Day ~141

I am officially obsessed with wanting to feel Miss Babe in Belly move.

I want to feel more swirls and taps and burbles in my belly! I can't get enough. She's pretty quiet. It's a a nice place to be, I guess, my belly. Which I am unselfconsciously posting right here:



It's still small enough to be cute, and all roundy and smooth. DTB loooooves it, for which I love him immensely in return. My old stretch marks on my hips (from my fat years in college) show a little more these days, but, eh. It's a lovely blossoming belly, and I'm proud!



What's inside is even cuter:

I wonder if she is going to be an extremely mellow child? She stirs around a little after I've eaten ... not always, but predictably enough that I tend to sit quietly and perfectly still, with a glazed expression on my face, for about 30 minutes after I've taken the last bite of something. DTB has identified this as my "Waiting for It" face. And I am. Waiting for that little rumble or flicker that is the only message I can get from this little person inside of me.

Last night, I was so tired. Done. Cashed out, finished, kaput. I got home, put on my stretchy gym pants, made a salad, and lay down on the couch, from which I did not move for approximately 4 hours. DTB came home and put on a really good mixed CD he just made (American Analog Set, Radiohead, Modest Mouse, etc etc), and we curled up together and just ... chilled. For like an hour. This never happens. It was awesome. I think she likes Mike Doughty, because when his tunes came on, she started stirring. DTB still can't feel anything, but he's getting anxious to, now.

In other news. I have this dilemma. A coworker had a baby girl a few weeks ago. This particular person is often referred to as "a player" - and not like "playa" gangsta style, but like the kind of woman at work who rises right up to the top and plays with the big boys. Often wears a suit. Extremely anal and organized. No one messes with her. She worked right up until three days before giving birth, never got the waddle, never looked tired. Anyway, this is a person with whom I'd like to stay in good graces, and whose gossip topic list I would like to stay off of. In fact, I really admire her. The problem: out of the zillion names she could have chosen for her new daughter, she chose one very close to our #1 name for Miss Belly. I about fell out of my chair when I read the email announcement. I'd even banished thoughts of the name from my mind while at work, so superstitiously certain that it would float out into the public unconscious and start being used everywhere ...

It isn't an identical match, but it's darn close, and it is actually identical if you use a short "cute" version of our name. But I love this name! It was my beloved great grandmother's name! And DTB has this name in his family tree as well! And it goes perfectly with our chosen middle name! Even the meanings of this name and the middle name create a beautiful phrase. And to top it all off ... the name doesn't show up at all in the Baby Name Wizard Top 1,000 in recent years. (The Player's version does.)

So what do I do? Will I even care if people at work whisper and wonder why I "copied" The Player's name selection? Will I, should I, care if she's irritated? Or do I use the name that I feel is so perfectly right, and holds personal meaning, and shrug off any ill will that might come my way? Do I address it with The Player beforehand? "Just wanted you to know we have chosen a close version of your daughter's name for our daughter - I just can't imagine naming her anything else and it's a family name, but I hope this doesn't irritate you." Heck, I would even really like it if her baby and my baby could be pals. And if she'd become a nice shoulder and ear for New Mama Stuff. Mutual mama support in the workplace is so important ...

If anyone out there has any suggestions on how to handle this, I'm all ears.