Welcome to the Hotel California

So many of you know what a trying pregnancy this has been for us but for those of you who don't allow me to enlighten you. I was my normal violently ill for the first 4 1/2 months. While this sucks we've come to expect that when I get pregnant I am pretty useless for awhile. I had a three week bought with depression that was really rough (no one may know that because, shockingly, when you are depressed you don't feel like talking to anyone). So if you thought I was ignoring you or didn't love you anymore, it's not you, it's me:) It was rough and something I've never experienced before: complete lethargy (I might have made that word up, in case I did it means I was really lethargic:), I felt utterly useless and unproductive, from the time I got up I only wanted to go back to bed and cry. Frankly it sucked but also gave me a real empathy for people who struggle more severly with depression. In case you didn't know I tend to have a "suck it up" attitude about depression. Now, I realize, you can suck all you want but it's just going to result in some serious air bubbles in your stomach! Anyway, I'm feeling better now:)
The biggest complication has been that my womb has become the Hotel California. You can check in, little boy, but you can never check out (bwaa,haha). This is due to a little condition called Placenta Previa. Basically my placenta (or I guess it's the babies placenta since I have no real use for it) is covering the cervix aka exit out of the womb. Thanks to modern medicine you don't need to use the door to get out of this hotel. My doctor will be cutting a temporary door. The good part about this is that I no longer have to make it to June 1st. Most likely we will have our C-Section in mid may (before my birthday). This means I will have had Lindsey at 25 years old and this baby at 26 (impressive eh?) It also means that I have yet to have a "normal" delivery. Christin was Sunny Side Up (which contrary to it's sound is not so sunny) and Lindsey was induced (and still was a week late). So now we are going to try a C-section. I'm thinking the next one will be breech.
Anyway, on a serious note, please pray for all of us. There is a risk that as the baby grows and puts pressure on the placenta I could begin bleeding and need to have an emergency C section earlier than mid May (which is 38 weeks). My thought is "Pray for May" I will be 36 weeks come May 1st and while an emergency C-Section would be scary by then the baby will most likely be developed enough to have a normal start (lungs will be functioning etc.) It's funny to think of the things that I found annoying about the girls births that are now blessings. For example I was late with both of them (lessens my chances of going into labor early with this one) and they were both over 8lbs (not huge but larger than expected which means this one will probably be bigger too and since he will be early that's a great thing!) Oh and I might even get to try out a new hospital and have this one at Lourdes in Camden, which if I do I think I'll write a book of local hospital maternity wards and make some money:)
God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!

Not So Passive Aggressive

So George and I just went on a wonderful vacation, a babymoon, if you will. We slept in, layed on the beach, and ate ourselves silly at the wonderful restuarants. It was perfect. Uninterrupted time of just us. No pauses in our conversations to clean up anything foul or answer a question that had to be answered immediately like, "when I'm 12 can I. . . ?" And to our sheer delight, a bathroom at every turn mostly empty with someone waiting outside the door to give us a little squirt of hand sanitizer. By Friday, while sad to be leaving the beach we were ready to see our girls again. We had talked to them and knew they were in the capable hands of my mom so didn't really worry but we missed them as much as we knew they missed us, and that my dear friends is where we made a terrible mistake: assuming they had missed us and longed for our return.
When mom pulled up Christin had fallen asleep in the back seat. George picked her up and noted, happily, that she had wet herself on the way over as if to say, "welcome home". She was dead to the world, however, she woke up when George laid her on her bed and exclaimed in her most whiney, horrible voice, "I don't want to be here I want to go back to Nana's!" Lindsey, on the other hand seemed happy to see us, as long as mom was there. When she stood up to leave Lindsey began to cry and yell, "Nana, Nana!". She cried until George brought home french fries and then seemed to get over it. That is until Saturday night when she began throwing up. In her own way seeming to say, "fine you want me to be here with you? well, I'll show you some real fun in the form of projectile vomit all over me, you, and my car seat. I dare you to ever leave me again!"
In a few weeks I am going to Chicago to see Rebecca. I can't wait to see what I will be greeted with when I return!

What's in a name?

So it's about that time when the name game should be starting. However, there is a slight problem, we have no name. Not even a list of names we are picking from. Now don't assume we haven't read the baby name books because we've read, discussed them, and crossed off all the names. Why are there more girls names? We managed to pick out a girls name on the way to the ultrasound and yet a month after learning we were having a boy he has no name (that's not entirely true, he has a middle and a last name, so never mind we are 2/3's of the way there)
So I decided (without George's knowledge;) to allow you to name our first boy. You should be honored, aren't you special? Naming your grandchild,great-grandchild, nephew, great-nephew, 1st cousin once removed, or friends (or strangers but that's kind of creepy (not that you can't read this if you don't know me but maybe it would be best if you don't comment, then again what the heck, if you've got a good idea I'm open to it!)) baby!
Every game has a prize and rules. The prize is, obviously, you name the baby, if you thought it was more than that you really don't know me.
And now the rules:
1. Can't be trendy, if it's in the top 25 of any list in the past couple years forget it (hint: if it ends in "en" ie: aiden, caden, hayden, payden, etc. it's on that list)
2. Must sound like a strong man name, in other words naming him Shannon after me is not acceptable.
3. No aliteration, no offense to my friends and family who have names that start with the same letter as their last name but I'm not into it.
4. George is not an option, we already have one of those.
5. Think about nicknames: yes Josiah is a wonderful name but let's face he'll be called Joe and that puts him at the top of the popular list.
6. Must sound good with Christin and Lindsey, while Zerubabel might be a wonderful name it just doesn't sound that fantastic at the end of the Christmas card.
7. Bible names are great but please consider the Biblical character, ie: Zacheus, great guy, great name, but a wee little man, let's face it no DeVol should start off with a name that already has a short joke built in.
Well, that' enough rules to get you going. So let's hear those suggestiions.

PS. Don't be offended when I shoot them down it's nothing personal, just blame it on the pregnancy hormones!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

Ok, I am no longer a bad mother if I admit I really wanted a boy this time. Now I'm intuitive:) I felt a little guilty wanting a boy in case it was a girl. Today, however, it was confirmed. By confirmed, I mean the ultrasound tech pointed to something with a little arrow and said "see that sticking out there? It's a boy". My first thought was just pure joy, my second: this picture with an arrow pointing to his, umm thingy, may haunt him for the rest of his life.
Ironically, on the way to the drs. office we all but picked a girl's name. However, when it comes to boys' names the choices are: Jochobed (submitted by Christin), Zerrubabal and Jereboam (both Georges) and Mommy still needs to think on this for awhile and read some baby name books (I'm leaning towards that one!).

I've got to run. More info and some adorable ultrasound pics to come!