Cian Thor Lavery

If you know me, or have read my About Me page, you might know that my son's middle name is Thor. Some might think naming him Thor was quite a bold statement. You know, the God of Thunder and all that. But to be completely honest, the meaning had nothing to do with it, well for me anyway. 

When Jack and I found out we were expecting, we were very excited but also very anxious (obviously). Neither of us had been pregnant before. I come from a small family so was never really around babies or pregnant women, and well Jack's a typical man so even though he had been around it, he was a little oblivious! So to clue myself up, I took to researching everything baby related on Google and sites like Babycenter. And I mean everything! When would I start showing? When would I feel movement. Had they grown ears yet? You know, all the useful stuff you need to know about your unborn child. If I hadn't been so into googling everything I would have missed out on some pretty cool information. Like, did you know that babies don't grow knee caps until they are three years old!? And they cry with an accent? 

There is so much information out there, but the one thing I was dying to know was, am I having a boy or girl? On the NHS, you don't find out the gender of your child until your 20 week scan. And for a lot of women, especially me, I was done with waiting patiently. So when I came across a whole forum of women talking about gender predictions I was enthralled. This gender prediction forum was pretty wacky. It was basically a bunch of women (and some men) sharing different (ridiculous) gender theories. I have done you a solid and noted some of them below. Oh yeah, there are more. One test my mother-in-law made me do was mixing my pee-pee with baking powder! Of course I know now that this is all utter bullsh*t - hindsight is great! But looking back, my theory, if you can call it that, was even more far fetched. I was a bit moronic really.

Theory	Hypothesis
Skull Theory	Shape of foetus skull determines gender
Heart Rate Theory	Heart rate of foetus determines gender
Nub Theory	Size of “nub” between the foetus’s legs!

So eventually, after what felt like 3 years, I was 3 months pregnant! I had crossed the safety threshold! I started telling my family, friends and work colleagues about my pregnancy. And what tends to happen is women get excited and start sharing their own experiences of pregnancy. Now I don't know why, but one work colleague's story just stuck with me. She had explained that she had absolutely no morning sickness with her daughter, but with her son she had it quite severe. I had a relatively easy pregnancy with no sicknes - I got lucky. People always told me how good I was at pregnancy. Not to be big headed, but I did totally rock it.

I felt I could relate a lot to what this colleague was saying. We both didn't suffer with sickness or nausea... I guess we were similar in height... Actually looking back, those were the only similarities. But, for her sickness=boy and no sickness=girl. And for some ridiculous reason (let's blame hormones) I decided that I was going to be the same. Basically, in my head I did this sort of calculation: nonsense + bla bla bla = BABY GIRL!

When it came to name selection, like a lot of couples, Jack and I came up with a veto system. We would suggest names and the other could eliminate it if they didn't like it. As you soon find out, there aren't many names you actually like. I think that's because people ruin names. Either because you associate that name with an arch nemesis, or you just don't want your child having that individual as a namesake (no offence person). And sadly, Jack is quite popular, so the latter ruled out a lot of names (sorry Jack's friends!).

So why Thor? Well, during our many baby name discussions, we started discussing middle names. Jesus, it was hard enough picking one name you liked, let alone two! By this point we were going in circles. And, let's face it, who even pays attention to middle names? So my adoring husband offered up a great solution to the middle name selection debacle. He courteously agreed to grant me power over choosing my baby girl's middle name, with one condition. If Baby Lavs was a boy, the choice would be his. This was an absolute no brainer! I mean, I was carrying this baby, so if anyone knew what sex she was, it would be me! Yes, hindsight is great. Well, looking back, the only explanation is that Jack must have been doing his own gender theory research. And unfortunately for me, his source was far better.

A few weeks later, we went along to our 20 week scan, and got the amazing news that our baby was healthy and growing well. But also, that he was male. Jack couldn't stop smiling and I think he even shed a tear. All men want a son. But for Jack, it was more than that. He was going to be the father of the God of Thunder. 

I think Jack now feels like we've started a family tradition, and we have to name any future children after Marvel superheroes. The name Loki has been batted about already. I think that's where I draw the line... Isn't he the evil one? Anyway, my husband's smart. Will he get his way? You'll have to watch this space.