Saw-Dawg, Say-Dub, and Soybean... What's in a name?

During the flu (or as Daniel and I like to call it, the 14-Day Plague), we had our second ultrasound, and during this one, we got to find out a little more about who Chappell Baby is. And, as you all know, it’s a BOY!

His name is Sawyer Aaron Chappell. Daniel and I have a hard time agreeing on names, but Sawyer has always been our “boy name”. Why? Well, a few main reasons. First, we’re big fans of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, the epitome of boyhood. Tom is an alright name, but it’s never been one of my favorites (and I especially hate the name Thomas). No offense to Brad Paisley, but Huckleberry is not even an option; although the teddy bear Daniel got me our first Valentines’ Day is named Hucklebeary. And two of our friends have a baby boy named Finley, and if you know anything about my name preferences, I want names for my kids that are unique and not common, so having another little boy in our circle already named Finn cancels that name out for me. Second, Daniel and I spent a couple hundred hours watching the tv series LOST, and one of the main characters (and one of our favorite characters) is named Sawyer. It’s funny how a book or movie character’s personality traits can become so ingrained and intertwined with a name. To us, Sawyer is a great name for a little boy with skinned-up knees playing in a creek fighting imaginary battles with sticks and stones, and also a great name for a handsome, strong, honorable man sweeping a beautiful girl off her feet. Now, if either the book or the tv series had painted “Sawyer” as a socially awkward, rude, or unintelligent human being, we probably would not be nearly as interested in the name. Finally, the name Sawyer strikes me as somewhat of a “Southern” name, and I really want to preserve that part of our baby’s heritage. However, it doesn’t strike me as a hillbilly name J AND, as confusing as it may be, I love the way my and Daniel’s different accents affect the way we pronounce his name. I (and everyone around here) pronounces Sawyer as Soy- yer (like soybean, more of a y sound), while Daniel and our Southern friends/family pronounce it Saw-yer (with the w sound very pronounced). He may be a bit confused at first, but he can pronounce it any way he chooses. J

Aaron was also an easy middle name for us to choose. We have several in our lives who are very important to us, including (but not limited to) my brother Aaron, Daniel’s brother Aaron, and our friend Erin Dayvolt. My big brother has been a long-time friend, protector, secret-keeper, and source of fun throughout my life. Daniel’s brother is one of his very best friends, the other half to his movie quotes, and probably the person Daniel is most proud of in his life. Lastly, our friend Erin has been a constant in my life for several years, always ready to give straightforward advice as well as compassion, and the partner in countless girls’ nights full of fun and all things important (and unimportant) in a girl’s life.

Chappell as the last name… obviously.

Now, just to make this clear, we have a plethora of people in our lives who are VERY important to us, and we would LOVE to have our children’s names be in some way connected to all of them; however, there is only so many times I’m willing to do this whole pregnancy thing… J Don’t get your feelings hurt. We love you all the same!

Pregnancy Health (or lack of) :)

It’s been months since I’ve posted on this blog, and for good reason. Well, maybe it’s not such a good reason; maybe I’m only trying to justify the fact that I am NOT good at habitually writing, even though I was an English major. However, until I hit 28 weeks of pregnancy, I was super sick. Not many exciting, fun blog posts existed to be written. ChappellFamily3’s blog truly would’ve read, “Today, I got sick.” And then, “Sick again.” Now, I can’t lie, there were HILARIOUS stories about my sicknesses, including very very disgusting times that brought Daniel and me much closer in our relationship. There were also pitiful stories about sickness that included hospitalization and missing over two weeks of school, but neither of these do I really want to disclose over the internet to any students, potential employers, or crazy psycho people. So, instead of going into details about the sickness, let me just give you the bottom line.

In 30 weeks, I’ve gained 6.5 lbs, and the baby is around 2.5 pounds of that weight. Besides for the occasional unbuttoned waistband, I’m still wearing pre-pregnancy clothes (hey, we saved money on maternity clothes, right?). I’m pretty small for 30 weeks, and while I appreciate people’s fascination and compliments about how “small and great” I look, most do not realize that I kept virtually no food down for over six months. Honestly, I’d rather be ginormous.

In 30 weeks, I’ve had 3 UTIs and a kidney infection because of the constant throwing up. I didn’t keep down liquids or solids, so my body wasn’t able to properly “flush” itself.

In 30 weeks, I’ve been hospitalized for dehydration, threatened to be put on bed-rest, and given 7 daily prescriptions at some time or another to try to keep me healthy.

In 30 weeks, I’ve had the flu 3 times, including one bout of the flu that lasted exactly 14 days, and 11 of those days I did not keep a single teaspoon of liquid or solid food down and lost 5 pounds. My fever stayed between 101 and 104 for over four days, and I didn’t even celebrate my birthday in the slightest way- next year I better have TWO cakes!

In 30 weeks, I’ve been proclaimed anemic with a hemoglobin level of 9. I was 12.7 pre-pregnancy, and (according to my mom) 12-14 is normal. They’d like to get me a little higher before labor and delivery, so that I’ll be able to withstand it better. The anemia comes from (again) not being able to keep nutrients down. They gave me an iron supplement, but it made my sickness worse, so I’m trying to eat more foods high in iron rather than taking it. However, both my grandma and my mom were anemic during pregnancy and delivery due to throwing up during pregnancy, and both of them seem to have survived just fine (as well as their children). I’m not terribly worried, as long as the baby’s ok!

In 30 weeks, every receptionist, nurse, ultrasound technician, and CVS Pharmacy worker came to know me by name, as I was in and out of the doctor’s office/pharmacy every 3 to 4 days.

In 30 weeks, my high school students have supported me in various ways as small as occupying themselves during the random times I’d suddenly rush out of the classroom for a few minutes to ways as large as switching out the um… nasty trash bag for a new one and getting me water after a particularly bad reaction to lunch. As much as they may get on my nerves at times, I love my job, and I love my students.

In 30 weeks, I have realized how much I love this little baby inside of me, how much I can’t wait to see his face (and eat buffalo chicken strips and drink a mountain dew while I’m at it!), and how much I wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again for him.