Sunday, January 28, 2007

No More "It" or "She"

The baby has a name! Well, to be honest, she's had a name for some time now. I've just had this strange reservation about telling people what it is.

She'll be: Goody Pearl Wesley

Or it might be Goodie Pearl. Apparently, I found out last night, there is some disagreement here. I can't write Goodie without thinking of Goodie Mob so I'm hoping I win this one.

Tim came up with the Goody part, and I contributed the Pearl. I'm not sure why I didn't want to tell people. It's not that I don't like the name. I love it. But there something else, some urge to keep it secret until after she's born. Like waiting to open a present.

The most common reaction we get is, "Are you kidding?" Which is then followed by one of three statements-in order of frequency: 1) "Seriously, are you kidding?", 2)"I love it; it's so cute.", and 3) "Hmm, that's different." #3 is usually accompanied by a serious scrunching of eyebrows.

It actually was way harder than we thought to come up with a name. When I was in the 3rd or 4th grade, I read this delightful Victorian novel (can't remember the title) and came up with what I was certain would be my daughter's name: Aramintha Chavalynn ("h" is silent). Of course, Minty for short. How fantastically rococo!

Anyhow, that name never made it onto our list of likes. Most people said my list looked like great names for a golden retreiver. I tend towards the old-fashioned ones. I spent some days typing names into this nifty generator. Goody doesn't show up at all. And Pearl dropped off the radar at the beginning of the 1990's, after peaking as the 26th most popular US girl's name in the 1890's. I think that fills the old-fashioned bit!

Oh, and by the way Nicole, no-one has even mentioned Minnie Pearl. I think most adult people under 50 years old from the West Coast have no idea who the character on "Hee Haw" were. Thankfully.

Anyway, it could be worse. We could have, afterall, needed to name a boy! Good luck, Andy and Alicia!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Totally Hypnotized...

I've been thinking about HypnoBabies a lot these days. Mostly because I have gotten a little behind on the course I scheduled for myself, as I am likely the worst procrastinator I know. Anyway, I've really been itching to watch some hypnosis births, and came across this video segment from dateline. I think I'll get Tim to watch it tonight.

I want to tell all the pregnant women I know about HypnoBabies, and that they should use it. But for some reason, I just can't. I feel like I am trying to convert them to a new religion or something along those lines. Maybe after I have been through the birth and know it works firsthand things will be different. It's like handing out a recipe for the best cookies ever when you've never made the cookies yourself.

I really do believe it will work. I am actually suprised at the number of people who tell me I am crazy for not wanting drugs for labor. Even--this totally baffles me--from women (and men) who have no children and who have never attended a birth. Seems to me like maybe people need to change how they view childbirth. What about all those stories of women giving birth in fields and then going right back to work?

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Update on Baby

Sorry it's been a couple days since I've been able to post. As a manager, I get to fill in for sick employees. Unlucky for me, this time it was at our satellite office, that runs opposite hours from my normal office. So I had a couple of 10 & 12 hours days of good, clean office fun.

Anyway, on Thursday I had my monthly check-up with the midwife. For those of you who don't already know, I'm planning to birth outside of the hospital at a midwife-led birthing center. It's basically like having the baby at home, but since it is in Wenatchee it's closer to the hospital than we are here at home, just in case. I'm also planning a natural childbirth, no drugs, no IV's, not constant fetal monitoring. And I'll be using the Hypnobabies self-hypnosis method during the birth. I'll definitely do a post soon regarding what I think about Hypnobabies so far for those of you who are interested.

The baby is doing fine. I'm still measuring a little large for my dates, but the gap is starting to narrow a bit, so I am less concerned about a 14 pound baby than I was a month ago. She's probably still gonna be a big one, since Tim was. And yes, I do look pregnant:


I'm off to Seattle for a couple of days for a meeting. I really wish I didn't have to, as I have many, many projects to finish before she is born. At least I will get to go to Whole Foods, my favorite grocery store ever! I was thinking about it yesterday and I only have 12 weekends now before I have a baby. That leaves only 11 weekends to get these projects done. I'm taking a pattern to Seattle with me to cut out in the hotel room. Hopefully by Friday I'll have it done. If it turns out as cute as I think, it may be the going home outfit.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Settled on a Quilt for Baby's Room

With Joann's Fabric having a 3-day sale (all calico 50% off) I was forced to make a decision about the quilt I am going to make for the baby's room. I found this book at the library, and chose the "Hearts and Gizzards" pattern. I love the texture made by the pleating in the little circles. It reminds me of fabric yo-yo's. Here it is from the book, composed of true reds and light pinks.

I'm going to use cranberries and light pinks/mauves.

Here's a picture of the fabrics I got on sale:


The top right fabric will be a border, probably about 4 inches wide, and the dots on the top left will be the binding fabric.

I was inspired by the Blossoms line by Baby Martex; but I'm not so into mass-produced, and wasn't crazy about the applique. I did buy the sheet, though. I "needed" it to remind me of the color scheme.

Cute, huh?

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Finally!


The first baby dress is finished! After many, many hours trying to learn how to use my new serger, I decided just to dive in. This dress is made using McCall's 5166. Or at least that's how it started. At some point I decided that just having the bodice lined wasn't good enough. So I wanted the whole dress lined. And then, of course, if the dress was going to be completely lined, it might as well be reversable. So here you go.






I made this entirely from "Why did I buy that?" fabrics in my stash. Of course, that was the only box I had access to out of the storage building. I can see the other boxes (the purse fabrics, quilt fabrics, and other waiting-for-a-special-use fabrics) way back in the farthest corner. But I can't get to them.