Our first child was going to be a Christopher or a Kristin. She is a Kristin. When I was expecting the second, Stephanie was the name we chose for a girl, or Jason, if a boy. Jason it was. Then the third was a boy, we named him Bradley. But I found out years later that my sister (who had 3 boys) had also chosen Stephanie as a girl's name if she was to ever have a girl. Coincidence?? Neither of us had told the other and there is no one in the family with that name that I know of. No granddaughters got Stephanie.

After we named our daughter and realized how many times we were spelling her name for others, we wanted to use names that everyone could spell. The boys rarely get asked.

Lots of boys' names to choose from...Mark, Aiden, Bryce, Luke, Alexander, Matthew, Luke, Paul, Justin, etc. We bought a book with the names and their meanings and used that. Now you can just go into the internet to get that info.

Picking out a name is a lot of fun but can also be frustrating if one spouse likes a certain name and the other hates it.

Brenda

Gil, i remember asking a friend what she was going to name her baby and she said, "Well, he doesn't know it himself yet, so we're not telling anybody!"

Brenda, was your daughter born around 1980? There were quite a few Kristens around that time (from Dallas). I really wanted to call my daughter Allison but dh wasn't so sure about it. However, he was so excited when she was born that he gave in right away!

Marcia, in 1980 I was still in high school...dating my future husband. We were married in 1982 and Kristin was born in 1985. This Tuesday, August 14 we will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary!!! Wow...

Christopher and Kristin (Kristen and other variations of her name) were very popular at that time. But, we really liked the name and gave it to her. A few years ago I found out that Kristin is the US way of spelling Kristen (Canadian version). Years ago being able to find name tags or key chains in a Canadian store for the name Kristin...impossible. Until we went to Florida one year on a holiday I had never seen any. Then I definitely got one for her. Jolene is her middle name.

So, anyone making up their own version of a name will probably never be able to find that name correctly spelled in name tags, key chains, etc.

Brenda

I've found Allison on pencils and keychains, etc. A lot of times you can only find the "one l" version of the name. You can't find Edmund of course, but there are Eds and Eddies. Adam is pretty easy. We'll never find Darius, that's for sure!

Btw, Brenda - regarding 1980, i keep forgetting that i'm old! LOL

Marcia, you may be a little older than me but you are not 'old'.

Brenda

Verena??? Any news yet?

Not yet...getting pretty close though!! Oh but everything came back good from the hematologist so it turns out that I will get to deliver in Red Deer after all, and I don't have to be induced. What a big relief! My 'Briggs & Strattons' (as DH likes to call them) are starting to be pretty frequent, so it looks like everything is gearing up. :o)

Verena

That's terrific news, Verena. It's alot nicer to be able to have the baby at a hospital at home than having to travel. Glad to hear that the bloodwork is good, too. Have you decided on a name yet?

DH and I did something a bit different. All 3 of our boys ended up with their first names having 6 letters and their second names having 4 letters. Why? Really not sure but it was cool at the time. LOL

Shauna

That's good news Verena. Hopefully everything goes smoothly.
(And quickly)

Shelley

Best of luck, Verena!

Thanks everyone! We had the little guy on Thursday.

Matthew Frank Primeau
Sept. 13, 2007 3:25 PM
9 Lbs, 3 Oz.
20 1/4 Inches long

Everything went really well. Was only in the 'good stuff' for about 4 hours, (as opposed to 10 with Brayden) was more intense, but was really quick. We're both doing great and (YEAH!!) the both nights so far he's had one good 4 hour block of sleep (so I get to sleep too!!!)

I'll post some pictures later. For anyone on facebook, I've thrown a couple up on there.

Verena

Congratulations Verena, I sent you an email, look me up on facebook, I would love to see baby Matthew.

Hugs,
Sharon

Congratulations to both of you, Verena and a big welcome to little (not too little! lol) Matthew. I actually came on here today to see if there was any announcement from you and here it is. Very happy that all went well and your labour wasn't too bad. Keep working on that hockey team! Only 4 more to go!

Shauna

Congratulations Verena. It is nice to hear that everything went well.
And I do like his name.

Shelley

Verena, what good news! I like his name too, and a big boy at that. I have been checking every day to see when you would post the baby announcement. But, I am not on Facebook so, I will wait until you post a picture here.

Thursday...hmmmmm. What was I doing at 3:25pm? Think I was heading to the garden to do more planting...

Are you planning on doing any fall planting now that you can touch your toes again?

Brenda

Congratulations, Verena! I've been wondering how you were doing and if the baby had come yet. And great to hear that he's sleeping well already - that's half the battle!

Off to look you up on Facebook. :)

Hmm - thought i'd posted this already. I guess you can't just look for a person there, eh? I just joined so i'm still finding out about it. Oh well - i'll look forward to the pictures you post here!

Congrats Verena! I was wondering if you were going to post here soon or I would have to rat you out. ;0)

I saw your pics and he's so adorable!! Brayden looks so grown up with his little brother. I'm happy for you all. :0)

Congratulations, Verena. I was just thinking a few days ago that we should be hearing from you. Glad everything went well. My oldest DS is named Matthew, so you picked a great name!
Connie

a big CONGRATULATIONS Verena and DH..Your life will be full of adventures with 2 boys..savona

Congratulations Verena! Glad to hear that things went smoothly for you, with no complications. The best thing is that he's healthy, and sleeping well is definitely a BIG bonus!

Thanks everyone!! It's been a little crazy around here, but I finally got a chance to get some pictures onto photobucket.

Matthew's a really content baby...soooo nice!! He's gone back to waking up every 2 hrs to feed, but he only fusses when he's hungry or dirty, so I sure can't complain. Brayden's doing awesome as a big brother, and wants to hold Matthew all the time. It's pretty cute!

Here he is (these were taken in the hospital when he was just a few minutes old... there are more on photobucket.)

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Congratulations Verena! He looks adorable. Glad he is healthy and happy.

Syreeta

What a sweetheart! From the size of his hands, it looks like he'll be a big boy. Your dh looks really proud and happy, doesn't he? :)

Hope Matthew likes his bath a little better now! LOL Darius loves hers.

Matthew's adorable Verena! I agree with Marcia, he looks like he'll be a big boy. It's good to hear that he's a content baby.....that makes it so much easier for mom.;0)

Today after a long 5 weeks worth of wait, my son's paternity tests have came back.
Aiden is NOT my grandson.

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It is heart breaking for me and for Devon.
Jake and Devon are no longer an item as well. So I will no longer be seeing this little bundle of joy.
I'm sure I'll go through some kind of grieving process.
It is somehow kind of like a death.

I'm used to reading about stuff like this. Not living it.

Shelley

I'm sure as time goes on it will become easier and easier for both you and Devon. My girlfriend in BC went through the similar type of situation with her son and his fiance and 'their' baby.

It will be also be easier on Aiden now than if he was older and more attached to both of you. He sure has grown!

Maybe someday Jackie will find someone else for herself and to be a father for Aiden.

Brenda

OMG, Shelley - i'm speechless. My sympathies to you. I'm sometimes afraid that Shayne's new dad will want me to sever contact with him, and i know how i would feel about that, so i can imagine how you feel. Take care, Shelley.

Brenda, you are completely right. It is the best for Aiden to find out about this now.I never thought of it that way.
As for the rest of us, it is a blow. But time will help out.

Thanks Marcia.

Shelley

Oh Shelley, I'm so sorry to hear this. Maybe your son will get back with Jake.

Aiden sure has grown, what a cutie.

Hugs
Sharon

OMG Shelley what an awful shock and disappointment for you all. I do agree that it's best to find out now.

I have another tiny bit of consolation too - at least there aren't previous children being taken away also. My nephew (yes I have a nephew in his 20s) had a baby with his girlfrend... then the second baby was not his child and was in fact a different race. No paternity test required. She got custody of the first boy and they don't get to see him very often. It's so sad.

That is a terrible blow, Shelley. In four months, you can get very attached to a baby. I'm sure you will in a way, "grieve" for him. That would be a normal reaction. Sorry to hear about this twist, but I agree with the above, that it's better to find out now, rather than a few years down the road. That would have to be much harder.

Laurie

I went back into the beginning of this thread...

Gillian, you said your due date was Nov 20. Been thinking of you this past week...how are you and the baby doing? Are you still working?

Brenda

I'm ok, and the baby seems fine but I'm measuring really small so they are sending me for a fetal assessment this afternoon. I guess if things aren't functioning properly for some reason I might get induced early. Might be fine though, I don't know.

I was working up until this week, now I just go in if I'm needed, plus my regular Saturdays. I'm so bored. I have never not worked. I don't even take holidays every year. :(

Gil, guess you will have to fall clean the house, read a new book or two, learn some new crafts, get to know others in your area who are also stay at home moms, make some new recipes, learn to bake bread...etc. etc.

I have 10 acres, love to sew, read, scrapbook, tole paint, garden, take pictures, can and preserve, etc, etc. Don't know what it is like to be bored. Do you want to come over here...I can give you lots to do. No, really, once your baby comes, you will be busy.

Hope all goes well with the fetal assessment this afternoon. Keep us updated. You might be one of the lucky ones who has a smaller baby. I wasn't. My first baby was 3 weeks early but she was definitely ready 'cause she weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz. I am really glad that she wasn't bigger.

Brenda

Ah well she's fine, she's just a petite little lady (gender 100% confirmed now). It was great actually, I went to a bigger hospital and they gave me ultrasound photos this time... here's one
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They think she's about 5.5 lbs and healthy so if we go another two weeks she'll be almost average. I agree Brenda, I don't want a 10 lb baby either!!

I'm back at work today and tomorrow... LOL... the world's shortest mat leave. I'm not too worried about being bored once she gets here. Besides, DH is taking parental leave in January right through the summer so he will be the stay at home daddy. He's super excited, he loves babies. I will be at work part-time from January to April and then full-time over the summer.

Stay tuned for real baby pictures!

That is an amazing picture Gillian. I haven't seen an ultrasound picture at a late date. Amazing.

Shelley

That is a really amazing picture Gillian! Very cool....most mothers only get to see the face of their baby after it's born. Lucky you!

I can't wait to see her in real life!

How precious, oh my, you and DH must be so excited, I can't wait to see the real photos too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can tell she's a cutie already. I only have an ultrasound of my youngest - they figured I was too big (twins?), but he was lying sideways on his back, with his feet propped up - I love that picture.
I know what you mean about being bored. I don't know if it's that as much as it's losing your schedule - which gets even worse once the baby's born. I think part of it for me was that I'd been out working for a long time already, so I wasn't used to being home for long periods. I'm the kind of person who has a list for every day. I had to learn to loosen up - a lot. That, and we got in the habit of walking across the yard to my MIL's every day for tea - that was a lifesaver - I made tea, and she played with Matthew. By the time my 2nd was born, it was a lot easier because I knew what to expect, I guess, but we still went to see Grandma every day.

Connie

Gillian, they say that babies gain about 1 oz. a day in the last few weeks before they deliver. So, I hope you deliver soon.

When I found that out a few years ago...I calculated how much my babies would have been on their due date...

My daughter was 8 lbs 2 oz...would have been 9lbs. 1 oz on her due date.

My son was 5 days early...he was 8 lbs. 12 oz. add 5 oz and he would also have been 9 lbs. 1 oz.

My third was 2 days overdue. He was 9 lbs 3 oz. Would also have been 9 lbs 1 oz on his due date.

Concidental or what?

I did the list thing for years and years. Still do, once in a while. It really helps to get work done around the house and yard. It also helps in priorizing your 'things to do'.

Brenda

What a sad thing to have to go through Shelley, I hope time is helping to heal the hurt.
Gillian your baby is absolutely adorable!Those 3d scans are wonderful.
Verena what a lovely family you have. Hope you are getting a good nights sleep now that he is a few weeks old.
savona

We are all doing fine now. Initially it was shock, then sadness and anger. But life changes, and you start to heal.
Devon is still having a bit of a battle with his emotions,and now is suddenly unemployed. I hope he finds himself another job soon, so he has other things to occupy his mind.

My step brother and his wife just had a new little baby the other day. He was almost a month early, so he is a little guy weighing in at 5lbs 1oz. Initially they were going to call him Aiden as well. But after hearing about Devons situation, they changed their mind and called him Bryson David. I am very thankful that they changed his name.

Verena, I didn't realize until the other day that one of my friends has a Braeden and Matthew. I think that it is kind of funny how some people have the same taste in names.

Gillian, I'm thinking of you.

Shelley

I know Gil's not due until the 20th but i was kind of hoping her baby would come yesterday on my daughter's birthday. :) On another forum i go to, the daughter of one of the posters went in yesterday, but it was apparently a false alarm. I checked that forum this morning and the mother hadn't posted yet - she's usually there early - so maybe the alarm wasn't false after all!

Thanks everyone for thinking of me :) Still sittin here waiting and bored. At my appointment this week the doctor said I have grown quite a bit in one week so hopefully that is the baby fattening up and not just a layer of Mars Bar lard on me from Halloween. LOL.

Marcia, I'm hoping for Monday now, as that is my birthday. I doubt it though. Then one of my best friends is Nov. 15 so that would be a good day too. (same year, I'm actually 3 days older and we found our birth announcements on the same page of the local paper!)

Yes, I'm still alive. Life has just been crazy these days.

That's a really cool U/S pic! I don't think I've ever seen one with that much clarity and detail. What a beautiful little sweetheart.

Good luck for Monday, Gil. My middle son shares his birthday with my DH and he was born on DH's 30th. I've got a picture taken in the hospital of him holding the baby with a cake in front of them. My MIL could not figure out why I wanted her to pick up 2 "zeros" and 1 "three" for candles. I placed them so it read "30" and "0" on the cake. One of those very special Kodak moments in our family.

I envy all of you now in this digital camera age. It used to be such a pain to go get film and get them developed. My youngest son doesn't have near enough pictures taken of him as he was growing up. What a treat to be able to take them instantly and to get so many "perfect" and candid shots all of the time. Wow. Am I showing my age!!

Shauna

I did type a message here the other day but it vanished into thin air I see....

Sorry for being SOOO behind on this thread. I did read through it all the other day so I feel caught up again finally.

A very very belated congrats to Verena yet. Your little guy is such a cutie and he has probably grown by leaps and bounds already! You all look so happy which is awesome.

Shelley, I can't imagine what you must have gone through and I am glad to hear that all in all its getting better.

Gil, wow, that ultrasound is amazing! I've had 4 kids and numerous ultrasounds with them and I've never seen one so clear either! Cool! Thinking of you and wishing you all the best!

Shauna, that Kodak moment sounds really cool! Its so neat to have pictures like that.

I WILL check here more often! LOL

Ang

Ok, what's going on Gil, did you have her yet? You've been very quite lately!

No news yet? I've been thinking about her!

No, I'm overdue now. I'll be getting induced next week if nothing happens before then. My home computer is FRIED (to the tune of $700) and I have to come to work to check my e-mails n stuff. I'll for sure let you know when I have good news! Thanks for thinking of me :)