Hello, readers! Thanks for taking the time to read the next installment of my Fit Pregnancy blog here on FitnessRx for Women!
When this Friday hits, I will be 28 weeks pregnant, and Baby Staggs still does not have a name. Undoubtedly, one of the first things you will be asked when you tell people you are pregnant, or when you share the gender of the baby, is “Got any names picked out?” I’m not sure when most babies get named by their parents, but it seems like when I tell people we haven’t chosen a name yet, they are kind of surprised. I know I have a little over 10 weeks left…maybe we are late to the name game? At any rate, talking baby names can be fun— but it’s somewhat serious, too. This kid will likely be stuck with the name I give him for life. It needs to look good on paper, it needs to sound good as a child as well as a full-grown adult, and for Tim and I, we didn’t want a name that was going to time-stamp him, or have him be one of 20 other kids with that name at school.
I am fine with the baby not having a name till we are at the hospital, but Tim would like the baby named before then, so we can start referring to the baby by his name and not have to stress after labor trying to pick one. We went through websites of baby names, and there are a lot of strange ones out there! The best one we found was actually based on the U.S. Social Security database (http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/#ht=1) and goes back year by year all the way to 1879! You can sort by popularity of a specific name, or look at the top 1,000 names from any year you want. This was important for us because we don’t want a name that was in the most popular or say, the top 15. After going through the top 1,000 names a time or two, I suggested some, and so did he— most of the times one of us would veto the name, but there are about six that we are considering right now. Unfortunately every time Tim and I talk baby names, instead of paring down our list, we end up adding one or two!
Also, I want a name that is going to have sentimental meaning. Tim doesn’t care about this so much…but I do. I think a lot of people do, hence why names are passed on for generations. My dad passed away in the summer of 2011 and will never get to meet my little guy in this lifetime. :( I would like to incorporate either his first name or middle name into the baby’s name, but it’s going to be tricky, so we’ll see. Tim and I usually talk important family stuff and fun stuff about the future on our date nights when we go to dinner. I think this weekend for our Friday night date night, I’m going make him commit to a name!
Another thing that will (hopefully) and more than likely happen to you is you will be the recipient of someone paying it forward! Since finding out I was pregnant, friends who already have kids have given me things, and I’m certainly happy about that! I received some super cute items, like new baby boy clothes from my friend Rochelle who is done having her kids, and just last night my friend Heather gave me all the maternity clothes that she will no longer be needing as well. I also have a few nice items on loan from another girlfriend who had a baby last year. This is great, because maternity clothes aren’t cheap— and who wants to go and spend a fortune on an entire wardrobe you will only be using for a few months? Not this girl!
It is great to have good friends who are excited to share your pregnancy with you. It seems like as soon as you find out you are pregnant, everyone else is pregnant, or mommas start coming out of the woodwork to share stories, offer support, or give you things! :) I am thinking now of how I can try to pay it forward when I am done with this pregnancy. It is estimated that the first year for a new baby, between supplies/baby stuff you need and day care costs, the average U.S. family will spend close to $10,000. Well, we found this to be low! Since our baby will be attending a day care, we’ll spend close to that in his first year of day care alone. So my point is, take from friends when they offer to you— it will come in handy!
Next week I’ll talk about registering for baby showers! A fun, but daunting task!
Here is a picture of me with two cute items from my friend Rochelle. Baby Staggs isn’t even here yet but he already has his first winter coat! The other picture was taken the same day, me at 27 weeks pregnant.
See you guys next week! Thanks for stopping by and as always, please feel free to comment below and share this post!
Becca
