During
Adam’s terrifying health ordeal, we tried to shift our focus to our little boy
and the exciting things to come. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out
the perfect name for him, a name that we would all love for a lifetime. No pressure or anything. We knew
that we wanted something unique but didn’t even know where to start. We both
read through a baby name book that had about ten thousand different names in
it. Talk about overwhelming. We each made a list of names that caught our
interest and then shared them with each other. Surprisingly we had several
names in common, one being the name that we would ultimately choose. We
narrowed down the names, weeding out the ones that the other had a strong
dislike for. Being a former pediatric nurse made choosing a name even more
difficult for me because Adam had names on his list that I loved at one point in time but then had
that one patient who ruined the name for me. All nurses and school teachers know exactly what I am talking about. We made one final list composed
of five names. Monroe was at the top of each of our lists making it the number
one choice on our final list. It was a unique name, one not heard everyday. In fact, when I did a search on the name I found that it hadn’t been
a popular name since the 1880s. We were sold.
The middle
name had been decided long before we even found out we were expecting. Both
Adam and his dad Jamil share the middle name Mohamed. Adam had expressed to me
early on that he wanted his first-born son to carry on his middle name. How
could I argue with that? Besides, Monroe Mohamed Bakri just kind of rolled
nicely off of the tongue.
We kept the
name quiet, only telling Adam’s parents and my parents. My brother’s girlfriend
at the time, now his wife, told us that if we weren’t going to tell her the
name that she was just going to call him Baby Mohamed. I looked at her shocked.
Sheer disappointment fell over me because I thought my mom had let our little
secret slip. When I asked Becky why she chose that name, she responded that
Mohamed was the most popular male name in the world so that would be the baby's name
until she knew differently. Whew! Close call.
We had
officially named our little guy and things seemed to be looking up for us. Adam
had been cleared by all of his doctors to leave for Africa, which he was
extremely anxious about. He missed work and was ready to get back in the grind
of things. As Adam prepared for his trip back to Angola, I prepared for what
would be a very lonely third trimester. I was nearing the seventh month of my
pregnancy and had no choice but to stay behind. The long flight, possible
malaria exposure, and lack of health care there made it too big of a risk for
me to travel with him. We didn’t have a nursery set up or a single baby item in
Luanda considering the last time I left I wasn’t pregnant, or at least we didn’t
think I was pregnant. My type A personality made me a little stressed out knowing that we were completely
unprepared to bring a baby back to Luanda, but at the same time, we had no
other option at this point and needed to just roll with the punches, again.
I kissed
Adam goodbye at the airport and settled into my new routine, one with a few
less doctor appointments and a lot more Skype dates. While Adam was hard at
work in Africa, I spent my days making sure our little guy and I stayed nice
and healthy. I was very careful about my diet during my pregnancy even giving
up a few of my favorite things such as soft cheeses, medium rare steaks, sushi,
and the occasional beer. It was almost painful to look across the table at
everyone around me indulging in a nice pink and juicy steak or a pint of ice
cold beer and then glance down at my overcooked piece of meat and boring glass
of water. But I did it for nine long months. I exercised almost daily
throughout my pregnancy. I ran every pre-pregnancy day, so I tried to keep up
that routine for as long as possible. I stopped after my first trimester,
though, and decided that nice long three-mile walks daily with my mother-in-law
were better suited for my constantly changing body.
I also spent
my time reading books to our little guy as well as carrying on little
conversations with him throughout the day. It sounds silly but with Adam gone, Monroe
was the only company I had at home. I looked forward to our daily Skype dates
with Adam. I had Belly Buds that I would stick on my stomach so Roe could Skype
with us. Even though Adam was halfway around the world, I wanted our little guy
to still know the sound of Adam’s soothing voice.
I was
missing Adam like crazy, but the days went fast and were filled with fun and
exciting things including paintings, baby showers, and dance parties in my stomach. Of
course, Roe was the solo attendee to those parties, but I enjoyed watching and
feeling the little guy bust a move. He obviously got his dance moves from his
daddy.
Dr.
Harrington, a pediatrician in Wichita, was in the process of redesigning the
examine rooms in her office. Her nurse JaLayna, one of my former
co-workers, had mentioned to her that I painted a few canvases for Roe’s
nursery. They asked if I would be willing to do a painting for each of her
three examine rooms. My three-mile walks and Skype dates with Adam only
occupied a few hours during my day, so I was more than happy to take on the
project to help pass the time. The exam rooms were named after animals: a polar
bear, an elephant, and a hippopotamus. The animal of the particular exam room
it would adorn inspired each 24"x36" canvas painting.
With the paintings completed, it was now time to relax and shower Monroe with lots of love and gifts. My cousin’s
wife Amber and my brother’s now wife Becky hosted a fabulous safari themed baby
shower for me in Atchison. My family and closest friends were all in
attendance. We sipped on water from the watering hole and blue rhino juice whilst indulging in turkey and cheese sandwiches
cut out in the shape of elephants. Everyone spoiled Monroe with more gifts than I
could have imagined. Becky’s mom even made the cutest animal props I have
ever seen for shower pictures. The props have now found a new home on Roe’s
bookshelf in his nursery and are just anxiously awaiting the day that Roe will
no longer want to eat them but instead play with them.
The
following weekend my mother-in-law Carolyn, her sisters Shannon and Lynn, and
her sister-in-law Candi all hosted a boy bash themed baby shower in Wichita. Eating
delicious food that satisfied all of my pregnancy cravings and sipping
grapefruit juice (my favorite) out of champagne flutes adorned with little
mustaches made for a perfect and relaxing morning. Talk about feeling blessed
to have so many wonderful people in my life.
The eight
weeks were coming to an end, and I was anxiously awaiting Adam’s
arrival back in the States. I had one last solo doctor’s appointment before he
made it back. Dr. Kindel had started my weekly checks and informed me that I
wasn’t dilated at all. I remember a sense of relief falling over me as I let
out a “thank goodness.” She gave me a confused look considering most people
want to be dilated signaling that a delivery may be just around the corner. I
explained to her that wasn’t the case for us because Adam hadn’t touched down
on U.S. soil yet, and I had no plans to deliver a baby without him.
Adam finally made it home. He hadn’t seen me in eight weeks so he was a little surprised at
my changing shape. It is one thing to see me on video or in a picture,
but it is another to see me in person. Adam told me I looked great and
had gotten quite a bit bigger since he saw me last, but lets be honest, I was
HUGE! With Adam home and Monroe officially considered full term at thirty-seven
weeks, we were ready for baby.
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