In this article about names that remain trend-proof across generations, "Lucia" is listed as one of the few uncommon but timeless girl names. Interesting read.

Posted By Lucia

I feel like my stomach has really started to expand. My clothes are definitely getting tighter. I will probably start wearing maternity clothes any day. The maternity clothes I have are still big. I'm sure there's something I can find to wear though. I'm 19 weeks, 4 days today, but I'll post my last picture along with today's picture for reference.

Posted By Lucia

I have spent the last few days sewing. I have been itching to buy pink fabric and make something for our little girl. I was not in the mood to make clothes yet, so I decided to make a rag quilt for her. I am so not a quilt maker, but this is an easy kind to make and very forgiving (if the seams are not completely straight, it's not that apparent). Here's a link to instructions on how to make a rag quilt. After sewing and snipping all of the seams, I had to wash it to make it "rag." The more it gets washed, the raggier and softer it gets. The 4' x 4' quilt has six different fabrics on the front and one on the back.

I figure she'll use the quilt as an infant to lie on, take naps with it as a toddler, and then wear it as a cape or make tents with it when she's older. I hope it's completely worn out by the time she's 10. When we have more children, I plan on making each child their own quilt.

Before washing:
 

After washing:
(pictures coming soon)

Posted By Lucia

Rules for Naming Baby Wilke:

1. Not too trendy (not ranked in the top 100)
2. Easy to pronounce
3. Not unisex
4. Maybe incorporate a family name as a middle name

Ideally, we want a name that is not very popular but is easy to say. We don't want a common/trendy name that says the baby was born in the 'aughts'. 

In the list below the least popular names are marked in red (not ranked), dark red (above 200th rank) or orange (between 100 and 199th rank). Other kinda popular names that we like are listed too, even if they are ranked below 100. We are still considering these semi-trendy names, at least today we are. Names that are crossed out, mean that while we like those names, we have to start cutting names so we can shorten the list. At this point, no one name really stands out for us.

Long List of Girl Names:
  KEY:  First Number after Name = usage per million babies in 2004 (we want this low)
          Number in Parenthesis = rank in 2004 (we want this high)

• Alice - 180 (405th)
• Allison (Allie) - 1450 (40th)
• Annabelle/Annabella (Belle/Bella) - 250/85 (299th)/(723rd)
• Ann/Anne (Annie) - 100/190 (684th/398th)
• Annette (Annie) - 95 (693rd)
• Audrey - 950 (80th)
• Bella/Belle - 300/not ranked (260th)/not ranked
• Elaine - 200 (657th)
• Elise  - 350 (225th)
• Gabrielle/Gabriella (Gabby) - 1075/1000 (73rd)/(76th)
• Gretchen - 70 (882nd)
• Isabel/Isabella (Belle/Bella) - 850/3500 (87th)/(7th)
• Jillian (Jill, Jilli) - 530 (151st)
• Juliana/Julianna - 475/500 (163rd)/(388th)
• Mallory - 450 (187th)
• Paige - 1300 (51st)
• Sabrina - 550 (149th)

Family Names

• Ann/Anne/Anna
• Carol
• Marion
• Wintress
• I still need to research other possibilites.

Which names will make the short list??? I anticipate that we might end up with a few of names that we like and wait to see which one fits the baby best after we meet her.

Posted By Lucia

We went in for the BIG ultrasound today. I was actually kind of nervous about seeing the baby again. We hadn't seen the baby in 10 weeks, so I knew that a lot had happened between then and now. Would he/she be healthy? As much as I wanted to find out the sex of the baby, I really just wanted to know that he/she was alright. I still haven't been able to feel the baby. "They" say that with a first pregnancy, the average mother-to-be can first feel the baby move between 18 and 20 weeks. The movements have been described to me as "fluttering" or bubbles. I am not worried about not having felt the baby yet, as on occasion the movements aren't detected by the mom-to-be until 22 weeks.

The primary purpose of this ultrasound is to make sure that the baby is healthy in terms of its growth and development. Finding out the gender is just an added bonus. The clinic lets you bring in a VHS tape to record the ultrasound. Guess what I completely forgot? I still can't believe I did that.

The majority of the appointment is for the ultrasound tech (UT) to take measurements and check the baby out. I couldn't see the ultrasound screen during this time, which drove me crazy. Jonathan could see it, but he said he didn't know what he was looking at. After laying on my back awhile, I started to feel woozy, so the UT had me lay on my side. I think my nerves (and growing uterus) got the better of me. The UT didn't say much as she was doing the scan (which was a little nerve racking) but at the end said that everything looked good. She asked if we wanted to find out the sex and we said yes, if the baby cooperates.

We got to see glimpses of different parts of our baby. I could have watched the screen all day, if they had let me. I'll post the ultrasound pictures in the order that we got to see the baby.

	FACE: From this vantage point, the baby looks alien-like. This being the first view of the baby, I was surprised that the baby didn't look more human. Roll over the image with your mouse to get a better idea of what is what in the image. (FYI: the face is head on and sideways.) The UT said the baby was sticking its tongue out. We couldn't see that though.
	ARM, HAND: The baby's forearm and hand are visible in this ultrasound. The arms were crossed and I think you can barely make out the other arm/hand behind the forearm.
	KNEES, SHINS: The baby's legs were crossed during the ultrasound. The baby was pretty active while we looked at the legs. It was surprising to see how much movement was going on seeing as how I can't feel the baby move yet. This picture captures the shins with knees bent and legs crossed at the ankles.
	LEG, ANKLE, FOOT: This picture shows a profile of the baby's ankle and foot. The lower part of the leg is also visible (the strong white line is one of the lower leg bones, I think).
	GENDER: This ultrasound shows the baby's bottom and legs. It took the UT a little while to get this view of the baby. She had me lay on each side and then she proded my abdomen to encourage the baby to change positions. The UT said she was pretty darn certain that the baby is a girl! The baby's girl parts are circled.
	PROFILE: The very last image we saw of our baby girl was her profile. Such a difference from that first head-on face picture. It's amazing that this early on, she already looks like a perfect little baby, button nose and all.

Posted By Lucia