3 Weeks (or less!) to go!

Just a quick update to say that my amniocentesis came back perfectly normal -- no virus, no chromosomal defects, no issues with lung development! What a huge relief. So now we just have to wait and see when I go into labor, although I'm still hoping my doctors office will agree to inducing me at 39 weeks. As long as they can schedule me with labor and delivery it shouldn't be a problem (or so I hope).

In other news... My grad classes will be done in less than two weeks (right about the time I'm hoping to have the baby!). I still have 3 papers (one which is due tomorrow), a presentation (Wednesday) and a final (8/6 -- I'm hoping to be induced the next day!). So things are a little stressful. We've had a nice time doing some little things with Ben, though. Last weekend he got to go to a tractor show three days in a row -- he was in his glory. Andy took him to a park in the village the other day we hadn't been to yet and Ben loved it, so we'll be frequenting that a little more once things settle down. And Ben and I have been doing a summer Kindermusik class, which he has been really enjoying.

As for a name for the baby, we are still working on it. I'll let you know once we do. :)

Names we will NOT be giving to our son

We have a very inclusive baby name book. There is one particular set of Native American tribal names that are quite interesting. The definitions take the cake. What kills me is the specificity of them. You can't make this stuff up!

Hausu: like a bear yawning upon wakening
Leyati: shape of an abalone shell
Lise: salmon's head coming out of the water
Liwanu: growling bear
Lokni: raining through the roof
Luyu: head shaker
Metikla: reaching a hand underwater to catch a fish
Misu: rippling water
Molimo: bear going under shady trees
Momuso: yello jackets crowded in their nests for the winter
Mona: gathering jimsonweed seed
Muata: yellow jackets in their nests
Notaku: growling bear
Patakusa: ant biting a person
Sipatu: pulled out
Tiimu: caterpillar coming out of the ground
Tiktu: bird digging up potatoes
Tuketu: bear making dust as it runs
Tukuila: caterpillar crawling down a tree
Tumu: deer thinking about eating wild onions (that's right, not actually doing, THINKING)
Tupi: pulled up
Wilu: chicken hawk squawking
Wuyi: turkey vulture flying
Yelutci: bear walking silently
Yoskolo: breaking off pine cones
Yotimo: yellow jacket carrying food to its hive
Yutu: coyote out hunting

Then there's this name, which is Mwera in origin:
Tuwile: death is inevitable
Okay, so yes, it is, but honestly, what kind of way is it to start life out acknowledging death??? And somewhere I remember seeing one that meant something like, "brings death to entire village." Pretty interesting. Don't worry, little Campbell baby, we won't name you something like, "Dungbeetle!!"

Baby Update

We've had a bit of a rocky ride this week with baby updates. We went in for an ultrasound with the high risk specialist on Monday, scheduled to be the last one to make sure the baby is growing despite only having a single umbilical artery. The baby looked great, already weighs about 5 pounds, moving like he should, breathing, etc. However, I have suddenly started carrying extra fluid. A real, "what the heck!" kind of moment. Usually this turns out to be nothing, and Dr. Dolkart assured me that this was most likely the case, HOWEVER, he wanted me to do a 3 hr. glucose test to rule out gestational diabetes, and to have an amniocentesis, since there is a chance that the extra fluid could indicate a chromosomal disorder or a virus of some kind. I was okay with the glucose test -- the amnio was another story. So we set up the glucose test and I went through that torture (the stuff they make you drink is hideous, and who wants their blood drawn 4 times in 3 hours??) on Wednesday. I passed with flying colors, no trouble whatsoever. It was a catch-22: yay, no diabetes, boo, we still don't know why I have extra fluid! So I broke down and had an amnio today. I figured the likely result is that nothing is wrong and I can relax for the next 4 to 5 weeks until the baby is born, and in the event that there is something wrong, we can find out what we need to do to be prepared. If it's a virus, the pediatricians can treat it once he's born. If it's a chromosomal defect, there could be any number of issues and consequences, so we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. Right now we're just hoping for mystery fluid that has increased for no known reason, and a happy, healthy baby to be born in August (yeah, sometimes extra fluid means early labor -- wah!!). It was reassuring to see a couple of beautiful images of him though. The best ultrasound pictures I've ever seen!

I particularly love the second one, since it's so clear. You can see how he has a fist up next to his face on the right side. What a perfect little nose and mouth!