Baby Name List

 Previously I gave a list of 7 names that I like. Last month I started to get more serious about it. I will likely need pick one within the year. So I am being more serious about it.

I have always thought that I wouldn't pick a name until I meet a baby. I think a name has a lot of meaning and power. I don't think I can decide a name without ever seeing the baby. However, I can still eliminate names I don't like and compile of the remaining names. I think being able to review and look over the list during the pregnancy will help me decide when the time comes.

Filtering for Popularity

As you know my main requirement is that the name isn't too popular. My name is pretty unique and I never shared the name with someone in my class, grade or even school. It was only a few years ago that I shared the name with a co-worker. While I don't need a name that is that unique, I want to aim for a name that the baby won't share with classmates at least. 

So what I did was I went back to the social security website and looked up the top 1,000 names for girls and boys in for each year from 2010, 2012, 2014-2019. I put all of them names and the number of people who were given that name in excel. Then I had excel add the numbers together by year. There ended up being 1,251 girl names and 1,224 boy names in the top 1000 sometime in those years. 

Then, I sorted by top names. Liam for boys and Emma for girls. I decided to highlight the names in red if I didn't like them and orange if I was interested in them. I immediately made the first 100 names in girls and boys names red. While I wouldn't mind using a name with was number 90, but a name that is 90 in the last decade might shoot up to top 25 in the next decade. That is what happened to my sister, Caitlin. There are that many Caitlin's her age, but a it became pretty popular in the next decade or two. So I want to try to avoid that if I can. 

After that I went down the list and highlighted the cells orange or red depending on whether or not I liked it. There were a few names that were the same as the top 100 but with different spellings, so I looked out for that too.

When I went through all of the names I realized some of the names that I have been jotting down in the last few years weren't on the list so I added those to the bottom.

Middle Names = Family Names

You might know that I am a genealogist. I have a tree on Ancestry and it almost has 4,500 people on it. I also have the tree cross posted on a some other sites, but I don't updated them as much. I was lucky because my Grandma and her cousin did a lot of work on their side of the family and my Uncle had a lot of information on my Dad's side of the family. So it was easy to grow the tree after I entered their information. I always think it's so cute when parents name a child after grandparents (first or last names) or great grandparents (first or last names). Although it can be frustrating if the person's 10 other siblings also name their child after their parents. Luckily, people don't tend to reuse names in this day an age. 

I mainly want to use Melissa after my Mom and Bernard after my Dad and his Dad. Some names will not go with Melissa or Bernard so back up middle names that I have are, below:

Louisa - my grandmother's middle name which was her great grandmother's name. 

and

Walter - Grandma Mary Louisa's father's name 

These were the top two backup names, but if Walter and Louisa also didn't go with the first name then I used the names below:

Grace - Grandpa Bill's grandmother's name

Helen - my Aunt's name

Hazel- Grandma Mary Louisa's mother's name

Frances- Hazel's mother

Harriet- After meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe, my 4th great grandparents named their daughter Harriet and she named her daughter Harriet as well.

William - my grandfather's name

Eli - Walter's middle name and his father's name

Arthur- William's grandfather's name

Leonard- Grandmother Rose's maiden name

Griffin- Frances's maiden name

If the name didn't go with my top two middle names I just looked at my family tree and tried to find a middle name that suited the first name. So there is no reason why I picked on over the other. I also used some relative names as first names as well. There was one middle name that was not a family name. It is paired with the first name of Louisa and I was having trouble finding a good name to go with that. Since Louisa is a family name I think it's ok to use a different name.

On telling my brother my idea for middle names he said he liked the name Louisa. So I might have to rethink using that as a middle name. I will have to determine if he would really use it or not before giving up on it.

Baby Name's List

After I narrowed down between names I would never use and possible names. I sorted by color I had 85 girl names and 66 boy names. So I took another look at it and sorted between names that I thought were okay and names that I might actually use. I changed the color to yellow if I thought I would actually use it. Then I ended with 35 girl names and 40 boy names. So I put in middle names for all of the yellow cells. 

I wanted to be able to share my list with people and get opinions from people. I have noticed with couples they can bounce ideas off of each other and that can help narrow down the names. Since I am doing this on my own, I wanted to get input from other people. I added the names to babynames.com. It allows for 100 names so I added orange names to the list to make it 50 girl names and 50 boy names. So you won't know which names I like more than other. Also, I don't know why the list is in the order that it is. I might also put a poll on the blog.

Week 4 or is it 5 of Pregnancy

 So after my appointment for a blood test my doctor called and said my hcg levels are 97.2. Normal levels at 14 days from conception is 3 - 426. Friday was 13 days from my IUI but fertilization can take place in a few hours or up to two days later. So it could be even less days from fertilization. So I am going back on Thursday the 24th for a second blood test to make sure the levels are going up.

On Sunday, week 3, day 6, I couldn't help myself and used a pregnancy strip again. I still have a bunch and I wanted to see if it was darker. Also I have been having some cramps that made me nervous, though I think it is just gas and constipation. So I took the test during the Cardinals game against Washington. I think at most it had been 3 hours since I went to the bathroom, but it was much darker than my test on Friday morning. Still not as dark as the control line, but it eased my mind.

On Monday, week 4, day 0, it was my Mom's birthday and my sister, brother and niece went over to celebrate. I was working from home and my sister only works on Tuesdays and Thursdays right now. So on Saturday, I bought a beer glass that said world's best grandpa and a wine glass that said world's best grandma. Which I brought over with my real gift for my Mom. Glasses

I arrived at 8 a.m. and started working. My mom was getting ready and my dad was at the gym. I was on me own until around 9ish when my mom and sister's option class started. My dad was babysitting Naomi.

So I continued working until around lunch time when my brother finally arrived with a big basket of goodies for my mom. I gave my mom her presents next. The real present was a tuft & needle pillow. I have one on my bed and my parents have the mattress. She liked the pillow, but can be picky so we'll see if she keeps it. Then I gave her the glasses. She opened the beer glass first and then the wine glass. She liked them both, but no one at the table figured out that I got them the gift to make an announcement.

My sister meanwhile gave Mom a necklace and an ornament for the car. She also got her a phone holder for the car but my brother got her that as well.

I meanwhile was trying to think of a good way to say I was pregnant since they didn't get it with the glasses. So as my sister was helping my mom put the necklace on. I pointed at the glasses and said, "I didn't get these just because of Naomi."

Immediately Caitlin and Mom looked up from what they were doing. Their eyes were so wide and their mouths were open in surprise. I have never seen someone's jaws drop in real life. I could tell that my dad didn't hear what I said, and my brother still didn't understand at that point.

After a few seconds Caitlin and my Mom alternating in saying, "What?" "Are you serious?" and me nodding along and finally my Mom said, "You're pregnant?!" 

It was only then that my brother and Dad figure out what was going on. 

Everyone was very happy to hear the news and excited. I know that it is a big change, especially since I am single, but they know I have been wanting this for a long time. Anyway after that I told them about the IUI and when I took the pregnancy test and etc.

I don't plan to tell anyone else until the normal time, around Thanksgiving, but I think it is ok to tell a core group earlier as long as you know that you might have to tell them about a miscarriage later. I know that they could read it on my blog, but I am pretty sure no one reads this blog.

On Monday night I added a pregnancy tracker to my phone and it says I am 4 weeks along, but my period app says I am 5 weeks. I guess the pregnancy app shows the completed week and the period app shows the current week. 

On Tuesday, I woke up with a kinda stuffy nose. That can be a symptom of pregnancy because the blood vessels in your nose get bigger. I have been social distancing and staying at home, so I probably don't have a cold. 

I actually took another pregnancy test, it's the last I swear, my sister asked for the others. It was as dark as the control line finally! It makes me feel better that it is progress. 

I was doing a little research, 75% of miscarriages happen in the first two weeks (which I already past). The third week of pregnancy since conception (or 5th from the last missed period) the risk of a loss is 21%, but since my levels are going up that is a good sign. After the 5th week, the risk is just 5%. I had a 25% chance of pregnancy this time, so I will feel much better once I get past this week. 

Since Wednesday, I woke up feeling less constipated and gassy, so I haven't had as many cramps which is nice since they are worrisome but that was my main symptom so now I don't feel pregnant. Sometimes when I lean over my breast will be tender but not every time. I have had some hints of nausea usually after taking the prenatal, but it usually goes away quickly and isn't strong so I still don't feel too different.

On Thursday, Week 4, day 4 I went to the doctors to retest my blood. I had an HCG of 1882. So much higher which is what they want to see. They also ran some other test and my thyroid was sluggish again. I know that is common in pregnancy and it can lead to miscarriage, but even if it doesn't result in a miscarriage there can be developmental delays. The growing embryo will take what it needs from the mother so the best case scenario is that the baby gets all the thyroid it needs but you will be deficient. I haven't noticed any symptoms like tiredness or weight gain, so hopefully it wasn't going on for too long. 

Since I am still going to the fertility center, they of course are looking our for risks of miscarriage like a low thyroid. Not every doctor will test for a low thyroid this happened to my sister, but she insisted they test her thyroid which was sluggish, so it was good that she advocated for herself.

I am not scheduled for an ultrasound in two weeks. I can't believe I have to wait another two weeks. It will be difficult to wait since I don't feel very pregnant yet. I might post an update next week if there is anything interesting to post, but I will probably wait and do an update in two weeks.

One other announcement, last Saturday my roommate told me that she is moving out. She is visiting her mom, but is going to come and get her stuff this Saturday. It will be nice to have the house to myself again, but I paid off a year's worth of my mortgage since she's been here. Plus it was nice having a friend around during quarantine. She is a child-free person so I figured she wouldn't stay around too long after I told her I was pregnant, she maybe suspected something is up because she noticed I haven't been drinking as much wine. She also saw my gonal-f shot in the fridge and she could easily google what that is used for. Also, she has been hinting at moving for a few months now. 

At least I can get her room and bathroom deep cleaned and ready for the nursery. I think I like themes like zoo animals/safari or space, but I'm not sure. I told my cousin to do penguin theme, but she choose woodland. However telling her to do penguin made me realize that you can just pick one animal like penguins or whales or even clouds or cactus to be the theme. So I might try to be simple like that too. 

I read that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends infants share a room, but not a bed with parents for at least six months, but ideally a year. Since I am single I don't see that as a problem. I have a big vanity in my room that I could move out and fit a crib. So maybe it is too early to plan a baby's room.

It's been two weeks and it's positive

 

First things first! My at home pregnancy test had two lines! The test line is about a quarter of the darkness of the control line but it is there. I can hardly believe it. 

The first day I tested was 8 days past ovulation (dpo) and it was negative. That was not surprising. I saw some videos on youtube where ladies said they got a positive on 8 days and I was sick of waiting. My ovulation kit had and still has a lot of pregnancy strips so I didn't feel guilty about testing so early.

On DPO 9 I did notice some "spotting" when I wiped. It was just a slightly rustier color than normal. It was lighter spotting than in August so I wasn't sure if it was true. Plus it was a few dpos later than last cycle so I wasn't sure.

After that I waited two days to test again. I know the earliest response it 5 days before missed period, so I thought there was a chance. After three minutes I looked and I didn't see a line. I have been working from my parents home on Tuesdays so I went over there. That evening with the bright lights from my bathroom I saw a super faint line. It was so faint I wasn't sure it was there. So I checked it probably 100 times! The next morning I took the test again when I woke up. But I laid down to wait and fell asleep for another hour. But sure enough there was a light line but it was darker than Tuesday but still very faint. I took a test in the morning again around 6 am. You are supposed to do the tests in the morning because the urine is more concentrated and the HCG hormone can build up enough to show up in your urine. Well, I have been peeing a lot more (I guess that is a symptom of pregnancy), generally I never wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but on Tuesday I went to bed at 10 but got up at 11:30 and at 3:30 to go the the bathroom. So I probably should have tested at 3:30am since that wsa the longest time holding between trips to the bathroom. So I thought that was why the line was faint.

During the day, I honestly thought I was seeing things and didn't believe what I was seeing. So I did some searching online and it said that the tests will say what time you should look at the tests (between 3-5 minutes for mine) and if you miss the time then a faint line could be an evaporation line. So it could be that or it could be light because I had gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night. So on Wednesday night I decided if got up in the morning to pee then I would test then instead. I did get up but this time it was at 2:30ish so it was basically right in the middle of the night. I took the test then and waited the appropriate 3 minutes and the test was positive. It was darker than the previous tests but still very light. I had barely got in 4 hours of holding it which the internet says that it at least needs to be that long. But I was more confident that it was there.

Thursday afternoon, I realized it had been 4 hours or even longer since I went to the bathroom. So I tested again once I had to go and this time the test was darker enough that I could take a picture of it and send it to my friend Kelsi. She confirmed that she saw it too! It was only after that that I felt like it was really real. I was so excited I even yelled woohoo! 

Yesterday evening my roommate Paloma, left to go visit her mom in Mexico for three weeks. She said to me, "Don't get pregnant." 

I said, "I won't." I thought, "I can't get pregnant if I already am."
Today was the day I was supposed to officially take the test and call into the clinic. Since I still have strips I took the test again in the morning, once again after having to get up in the middle of the night to pee. I called in around 6:30 am and left a message with the nurse's triage. I am going it at 10:30am for a blood test. So I will officially know. 

So the first week I had some side effects to the progesterone cream and maybe some left over to the trigger shot, so I won't count that. But in the last day or two I have noticed some soreness in my breasts. It doesn't hurt all the time but I don't usually get tender or sore breasts so I think it is because of pregnancy. The nipples are a bit painful as well. Another symptom is constipation/gas. I have even had some cramping because of the constipation. It makes me a little nervous but I took some metamucil last night to help. I have also been nauseas I feel less nauseas than that one day in August, but I do get little bouts of it. I know the real nausea starts around week 6 so it could get worse yet. My sister did have some morning sickness but it wasn't all day or too much or anything. In Expecting Better it says people who have mornings sickness are less likely to miscarry compared to people who have no morning sickness. So I won't mind having some. One symptom that might be more unusual is that I have been cold more often. I keep my house temp at 77 now that I have a roommate. For most people that would be pretty warm but it's generally comfortable to me, but my feet have been getting cold. I have needed to wear socks to bed or put a blanket on my lap while working. I haven't really seen that as a symptom of pregnancy but it is not a normal thing for me

IUI #3

 I you didn't read my San Diego trip post, I had an update at the end.

My cycle started Monday the 24. I noticed that it is different than my normal flow. I had more cramps than normal, but not as intense as when I was a teenager. Also, the blood was brownish-black, I have never had brown blood on the first day before and I have never had black blood. I read that this could be old blood and my cycle was 5 days longer than normal because of the progesterone. Another reason for black blood is a sign of a miscarriage. Because of the spotting in the middle of the two week and the nausea I think the latter might be the cause. I know in the previous IUI post I said I was going to assume it was just symptoms from the IUI and medication, but now I think they were early pregnancy symptoms. Even though it is a bummer that it didn't stick, I'm glad to know that the procedure worked. 

So this IUI, the plan is to do a "combo cycle" (as I have seen it called on other blogs). On day 3 of my cycle I went in for an ultrasound to check. They do this to make sure that there isn't any growths as the medications can cause this. I did have on fibroid, but that isn't concerning so I was good to go. 

On the 27th of August, I started taking femara, two tablets a day from day 4 to day 7. It doesn't matter when you take them, but you have to take them the same time every day. I took them at noon since I'm working from home. I usually fast in the morning so I wanted to make sure stopped fasting. That night when I was in bed I had a hot flash. At first I didn't know what it was but I was extremely hot, and I knew heat came from inside me the air was cool in the room. It didn't last very long, but I did notice it.

The femara is used to treat the lh/fsh imbalance. I have been researching lh/fsh imbalance since the diagnosis and I was getting frustrated because the results are always about PCOS. I don't have any other symptoms of PCOS like acne or hair growth, my cycles pretty regular though they are on the longer side. After researching a lot about PCOS I don't think I have it, but if there is a pre-PCOS perhaps that is what I have. PCOS has a 3:1 imbalance and I have a 2:1, my cycles are long, but I do get them regularly and my follicle count was in the normal range for my age, but on the higher side of normal. Also my sister has irregular cycles, so maybe it is in our genes. I know PCOS doesn't mean you can't get pregnant, it can be harder though since it might be hard to predict ovulation.

On day 6 of my cycle I also added in Gonal-F shots. That is right, I had to put three shots in my tummy on day 6, 8, 10. Gonal-F is also used for IVF but the dose for an IUI is much smaller. The goal is to get 2-4 follicles that grow during the cycle. Because of the gonal-f there is a risk of twins and triplets. The risk of triplets isn't too big, but some studies show that 25% of pregnancies are twins, on the low end the studies say 18%. I would prefer not to have twins, but I think I could handle twins if that happened. The rate of triplets isn't enough to make me worried.

On day 7, I had a really strong wave of nausea. I had taken the femara for that day about an hour before and I had to lay down for about 30 minutes. I really thought I was going to be sick, but after about 30 minutes it went away. I don't know if it was from the femara or the combo for femara and Gonal-F the day before. That was the last day of femara, and I didn't get nauseous after that. 

On the first after, the day after the second gonal-F shot, I was so sleepy that I started falling asleep on the couch at 8pm so at 9 I went to bed and stayed in bed until 6-6:30 the next day. I wasn't having trouble sleeping the other days, and didn't do anything too strenuous. So it might have been the medications. 

The next morning I had an ultrasound to count the follicles and see when to trigger my ovulation. I did the last gonal F shot before I left. The ultrasound was at 7:30am. My uterine lining was 9.5 mm which was good. On the right ovary I had an 18 mm follicle which is good, and a 10 mm follicle which the tech said is a "maybe." On the left ovary there was a 17 mm follicle also good, and a 10 mm which is also a maybe. So the IUI was scheduled for Saturday the 11th at 10:30 am. I would took the trigger shot on Thursday at 10:30 pm.

A 12 mm follicle could produce an egg and as you approach ovulation a follicle can gain 2 mm a day. So the two tens could have gotten to 12 mm prior to the trigger shot, maybe they could even get to 12 after to still be affected by the the trigger shot, however, the techs at the initial ultrasound said they would tell me if triplets were more likely. So, I don't think the tech was concerned about that happening. So the chance of twins is there with the two follicles, but not triplets. 

The chance of pregnancy with an IUI without gonal-f is about 25% after 2 cycles, well with gonal-f it is closer to 25%. So basically the extra follicle doubles my chances. 

Now two things have made me super hopeful that this is the cycle. I am skeptic so I try to not allow my emotion or "signs" cloud my judgment, but sometimes the "signs" are fun!

The first sign is that I plugged my IUI date in a due date calculator, the due date is my birthday! I feel like that is a sign, because it is a day that is unique to me, so it's like the cards are aligning to work.

The second sign was more strange and eerie. The fertility center has made accommodations because of covid-19. So when you arrive you text from your car to check in. Then wait until they send a message back saying you can come in. I had already sent the message and was playing a game on my phone. Then suddenly the name Petra came into my head. It felt very bizarre and out of no where. 

I know this sounds weird but last year when I did the first IUI, I felt like there was this little girl on the other side of the vial waiting to be born. During that time, I could swear her name was Naomi. I could really feel that she was really out there. I don't even believe in this stuff, and I haven't ever had names picked out. I always thought I would need to meet a baby before I could name them. When I decided to wait for the second IUI, I felt like I had killed this being. Well, my sister had her baby last November, she and her husband didn't have a name for the baby until they were leaving the hospital. It was Naomi!!! 

So that sudden thought of Petra felt the exact same way. It was just whispering to me. So I think it will work and I think she will be Petra. It feels so weird to me because I really think it is weird if people have a name picked out for a baby before they are born. Sure people have names in mind, but I think it's weird to know prior to meeting that baby, but I just had this feeling, and it was before I even went inside. Also even though I do like the name Petra I'm not sure I would have used it. I think I will still have to meet her/hold her to know for sure, but I just have this feeling.

So since the IUI on Saturday, I haven't had too many symptoms. I did have some cramps, but they weren't as painful that first day. I still have some tenderness today. I know that aren't symptoms until the fertilize egg implants. So I'm not stressing out too much. The spotting I had last cycle was on DPO 7, which I think was implantation bleeding. So on this coming Saturday I will be on the look out, but I am going to try to wait to test to the end of the two week wait so I will check in then.