Naming Rights

                           

The time is upon us to start the process of naming the small creature that is growing inside my wife.

We have successfully come to an agreement on a girl name without too much of a struggle. We both like the name Isobel Jane Butler. When she is little we would call her Izzy and it will be cute, but the name Isobel can grow along with her.

Now the boy's name is where we have run into a bit of difficulty. We aren't far apart when it comes to a name, but we have reached a stalemate. Now, because I am going to solicit opinions I won't tell you who is on which side of the debate just what both sides are.

The lines are drawn between Theo and Theodore. It seems like an easy enough compromise, but it has proven trickier than we had initally thought. So here is where we stand.

Theodore: The name has a more proper sound and makes an impression on a resume. Can be shortened to Theo although Theodore could also be nicknamed Ted or Teddy which neither of us are fond of.

Theo: Both of us like the idea of calling him Theo, so why give other people the option of using something else? Theo is a modern name that still has some of the strength of a more traditonal title. To counter Theo James Butler is a bit abrupt both in written and spoken form.

We also have had several compromise options including changing the middle name to get Theo Douglas Butler or going with both James and Douglas as middle names.

Just an Amusing Story

That magical time when baby is moving and kicking is upon us and our baby seems to really likes to groove according to my wife. I have felt baby kick which is both strange, super cool and leads me to a funny story from our last doctor's appointment.

So after my wife went through the routine with the nurse, we waited for the doctor to come in. As we sat there I asked if baby had been active during the day and my wife said not any more than usual.

The doctor knocked and came into the exam room and asked my wife how she has been feeling and all the normal pleasantries before measuring her belly. Then he got out the Doppler out to check babies heartbeat. This is where the fun began. (Cue Benny Hill Theme)

The doctor found the baby and then baby moved somewhere else. The doctor would slide the Doppler over and baby would dodge again. You could tell the doctor was slightly amused and slightly annoyed when he looked over and said, "Quite the active baby."

After a laugh and nod from my wife and a few more minutes of hide and seek from the baby the doctor was able to get baby to hold still and began counting for heart rate. After just a few moments of counting our baby landed a solid kick directly to the Doppler.

That's right baby fought back. It kicked the Doppler so hard that it actually skipped off my wife's stomach. At first I thought I was seeing things until both my wife and the doctor started to laugh. The doctor managed to get out "Baby didn't like that too much," between laughs and then told us that everything seemed really good before leaving the room.

Of course my wife and I continued to laugh as we went to check out because what else can you do when your child seems to have your stubborn streak four months before it's born?

What Are You Having? An Excellent Question.

Since the wife and I have started telling people that we are expecting a baby the reaction is almost universal. The standard congratulations followed by the question "what are you having?"

Then we give them the answer. We are not going to find out. We really want this to be a surprise.

Now, the naysayers want an answer for a multitude of reasons. Some just out of idle curiosity, others because they want in on something they think is a secret, and then the practical people that can't find or don't want to give gender neutral gifts.

 I have noticed the seeming lack of gender-neutral anything and I think it is sad. And, while knowing the gender of the baby could be fun, I like a good secret.

The idea that I will have the opportunity to come out of the delivery room and announce to the world that we have a girl or a boy; it makes me smile just thinking about it.

It seems like the hardest part of all this will be not accidentally finding out. We have an anatomy scan coming up and the first piece of advice we got was "if you don't want to know you must tell anyone that gets near the ultrasound machine". I'm debating wearing a sign around my neck.

For anyone reading this wanting to know the gender of our baby- even if it slips somewhere we aren't telling. It has to be a surprise to someone.

Now I'll throw it out to all of you. Did you find out what the gender of your baby was? Of course if you have a guess leave it in the comments, all the wives' tales leave us at a stalemate.

The Announcement

For anyone that knows me, but hasn't heard or for those of you that have stumbled here by accident let me start by announcing that my lovely wife and I are expecting a baby! I hate to overstate the obvious, but hard to learn to be a dad without having a child.

We waited until the second trimester to let the world know and it has been a slow reveal to this point, but now it is time to pull off the proverbial band-aid off and let everyone know.

It has been an interesting 16 weeks from the home test when we looked at each other and couldn't decide whether to laugh or be terrified. The "are we ready?", followed by the "well too bad if we aren't" and the excitement of "we are having a baby!".

We have had two ultrasounds and I will never forget the stupid smile on my face when we heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time. The second ultrasound I was excited to see all the parts babies have, arms, legs and a big head.

I plan on using this as a place for my thoughts as I figure out how to be a father-to-be and a father. I want to share the good and the bad, hopefully find some other men in learning to be dads and give some people a few laughs as I work my way through.