Week 24: Names,Gender, Circumcision and Heartburn

Today marks the 24th week of my pregnancy. That means we only have 16 weeks until our due date! Which means we probably have only about 14 weeks until we actually have our 6th baby! We have only made it past 38 weeks with our first child..she was actually overdue and born at 41 weeks. The last 4 have been born right at 38 weeks.

Here are some things that have been on my mind…

Baby names:

We have baby names for both a boy and girl picked out. Actually we have a few names picked out and won’t make a final decision until after the baby arrives. After all, I was set on the name Jack for my son the entire pregnancy. When he was born, he looked nothing like a Jack and I freaked out. I just couldn’t name him Jack. The poor kid didn’t have a name for 4 days. I have always sworn the next boy we had would be Jack. But too many people we know have named their boys Jack so I think that one is out. Brian and I also decided this time not to share the names we have picked out. It is going to be a secret just between us. We aren’t even telling the kids. It is fun to have the secret just between us and everyone keeps telling us their best guess. Since all 4 girls have -ana somewhere in their name, everyone is assuming if this baby is a girl there will be an -ana in there somewhere….maybe it is time to break that tradition, after all, if we keep having girls how many more -ana names (that we actually like) could we come up with?? …..but we’re not telling!

Gender:

I have no sense of if we are having a boy or a girl. For a while I thought it was a boy but now I just don’t know. I can’t wait to find out! But there is something disappointing about finding out via ultrasound.  I was always happy to find out what we were having when we found out on the ultrasound. There is something thrilling about going through labor and being so happy to see your baby for the first time, realize that you don’t even know what “it” is, and be surprised when you actually look for yourself! We had the scan where you could determine the baby’s gender last month but I chose not to. I never want to know but my husband always does. I looked away when the tech was checking the gender. Brian looked as hard as he could to see if he could tell. He just couldn’t look away! He couldn’t tell, by the way. She just did a quick check! The only time we didn’t find out was when I was pregnant with my son (#4) and my husband was sick (very sick) with the flu. He wasn’t able to make it to the appointment with me. I decided not to find out. He was upset. He didn’t talk to me for three days. When my son was born we just couldn’t believe (after 3 girls) that we finally had a boy! It was unbelievable! It was such a wonderful surprise and in hindsight we are very glad that we didn’t find out. I had to keep checking for the first few days that it was still there and he really was a boy. And still, every time I changed his diaper it was shocking. With a boy, there was the the whole to circumcise or not to circumcise decision! It had never even crossed my mind that we would have to make that choice..

Circumcision:

In case you are wondering what choice we made, we chose not to. After asking out pediatrician numerous questions, watching a video of the procedure online, which I wouldn’t recommend- it is horrifying! And even a phone call with an uncircumcised friend of a friend (I know, right?!) who said “NO WAY!, DON’T DO IT” we decided it wasn’t our choice to make. There was no medical reason to do it. We have no religious reason to do it. It is his body, he should have the choice. For the record, he hasn’t had a single issue from not having it done. He has never had a bladder infection or infection of any other kind for that matter. (Some people told us he would have all kinds of infections and bladder issues…) If you are wondering how you “take care of it” as we did, you will get a lot of conflicting advice. We went with that of our pediatrician and completely left it alone. We just cleaned it like we would any other body part. So if we are blessed with another boy obviously our choice will remain the same.

Heartburn:

The only complaint I have at this point in my pregnancy is severe heartburn. I have had it the last 4 pregnancies with the last being the worst- until now. I kind of think it is because I am carrying much higher than I have ever carried before. Which is crazy because you would think with the sixth it would be lower…The last time I was pregnant, I practically lived on Tums and would wake up 3-4 times during the night and have to take them each time. This time I have found that it is safe for me to take Zantac. It has helped tremendously but I have to time taking it just right. I am wondering if Prilosec would work any better?

Pelvic Separation:

I have had pelvic separation with every pregnancy. Honestly it can be quite excrutiating. So far I am only having slight twinges of pain every now and then. I am still completely able to roll from side to side in bed with no pain (usually by now, I can’t do that). I have been going to the chiropractor every week in hopes that it will keep it at bay and it seems to be working wonderfully.

So- are you pregnant? How far along are you? What things are on your mind?