Dreams of a Hormonal Pregnant Woman

After finding out we were pregnant, we couldn't wait to find out what we were having (patience is not one of my strengths). One reason I really wanted to know the gender was so we could start picking out a name. I'd already been keeping a list of both girl and boy names and I was excited to begin narrowing them down.

One night (around 10 weeks along), I had a very distinctive dream that we would have a little girl and name her Norah. I remember waking up and thinking it was so strange because "Norah" wasn't even on my list.

Over the next few days I convinced myself that the dream was true. Why else would I have this strange dream telling me we'd have a girl named Norah—a name I'd never even considered before.

Then I began wondering if maybe I had an ancestor named Norah. After all, I'd always wanted to name my children after people or things that held meaning. A few days later, curiosity got the better and I casually sent my mom a text and asked whether we had any ancestors named Norah.

"No," Came her response followed shortly afterwards with, "Why?"

We hadn't yet told my parents we were expecting, and I really didn't want to make a huge fuss out of it. I debated whether to tell her the real reason over text message or to keep it a secret a little longer. I decided to just get it over with.

I quickly shot off my reply, "Well... I'm pregnant. And I had a dream that we were having a girl named Norah."

My mom was so surprised when she read my message that she started to cry. Since she was having lunch with her friends, it did not go unnoticed. By the end of the lunch they all knew the news—grand-baby Norah was on her way!

As we began sharing the news with more family and friends they'd ask, "Well, what do you think you're having?!" I began to proudly share my dream. More than once I heard, "Oh you can never trust your dreams! It always ends up being the opposite."

Maybe some people can't trust their dreams, I remember thinking, but I know for sure. At 17 weeks we went to get an ultrasound to confirm our suspicions. I don't know what I expected ultrasounds to be like, but it was there that I realized just how much I loved this baby.

Why?

Because for the next hour, I let a stranger poke and jiggle my belly trying to get a good shot of our little one. I remember laying on the table as Joe watched the ultrasound tech just casually shaking my belly fat as she chatted with me.

Was this really happening? I remember thinking. How had I ended up here with a complete stranger jiggling my tummy as my husband just sat and watched? That's love people. It was definitely a little humiliating, but totally worth it to get a glimpse of our little one.

An hour (and much tummy poking and jiggling) later she announced that we were having a BOY.

And so I'll say—yes, they were right. You can't trust your dreams—especially as a hormonal pregnant woman. But, that doesn't mean dreams don't come true, because a few months later we held a perfect little baby in our arms.