I had no idea how obscure, apparently, the name "Liam" would be. I get some really funny looks when I tell people his name. As a kid, I always had the first crack at the TV Guide crossword, and probably every other week there would be the 4-letter clue "Actor Neeson." I have been aware of the actor and the name for a long time, but it appears that, though it is making a comeback, only the people who name their child "Liam" have any idea of that fact.

I was listening to Herman Cain today (not my favorite, but it's background noise), and someone named Liam had written in. Herman did not agree with Liam's position because he said the name SEVERAL times - to paraphrase: "So essentially, LIAM, you think..." Thing is, he was pronouncing it so that it rhymed with "Leigh-Ann," and he was calling him a "she."

I don't care - I wouldn't have named him anything else. It was my absolute number 1 pick, not just some compromise because we couldn't agree. We actually agreed pretty quickly, and Andy still maintains that he mentioned it first...though that is not how it happened :) It's ok, it makes me feel good that he we like the name equally and neither of us had to "settle."

My nostalgia comes into play again when I pass by or even think of the Women's Center at Northside Hospital. I always think about being back there, experiencing the shock of having a new baby and the hustle and bustle of being in the hospital...the security of it all and the fact that I realized I just wasn't in mommy-mode yet.

I went to visit Abby J. at the hospital to see her and her adorable new little baby Jeremiah. When I was there, it brought back memories (especially since she was five doors down from my room), but it brought them back in a more realistic way.

I tend to remember the experience almost in snapshots, almost like when you put together a slide show with music, and simple memories seem more like fairy tales...When I was there I actually remembered how kind of boring it was and how stir-crazy it made us, not to mention the fact that we were in the midst of the absolute trauma of new-parenthood. It kind of made me be able to step back and say "ok, I miss it all, but it's totally ok that I'm not going to be back there for roughly a year-and-a-half, give or take and God willing." I didn't remember the hospital experience the same way after spending 2 hours in a room there. It's a good thing.

When I was going through those first couple months, in the hospital and at home, no one could convince me that it would get easier and that I would come out alive. Now, I can't even fathom how bad it could have possibly been. I am back to where I was before I had a kid, thinking "oh how hard could it possibly be?" The answer, VERY!! No one is immune to it. It's NOT a fairy tale...not when it's going on, but at least it can be a fairy tale in memory. That's the beauty of memory (and repression).