32 weeks pregnant today. The exhaustion I experienced the 1st trimester is back, after taking a break during the 2nd trimester. I'm trying to be productive but realize that I need to slow down a bit and just take time to relax. I'm also realizing that it's okay to not commit to every social engagement. Sometimes I just have to say no and take time for myself to sit on the couch and relax. I have a cardiology appointment today. I was born with an itty bitty heart defect, and my midwife suggested I go see my cardiologist just to make sure everything is going okay. I have no doubt that he'll tell me I have the heart of a 30 year old. :)
I'm also having some frustrations with my OB clinic. I LOVE this clinic, but at the moment, I need them to write me a letter and notarize it saying that I cannot travel at this point in my pregnancy. I need this for the adoption agency so T could represent the both of us in court, assuming we get a court date before I have baby girl. Of course this is an odd request. I mean. . . who adopts while pregnant? The first time I called the clinic the nurse said they couldn't complete this request because they have no notary on hand. Then T took charge and got hold of one of the midwives that I love. She said she would do it, and I was feeling great about it. Well, T picked up her notarized letters. They were handwritten, full of errors, and I'm sure unnacceptable for the courts of Ethiopia. So, T and I are trying our luck again and hopefully will be able to get this taken care of.
T and I also started our birthing and parenting classes this week. Very interesting, and I know I will get a lot out of the class, as will T.
And we are completely wavering on the name we originally choose for baby girl. When he and I selected Khalil, we knew IMMEDIATELY that it was the right name for our baby boy. But we're really wavering on the girl's name. I love the name we picked out. It's Arabic, and my concern is that it will be mispronounced by almost everyone. Is that fair to our girl? If anyone has name suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Seriously, leave me a comment. We need a name! :)
And in unrelated pregnancy news, I wanted to briefly discuss my post from yesterday. Apparently, there were some people adopting through AGCI who were offended by my post because the family I was referencing is the best family ever. First, I would like to say that I purposely did not mention this family by name, so I have no idea how anyone got the idea that that is who I was referring to. And second of all, my post wasn't just about that family. I've been hearing so much recently about how T and I are just exceptional people for rescuing a child, etc, etc. That isn't how I feel about adoption, and this was my post to set the record straight on that. I also want to add that my post yesterday in no way was trying to speak about what is in other adoptive parent's hearts. I have no doubt that the family I was referring to have wonderful hearts and are great people. My post wasn't about that. It was about using the term rescue when speaking about adoption. So, if in some way you were offended by yesterday's post, I do apologize, but I would also like to add that this blog is about me, my thoughts on adoption and life in general. I guarantee you that you won't agree with every opinion I have, and I'm okay with that. Okay. . . I'll just leave this alone from now on, and I thank you for all of the supportive comments I received yesterday on my post.
Happy Wednesday everyone! And seriously. . . baby names. I need baby names. :)
28 comments:
http://www.babynamewizard.com
It's advanced search has a bajillion parameters to use instead of the standard gender/meaning/origin/starts with questions. You can even track it's popularity over the years and see where it's been popular.
i hate that you're having trouble getting a simple letter written :( geez... hope you get it done right this time!!!
Sweetest Leah,
As for the word "Rescue" in relation to the term adoption, I despise the combination. I was training with my trainer and Gillian Michaels was giving an interview and said she wanted to rescue a child and I said "what?"! It made me angry, as you don't rescue children, you rescue dogs at the pound. The word choice, in my opinion was poor, but I'm sure she had good intentions. Of course, I am biased, as adoption is near and dear to my heart. So, I understand why you were saddened by the use of the word rescue.
Okay, back on track, you look amazing! Be good to yourself and know that your spirit is beautiful. And, for names, I have to think on that one a bit :)
Oh, funny little bit, we have a friend who has your hubby's same name :) He's Egyptian as well.
HUGS and Take care of yourself
Andrea - That's so great that you have a friend named Taher. He and I have never met another one. It's kind of a unique name, I think even in Egypt. Too cool! :)
Leah, you look radiant. Just beautiful! Annoying about the hangups with your OB/GYN clinic. Is this letter something you could get from your primary care physician, if all else fails?
As for names... Naomi (Hebrew- beautiful, delightful), Mahtob (Muslim- moonlight), Aishah (Arabic- lively), Dalia or Dahlia like the flower, Nadia or Naadiya, Just my thoughts :)
You look SMOKIN' hot!!!
If you really do still love Baby Girl's name, I say go for it. My daughter has a name that is mis-pronounced most of the time when people read it, but we still love it and it is definitely *her* name. Is there a way to spell the name more phonetically so that it might be pronouced correctly?
I don't know if you are looking for Arabic names or not, but two names I can think of that (I think) are of Arabic origin are Yasmin or Nadia. I went to school with girls who have those names and I love the names. Good luck finding a name!
The idea of naming a child someday makes me so nervous, they have to live with it the rest of their lives... yikes :)
You are lookin' good, Leah!
I'm sorry you're having such troubles getting that letter from your doctor's office. I can relate, as we had terrible times getting our information for our dossiers from our doctor's office. It is so frustrating! I hope the issue is resolved soon.
You look BEAUTIFUL!! And I love the names Dahlia and Nadia.
Hi! You look amazing! Congratulations. I follow Kala's blog Our Adoption Journey and just saw your blog on there and decided to check it out. What an amazing journey your family is on! Congrats!
(BTW - I never know how to respond when people say what I'm doing is so nice or good - actually it's just something we want to do - we WANT to add to our family, our child won't necessarily want us at first so we're the ones getting what we want, kwim?).
I like Dhalia too!
I haven't read your post from yesterday yet. Of course I don't think you are crazy ahd I started to adopt and got pregnangt to me that child I was adopting would already be my child to me as well. I also really hated it hearing how lucky Maya was and how wonderful we were for rescueing her etc etc etc. I feel like she saved me, to have her be my daughter is the happiest thing that ever happend in my life, she's my daughter and thats just how it is.
good luck on the name and paperwork!
You look great!
Hon, people can mispronounce even the simplist names. I say go with what you love!
Names are SO hard!! Damon and I have been struggling with names too. We are pretty set on a boy name but if we get a referral for a girl we are in trouble on the name front! I am with you. I wouldn't shy away from the name you had if you really like it. One of my co-workers has a Hungarian name and people mispronounce it all the time but she still loves it and likes having a name that is part of her family history. Just my two cents. I saw someone else suggested Nadia. I love that name! Good Luck with your OB clinic. What a pain!!
I read but never comment so leave it to me to decide to comment on the baby name post!
I just finished reading a really good book called The Twentieth Wife. Setting is 1500s in Persia/India/Moghul Empire.
The heroine was named Mehrunissa. Pronounced as spelled.
It means SUN of women. (Not Son.)
I think it's so pretty and the nickname is Nisa. Her daughter was named Ladli which also had a pretty meaning I can't remember. Anyway, Mehrunissa was a real historical empress and was one of the only powerful women of her day actually commemorated in the Emperor's memoirs and in other historical writings. I'm a fan of the name. Thought I'd pass it on to you...
Amanda :)
You look absolutely beautiful! I'm so sorry to hear about the trouble with getting the letter written. People just don't realize how precise adoption paperwork and language has to be. As for names, I'm afraid I'm not any help at all. I'm having enough trouble trying to narrow down names I like and don't have a bad association with because of children that I have taught! After teaching for 9 years, there are so many names I used to like but after having children with those names in my classroom, there is no way I can name my child that. Some of those names now just about give me a nervous twitch! LOL! :)
Look at you!
If I were you, I would create a letterhead with the Dr's name and address on it. Write the letter you need and then take it to the nurse to sign.
I'm no good at baby names for today's generation. I think I'm just a fuddy duddy because I like the old fashioned names like Ann and James and Michael. LOL
As far as people having issues with something you say in your blog... it's not their place. It's your blog and your right to blog how you feel. Period.
It's hard to anticipate if it will irritate the heck out of your daughter or not. I have a Persian cousin with the name Sahar. But most English speaking people pronounce it as a word that means garbage in Persian. I might try to avoid that, but then again I don't know if you plan on speaking Arabic with your children, then the might never know!
You look beautiful!! I love that dress :)
Ok, I am at home lounging around after my ET so I googled some Arabic names. I have no idea how they are pronounced in Arabic, but they look easy to pronounce in English to me :)
Adara (beauty)
Alima (wise)
Amala (hope)
Ameena (trustworthy)
Asha (lively)
Azhara (flower)
Caliana (a Moorish princess)
Dalia (branch)
Leila (born at night)
Lina (delicate)
Medina (city of the prophet)
Melek (angel)
Muriel (myrrh)
Nowa (light)
Rafa (happy)
Rahi (spring)
Rasha (gazelle)
Talitha (young girl)
Zahrah (to blossom)
Haha, hope that gives you some ideas to start with! It was fun for me to read through Arabic names.
Hillary - You're awesome! And let me tell you. . . One of the names on that list is VERY VERY VERY close to the name we are thinking about going with. :)
Looking good girl! I see some of the names mentioned and I love them. BTW, I plan to send your package out tomorrow! Congrats :)
For names I wouldn't worry about if your daughter will have to spell it or correct people. I've had to do it my whole life and I love that my name is unique to me. BTW my name is Kebrina. So just imagine all the spellings and pronunciations I've had through the years. So go with your gut on the name and your daughter will love her name because you gave it to her and she'll know how special it is.
Only 8 more weeks. How exciting! I hope you can get the proper documents that you need from your Dr. I don't think their are any airlines that would even let you travel.
You look gorgeous! That picture is amazing, I'd never end up with a pg pic that pretty!
As for names, when I went with Cala (pronounced like the lily) and I knew people would misspell it frequently, what I didn't realize is that they'd want to pronounce it like Kayla. Anyhow, I don't care, I think it's beautiful, it's Greek for 'beautiful' and her middle name is the same as mine. Names are hard, but go with your heart and it will be perfect. People have mispronounced and misspelled mine my whole life, so I'm aware of the frustration, but I'm happy with my unique name!!
As for the 'rescued' term, my baby isn't coming from another country, so people say it differently, but still talk about how wonderful we are. I don't think we're any better than anyone else who has a child, we wanted a baby, to love, to hold, to cuddle, to spoil, to teach, and to bond with, so this is how it's working out for us. I feel that God called us to it, but not for the reason of "rescuing" someone. I agree this is your blog and you should say how YOU feel! Can't wait to hear baby girl's name when you decide!!!
You look absolutely amazing!! Sorry about the hang-ups with the letter...hope you get it worked out soon! And I totally agree with you on the use of the word rescue. I thought your post was well-written and not judgmental at all.
:) Hey Girly!!! Take charge and get that letter!! Can't wait to hear what baby girl's name is!!
Ugh, why does a simple piece of paper have to be so much work! Hopefully it will all be in your hands (and correct!) soon! You look great by the way :-)
I hope you get the paperwork you need soon. That would be so frustrating, and I would hate asking for the same thing multiple times too. It always makes me feel like a nag, which I completely hate.
You look so stinking adorable! Can you believe how big your belly gets during pregnancy?! I remember freaking out the last four weeks of mine thinking I couldn't possibly get any bigger without bursting, and I still had four weeks to go. lol
Of course, by now you are 33 weeks. :o This pregnancy has gone so fast. Enjoy every second of it!
*hugs*
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