He's Pregnant (October 26)

With the first trimester safely behind us, my wife and I can finally start thinking about the truly important parts of bringing a child into the world. What are we going to name this baby? This seems to be the first topic people bring up when I tell them I’m pregnant. While I appreciate everyone’s opinion on this matter, I cannot handle another person telling me I should use his or her name.
Imagine this: “Hi, this is my son Thomas. He’s named after a guy who sat beside me in a history class in college.”
The truth is we were already decided on names before the bun was in the oven, but for some reason we spend hours looking through trendy, expensive name books. Apparently naming a child has become like shopping. You want to be original without straying too much from what’s popular. So you get names like Lola instead of Laura. If I want to use cute, cuddly names I’ll get a cat.
For now, I’ve temporarily named it “Pete the fete”, which is short for fetus.
With all the great things that come with a growing belly, there are bound to be some downers along the way.
The first real disappointment came at our second visit to the doctor. We were at 11 ½ weeks, so we were expecting the doctor to perform an ultrasound so that we could hear the heartbeat. I had heard from several guys that that’s when a pregnancy finally seems real.
We were excited, as this would be our first communication with the little peanut. But when the doctor came in, he said it was still too early to hear anything, which is contrary to what we had been told by friends. Some parents have the first ultrasound after nine weeks, and the doctor said it was four days too soon.
With that, our much-anticipated visit to the doc turned into a 45 minute wait in line for blood tests, sitting next to a man who may or may not have coughed up a lung.
Aside from that, everything has run smoothly. The cravings of a pregnant woman are a strange thing. I never thought a meal could consist only of pickles and lemons, but I guess that’s what hormones will do to a woman.
The major dilemma we’re faced with is whether or not to find out the sex of the baby. While a surprise is no doubt a special thing, we had enough of one when the Clearblue showed up positive. Finding out would also make preparation a little easier. It’s not very easy to find unisex baby supplies.
People ask me what I want more, a boy or girl. My answer is always; I’d be ecstatic either way. While a boy would be great, as I would have a little guy to kick the soccer ball with, I find something very special about a bond between a father and his daughter. Whatever pops out I’ll be happy, unless my wife’s recent dream comes true and she gives birth to a giraffe.