Can’t believe I’m almost halfway through my pregnancy – how exciting (and nerve-wracking at the same time – holy cow, the baby will be here soon!). I’m so anxious for the 21/22 week mark, as we will likely be able to learn whether we are carrying a baby girl or a baby boy during that time frame. We can’t wait to find out!
Before we conceived a child, Jordan and I had discussed the idea of not planning to find out the gender of the baby. Jordan was a big proponent of this plan especially, since he loves the idea of being surprised. But as we began trying for a baby, I couldn’t help but express my desire to find out the gender for practical/logistical/planning reasons – I’m just too much of a Type-A personality not to find out! Luckily, I have an understanding husband who was willing to go with whatever I decided, so we ultimately chose to find out the gender of our child.
A week or so ago, I had a lot of anxiety associated with finding out the gender of our baby – particularly if we learned that our baby is a boy – because we hadn’t yet finalized our chosen boy’s name. A baby girl’s name came relatively easy – we have had long-time favorites (since maybe March or April of 2011!) that we love and that we’ve kept secret, so choosing a first and middle name for a baby girl was comparatively easy. After many a discussion, Jordan and I had finally selected a first name for a baby boy, but as of a week ago, we still had no middle name and no good ideas. However, the other day, I suggested a name that I’ve loved for awhile as a middle name possibility, and Jordan really liked it, so that’s that – we have our first and middle baby names selected, for both girl and boy! Now I couldn’t be more excited to find out what we’re having, simply because I feel more prepared name-wise. :)
Wondering why we are keeping our baby names secret until the baby arrives? Truthfully, we never thought we would! A few of our friends decided to keep their chosen baby name secret when they were expecting their children, and we appreciated that A) the couple had a fun, exciting secret that they were able to share between the two of them for the entire pregnancy, and B) by keeping the name secret, the couple was able to sidestep hearing any opinions (at least ahead of time) on their chosen baby name. What Jordan and I have found since deciding to keep our baby names secret is that it’s SO fun to keep the baby’s name a secret from our friends and family (literally, no one else knows except for us – well, and Wyatt the dog) because it makes the pregnancy seem so much more personal and private for us. We’ve also discovered that it’s empowering to select a name for our child that we love, that we believe in, and that we feel has significance, and because we’re keeping our chosen names secret, we will be able to present the name that we have chosen for our child in a way that emphasizes our reasoning for choosing the name! We love the idea of making a video to announce the baby’s name and the significance behind our choice (we will make the movie a month or so before the birth and we will wait until shortly after the birth to release the video). Lastly, we also love the fact that no one can offer opinions (positive or negative) on our chosen names; truthfully, we love our names so much that it would suck to hear negative opinions at all, but especially prior to the arrival of our baby. It seems like a good idea to avoid any second-guessing of our choices!
I’ll keep you posted on any new developments as my pregnancy continues – we have another prenatal appointment this week, and we’re excited to be nearing the halfway point!
