with the Atlanta Braves, I was a ballroom dance instructor and a hip hop dancer for years and love dressing up little boys.  Recipe for disaster.  This means he will definitely have sports swag and just the regular ol' super awesome swag.  Case in point?  This sweatshirt on the right:

(photo credit)

It's just too cute for words! haha

I seriously doubt though that his Daddy will allow the flat-bill hat though, we're a little more traditional when it comes to baseball gear.  I have found the cutest Braves outfits that I can't wait to get the little guy.  They even have a jacket for a 12 month old that matches ours.  Too cute!  Anyway, this is a total tangent now that I'm not sure how I got on...but anyway....he'll have some swag, ok?  :)  

Well, now I guess I should go ahead and share with you our little tot's name!  I know I left you hanging last time but I have to do what I can to get you back for more, see?   We really thought long and hard about what his name should be and I had several different criteria that ended up taking several "potentials" out of play.  The criteria was this: 1) It had to be easy to pronounce on sight 2) It had to be easy to spell when heard it said 3) It couldn't be too trendy/unique 4) it had to sound good with our last name (no small feat there) and 5) I wanted to avoid all dirty nicknames and initial/monogram fiasco's 6) it had to feel/sound natural being yelled up the staircase.

Here is a running list of names that we kept adding and subtracting from with a dry-erase marker on our bathroom mirror based upon the above criteria (minus the one we chose):

Rowan

Tucker

Ryne

Nolan

Rhyce

Lincoln

Hudson

Robinson

Most of these are baseball names, if you're not familiar with the sport, and we liked several of them quite a bit.  For a while, I was hung up on the non-baseball name of Tucker.  Rik was then crazy about Nolan and I almost relented and gave the nod on it.  Then, I re-stumbled upon a name that we had discussed in passing a few days into the pregnancy when such things were not to be discussed b/c it was still a scary time and we didn't want to jinx anything.  That day, I jokingly told my mom that if we had gotten pregnant with twin boys I would have named them Easton and Weston.  She thought that was a riot and then I remembered how much I really loved the name Easton.  Shortly thereafter (next day, I believe), Rik was flipping through the baby name book and said, "What about the name Easton?"  All I could do was smile because it just sounded so right.  So, we put it on the mirror.  A few days later, we were sitting at this little country diner talking about the little guy and discussing his name and Rik just said, "Easton.  Let's do it.  I love it," and so did I.  So, we did.  

Our little boy's name is:

Easton Andrew

Andrew is the name of Rik's best friend and we've always planned to name our son after him if we ever had one.  That one's been in the books since 2006 when we were making a very long trip home from Colorado during a snowstorm.  I am absolutely in love with my son's name.  Just reading it above makes me a little teary eyed.  Knowing he has his own identity and it's a good strong name just makes me feel wonderful.  I was so stressed about his name and what a huge responsibility it is to name someone you've never met, seen, etc.  Having it decided upon and loving the outcome is fantastic!  I hope you like it.  :)

Ok, toodles for now.  Keep us in your prayers tomorrow.  I am a nervous wreck about the possibility of having gestational diabetes.  I've read up on it and I do not want to chance my son being sick or overweight at birth.  That scares me to death.  I'm hoping that tomorrow's test goes off without a hitch and that last test was just a fluke. 

Till next time, 

Shannon