Cyprian's Birth Story

David read over my draft and filled in some things I'd missed, so now I am ready to present:

Cyprian's Birth Story

Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Cy = Si

When we took Cyprian to the doctor's office for his first visit, I realized one of the challenges faced by the nurses who call patients back from the waiting room: they have to say the patients' names loudly regardless of how confident they are on the names' pronunciation. I would be terribly embarrassed to mispronounce people's names in front of others...but maybe they get over it quickly.

Why these musings? The nurse mispronounced Cyprian. I chuckled to David and noted that we'll probably get that a lot.

The day after Cyprian was born, when I was passing time alone in the hospital, I thought about all the words I knew that started with "cy". I realized that the majority of them are pronounce with a long I sound: cypress, cycle, cypher... I could only think of one word with a short i like Cyprian: cygnet. A baby swan. That's a nice word to compare a child's name to. Unfortunately, not everybody knows the word cygnet.

So I pulled out my dictionary when I got home and went through all the "cy" words. It turns out there are several more that are also pronounced with a short i. Some of them are nice, or at least neutral: cyclic (-al), Cygnus (the swan constellation), cylinder, cymbal. Others are negative: cynic (-al, -ism), cyst, cystic fibrosis.

Which word should I use when helping people learn/remember how to pronounce Cyprian? Cylinder?

She wears her emotions

While my mom was visiting last week she noted that Teresa readily displays what she's feeling. You never have to wonder. She has an extremely expressive face (she uses her eyebrows like her Papa) and she uses her vocabulary to tell us (sometimes over and over) what emotions she's experiencing.

"Teresa sad."

"Teresa crying." (As if we didn't know already from the wailing!)

But the best was this past Sunday, as we drove from our church to a baptism at another church. Teresa was desperate for a nap in her own bed (and she told us as much: "Naptime! Nap!"), but there was nothing we could do. I tried to placate her with bites of my sandwich. At one point I was handing back a piece and she cried out, "Fustated!"

David and I looked at each other and laughed. Yes, my daughter learned that one from me, as I am frequently frustrated and let my family know as much. Poor girl.

What's in the name: Cyprian Joseph

Here's a little background on why we chose the name Cyprian Joseph for our son.

St. Cyprian of Carthage was a third-century bishop and martyr. Nothing is known about his birth or early life in Africa; the wealthy, famous orator was in the prime of his life when an aged priest encouraged/inspired him to convert to Christianity and to embrace chastity and poverty. His election as bishop followed shortly thereafter and he valiantly led his flock and defended the faith through several persecutions and controversies before he was beheaded. David is particularly drawn to the fact that Cyprian was an Early Church Father and martyr. The texts of many of his letters, treatises, and other short works are available to this day.

First of all, we just like the name Cyprian and the Catholic heritage it conveys. Cyprian is a rare name (I doubt we'll meet another when we're out and about) and yet church-going Catholics will not be entirely unfamiliar with it because Cyprian is part of the list of saint names in the First Eucharistic Prayer (aka, the Roman Canon) the priest prays at Mass when he so chooses (and our priest does so often!).

We ask St. Cyprian's intercession for our Cyprian. Perhaps the Lord will deign to give our boy some traits for which St. Cyprian is noted: a dignified and cheerful temperament; the gifts of eloquence, administration, and energy; and an ability to write with "beauty of style" - simple, fervent, and sometimes poetic. Yes, these two English majors will be quite pleased if Cyprian learns to write well!

Cyprian is pronounced "SIP-ree-en" and that is what we will call him - not CJ, not Rian, not Ian or any other derivative.

We honor the foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, St. Joseph, with Cyprian's middle name. David's middle name is also Joseph, and he has a special devotion to the quiet, faithful, servant-hearted husband of Our Lady.

Online articles about St. Cyprian of Carthage:
New Advent Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
Saint of the Day

Oh, and just in case you are worried that our Cyprian may be the first in a (hopefully) long line of Roman Canon named babies...I can assure you we aren't planning on a Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, or Chrysogonus. ;D

He's here!

Our baby boy, Cyprian Joseph, arrived at 6:40 AM on Wednesday, May 11, weighing 8 lbs 4 oz at 19.5 inches. Successful unmedicated delivery occurred with story to come later. Mama and baby are recovering well. Thanks be to God.

April belly shots

Yes, I am definitely bigger than I was with Teresa at the end of my pregnancy. I've gained the same amount of weight (maybe even a little less) but my tummy is stretchier.

I'm now 38 weeks, 4 days. No signs that Baby Boy will be coming this week.

April Teresa pics

Teresa's latest favorite thing to do while she is in "time out" is to remove her socks, put them on her hands, and play with them:


When Teresa gets hot and sweaty, her hair curls up like crazy:


Easter egg hunting in front of our new Sacred Heart statue: