The Name Game

There are few things that people get more passionate about than the naming of a child. It seems that everyone has a (conflicting) opinion. That is why Monica and I decided not to tell anyone our preferred names. We figure once the baby is born, no one can tell us how much they hate the name (at least, not to our face).

Of course, we always get questions about our preferred names...so we decided to keep a running list of "fake" names. Obviously, we made these names as awkward as possible so we can see the reaction of our friends. Examples include Sanjaya (of American Idol fame), Anal (seriously, this is a real name), and Cal (go bears). The reaction on some people's faces were hilarious, with only one person really being honest (Ed: "Do NOT name your kid Sanjaya").

To be quite honest, coming up with a name is not an easy task, especially for a boy. We either find that the name is a little TOO Indian (test: can a substitute teacher pronounce it?) or the name has a negative association with people we don't like (thanks Berkeley).

Fortunately, there are plenty of resources out there to help you. The most fun was the Name Voyager where you can see the popularity of names over time. There are also books that have names categorized for your benefit: including Movie Stars (Keanu, Angelina, Humphrey), Hippies (Sky, Echo, Rain), or even States (Nevada, Minnesota, Montana).

We are always willing to take suggestions, so send them our way. Just make sure not to mention them to Ed...

Olivia hangs out with Baby Chandra

It was a lot of fun to have Olivia over, especially now that she is saying her first words. One of her favorite words is "baby", so we tried to explain to her the baby in Monica's belly. It took us a while, but she finally started point to the baby.

Poor Em and Rod. I can only imagine how long it will take for Olivia to start incorrectly identifying the "baby" on some random stranger.

Reality Check

Over the last few days, Monica has started to experience Braxton Hicks contractions. They don't know exactly why these occur, but they are thought to aid the body in preparation for birth. Most of the time these are painless, but in some cases they can become quite painful.

A serious reality check took place when we visited our doctor and she asked, on a scale of 1 to 10, the level of pain. Monica, who looked in serious pain, gave a reasonable response of an "8". It was then that our doctor had to reset our expectations to the Pregnancy Pain Scale: a 10 would be the equivalent of wanting to jump out the window, a 8 equivalent to wanting to strangle someone, and a 5 being just serious, but normal pain.

At some point between this statement and me blurting "oh, crap," did we finally realize what we were getting ourselves into...

Baby Chandra, meet Oski

Thanks to Renu for the great gift! Bootylicious.
Let the competition for the best Auntie begin. (just kidding. kinda.)

The Little One finds a playmate

It is my theory that one of the biggest requests from any couple having a baby...is for all of their friends to also have babies.

Why, you ask? Maybe it's sharing similar experiences with your closest friends. Or knowing your kids can play together from the very beginning. But mostly, it's the comfort of knowing your friends' lives, much like your own, are essentially over. Somehow this would help me sleep better at night when the baby is crying at 3AM. No wonder Em and Rod (and baby Olivia) were so excited when we told them we were pregnant.

As of last week, the closest thing we had going for us was Suj and Sheryl's new puppy that had to be let out every three hours to pee.

So let me be the first to congratulate Kris and Ashlyn on their pregnancy! Now we just need to find a name for pregnant Ashlyn that is equivalent to Pregneto.

Baby Homework

Item #423 that they don't tell you when you get pregnant: There is TONS of homework.

For you ladies out there, I guarantee the most effective form of birth control is flipping through the "Guide to Your Pregnancy and Newborn." They should make this mandatory reading for all teenage girls.

It turns out there many things that happen over the 9 months that they NEVER show on TV or movies (my main source of truth). I had thought it only really gets bad at the end, but man...it is all a lie. There are things in there that I am too afraid to write about. Let's just say the body can do some strange things...

It doesn't end there. The books also do a great job of mentioning everything that could possible go wrong to the mother and the baby from conception until they graduate college. I'm convinced the purpose of these books is just to scare you out of wanting one.

Not everything was bad though. For example, I learned one of the top three concerns for an expectant father is whether the child actually belongs to him (along with the safety of the wife and the safety of the kid). They even recommend the mom to reassure the father on this fact. God bless America.

My Hump, My Hump, My Hump

A couple of funny stories as we attended Nidhi's engagement party in Southern California over Thanksgiving weekend.

The night started off with a bang when some lady went to Monica's mom and asked her Monica's age. Apparently she saw Monica and thought she was a knocked up, unmarried, 15 year old girl. It's crazy enough to think that Monica was that young...but it's nuts to ask her mom for confirmation. Do you really want to find out the answer to that question from their mother??

We had a great time at the party...for the first time on a long time Monica hit the dance floor. That baby was going crazy the whole night, so we may have a bhangra dancer on our hands. The highlight was when the DJ played "My Humps" and the whole dance floor was pointing to Monica's belly. Hilarious. That song definitely has a new meaning...

One out of the oven, one to go...

I get a kick out of you...

We finally hit the time in the pregnancy when others can see and feel the baby's kicks. It is a pretty trippy experience to realize there is actually a little person inside of Mon. And then you realize that it must be a really strange experience for the baby, being trapped in another person's body. Yikes. Good thing they don't remember any of it.

We are still in the early stages, but Mon has already felt several different types of kicks: the sharp kick/punch, rolling movements as the baby changes positions, and the long stretching positions. Rumor has it that eventually we will actually be able to see the foot. For Mon's sake, I hope that never happens.

In the meantime, just stare at Mon's stomach and hopefully you will see some excitement.

Google and Expectant Mothers

Monica (and by extension, the Little One) both finally had the chance to visit Google for the first time. Mon took advantage of some unique Google perks, including the expectant mother parking right in front of the building. Mon also had a chance to enjoy the Google cafeterias. I'm all for high quality all you can eat food that doesn't cost me a dime. We may need to do this a few more times...

As for the baby, if the wait list for Google Daycare ever opens up, Baby Chandra may be making a lot more visits to Google in the near future. And no, it is not free. In fact, it is more expensive than most daycare...but the kids get their own chef, so they can get spoiled before they are one year old.

Meanwhile, our attempts to get the baby a unique name tag were foiled by the receptionist.

Boy or Girl?

As most of you know, Monica and I have decided to find out the sex of the baby at time of delivery. But that hasn't stopped many people, including random strangers, from guessing the sex. We even had our waitress at an Ethiopian restaurant guarantee that it was a girl.

It turns out there is an amazing science behind predicting baby gender. Here are some of the data points that prove my point:

- If the heart rate is above 160, it's a girl (check)
- If your belly looks like a basketball, it's a boy (check)
- If you are craving sweet foods, it's a girl (check)
- If the shape of your face does not change, it's a boy (check)
- If your husband puts on weight during the pregnancy, it's a girl (no comment)

Obviously, science fails here. But there is a better way...let's have the market decide. So we will soon be introducing a betting pool to guess the gender. Stay tuned.

25 Weeks Complete

We officially crossed six months today! The baby has started to do gymnastics in Monica's belly, even to the point where you can see it from the outside. Early indications are that (surprisingly) the baby will be quite feisty.

I'm sure all of you are thinking the same thing I'm thinking...can Monica's tummy possibly get any bigger? I was so concerned that I had to ask the doctor (three times) whether her size was normal. It didn't help when I met another pregnant woman who was due in December and looked like she was only three months pregnant.

I'm happy to say that everything looks good and normal. I guess we will find out quite shortly just how big Mon can get...

We're Jammin'

We decided to finally start playing some music for the baby. No one really knows whether this helps the baby or not, but we figured there is no harm. If our baby starts humming the Star Wars opening theme immediately after birth, we will have some conclusive evidence.

First set of baby clothes

Google was generous enough to donate us the first set of clothes for the baby. They handed these out during a training session explaining our benefits and how much a baby will cost. Let's just say we need a lot more free baby clothes.

Baby Chandra sees the ocean

Pregneto visits New York

We made our first trip with the baby when we visited New York for Anne's wedding, Monica's old roommate. Mon got this dress from the best maternity store on the planet: it had a "guys" section in the store with Sportscenter, a bunch of Sports Illustrated's, and internet terminals to surf espn.com. Why isn't every store like this one?

Let the sympathy weight begin

I'm still waiting for Monica to have her weird cravings in the middle of the night. In the meantime, I am doing my part by suggesting we eat ice cream and prime rib all of the time. It is one of my few perks during the pregnancy!

The announcement!

We finally announced the big news to everybody on my birthday. Trust us, we were as surprised as everyone else. Monica started feeling sick at the end of May, and even had the courage to tell me she might be pregnant. As a supportive husband, I dismissed the idea and chalked it up to some bad food.

Two weeks later we found out the news!