What's in a Name?

Macy Sue Davies.

She's finally here. After months of waiting she arrived Wednesday morning, May 16, at 10:46 am weighing in at 7lb 6 oz. She has a flock of thick, black hair, eyes that are a beautiful shade of blue that looks like it might turn green, and she is perfect. She fit right into family life, eating, sleeping, and allowing her sisters to stroke and cuddle her. She loves to cuddle up tight into our necks, but she's equally comfortable awkwardly sat on Cerys' lap with her head sort of hanging off to the side and her legs splayed out in front. The only things that upset her are having her diaper changed and her sleep interrupted, which in both cases causes her to scream until she is comfortable again.

But the name. Macy Sue. Sue is after our dear sister-in-law Sue Davies. We liked the idea of using family names as middle names, and Sue was the obvious choice. Sue is married to Tim's brother Jon, and she is fun and affectionate and we love her very much.

Macy is a bit more complicated. Officially it is a name derived from the old French word for weapon. It is also thought to be descended from the name Matthew, meaning Gift from God. For us, though, it is an algamation of the names Mike and Stacy, two very dear friends whom we love and admire. In naming our daughter Macy we hope to honour them and also speak into her life some of the characteristics we so appreciate in them. Namely, their ability to love, encourage and serve others with everything that is in them.

Due Date

Does this look done to you?

38 weeks

I'm actually 39 weeks and 2 days, but these were taken last weekend.

Happy Anniversary

My husband whisked me away for the night to one of our favorite pubs last weekend. We had a lovely dinner and stayed in a cute little chalet behind the pub. We will have been married for five years this month, but he thought it best to celebrate a month early before baby comes.

Close, but not quite

I woke up yesterday morning at 5:45 with the strange sensation that my belly was trying to implode. Tight, heavy, hard to breathe. I remembered that feeling as the way both of my other labors started and so smiled to myself and tried to go back to sleep. But by 6:00 I was excited and needed to get up. I made myself a cup of raspberry leaf tea and called my mom to calmly say that my contractions had started, but that with Addien I had contractions for a couple of days before I actually went into labor, so I wasn't getting too excited. Then I called my sister to tell her the same thing. I decided to go for a walk, since that will either really get things started or make them totally stop. By the time I got back an hour later I knew I wasn't going to be heading for the hospital anytime soon, but I was uncomfortable enough that I had to cancel my trip to see my friend Alicia in Cambridge. Since the baby is back-to-back I also called my friend Peggie, who used to be a midwife, to ask her to feel if the baby had turned yet. She hadn't. By 9:30 contractions were completely stopped, and I was more than a little disappointed, so the girls and I watched two feature-length films and spent the day feeling rather sorry for ourselves. But we had a nice time doing it. And today I'm very glad that I didn't have the baby since I came down with a nasty cold late last night and spent today feeling terrible. So we're happily waiting.