When I was pregnant with my first, we naively told the world our baby name choices. The girl name, Chloe, passed muster (thank goodness, since it was the name we ended up using). The boy name…let’s just say certain members of the family, well, hated it and did not hesitate to tell us so. And then they called back later to tell us some more what an awful name it was. I still loved the name choice, but the negative reaction soured my husband. We were grateful to have a girl, because we never did really settle on a boy name that we loved as much.

Ok, since you’re dying to know the terrible name, it was Oliver. Completely cute, right?

This time around, our baby name choice is a close-guarded secret that no one in the entire world can pry out of us, despite repeated attempts. We’ve actually had a really tough time deciding, so in a way outside input would have been nice, but we were just too scared of baby name backlash. (Oliver, by the way, is off the table, having been used by good friends of ours.)

Did you share your baby names before your baby was born, or did you keep it a secret?

Until more serious concerns threw matters into perspective, I obsessed about my pregnancy weight gain. Yes, it’s all for a good cause, but it’s never easy to see the numbers on the scale go up. Making me extra-sensitive about the poundage: a stern talking-to from my OB/GYN, who urged me to gain even less than the respectable 28 pounds I gained during my last pregnancy to preserve my chances of an easier delivery (my daughter was 9 pounds, 2 ounces –- ouch!). Sorry, doc, at 23 pounds up with 9 weeks to go, I’ll overshoot last time but hoping I’ll still come in at the recommended 25 to 35 pounds that woman of normal weight should gain. Vanilla milkshake: it’s not you, it’s me.

How much weight did you gain during your pregnancy? Did you stick to the guidelines of 28 to 40 pounds for underweight women, 25 to 35 pounds for normal, and the new guidelines of 11 to 20 pounds for the obese?

Name: Katie Phelan
Job: Account Manager, The Parenting Group
Due date: 8/12/09
How you told: I ended up having to tell my family very early on. I found out myself in early December, and a week or so later my mom told me that my brother and his fiance were going to book their wedding for 8/15. Given that with my first baby, I was 3 days late and by my calculations I would be in the hospital the day of the wedding, I shared the news very early.
Is this your first? No, it’s my second. My first is a boy who will be 3 in July.
Do you know what you're having? Yep, a girl
Is pregnancy harder or easier than you thought? Oh, I suppose a little easier in some ways and harder in others.
What I love: The pants – I don’t know why we ever put zippers and buttons on our pants!
Not so much: Always always always having to pee.
Just plain weird: I am constantly congested…no fun but, strange how accustomed you can get to not breathing well!
Don't go there: Constant reminders about the first couple of months of no sleep. I have just vague enough memories of the sleep deprivation the first time around to tell myself it wont be that bad. I don’t like others stressing me out with the reality check of how brutal it may be!
Can't live without: Jell-O pudding…these treat just tastes so much better when you’re pregnant.

News from the UK: a 66-year-old named Elizabeth Adeney is pregnant and set to deliver soon. You might think that would make her the world’s oldest pregnant woman, but turns out a 70-year-old in India gave birth to twins last year. Adeney traveled to the Ukraine for IVF in order to get pregnant.

Is reproducing that late in life unfair to the child? In the baby’s teen year (or earlier) he or she will have the huge responsibility of caring for an elderly parent. And saddling a kid with the death of his or her only parent (Adeney will be a single mom) at a young age seems cruel.

What do you think? Is it reckless to bring a child into the world at such an advanced? Or is age nothing but a number?

Plus:
Pregnancy at 20, 30, 40