Part 1, Emerald: They say that it is harder now to pick baby names than ever before, since baby names mean more than ever before. Well, I can tell you that is true, because people have zero problem telling you exactly what they think about the name you choose.
Throughout my first pregnancy, Michael worried about the fiscal aspect of becoming parents, and was...less than helpful when it came to the naming portion. More often than not, he just didn't want to talk about it all. I remember once very vividly--he was at work and I sent him a text asking what I should name the baby. He said Lee, Levi, Arizona...he was naming pants brands that he was folding. Jerk.
Anyways, so I was pretty much on my own, with one small difference. I couldn't just pick the name I liked because (though he was unwilling to help with the process) Michael could still say--and did, often enough--that he wasn't sure about the name I was thinking.
As you can tell, I found this whole arrangement quite frustrating.
Before I actually knew I was pregnant, I had a dream of a baby girl with dark curly hair sleeping on my chest. It was a very powerful dream, where I could even feel the weight of the dream baby on my chest. It was when I realized that I was probably pregnant...but the little dark haired angel in my dream was named Irish Lynn. So I wanted to do that, but my mother pointed out that everyone would hear it Iris and call her Iris, and Mike wasn't crazy about it.
Soooo I started thinking Tula--Tula is Michael's great-grandmother's name, Tula Lynn is really cute...it's an uncommon name..seemed good. Mike wasn't sold on it, everyone kept asking me "like My Big Fat Greek Wedding?", and I got frustrated and abandoned that name too.
Around this time, people realized that I was unsure and I got floods of suggestions. I appreciated everyone else's input, but their styles were so different from mine that nothing felt right. Hannah was too soft; Aubrey was our rival high school while I was in school; Ashley was my brother's ex-girlfriend....
Mike FINALLY suggests a name--he read a book when he was younger about a girl named Sophia, based on some variation of philosophy. I get excited, pair it with a middle name, and tentatively try it on: Sophia Gwen. It feels good, it looks good. It's pretty, I haven't ever met a Sophia....unfortunately, when the name is not right, when it doesn't feel right, you know. My mother-in-law called my bump Sophie and it just FELT wrong. It didn't feel like my baby.
I am getting bigger and bigger and she is nameless. I am getting desperate and panicked.
So, I go for a walk and try and clear my head, and I think of a name. Inside me, the baby squirms as if she agrees--I could cry in relief. A name that feels right =)
For the next month, I call her my Katie Lynn. I don't tell Mike in case he shoots me down and breaks my heart, but surely he noticed that I quit talking baby names. I got a few back up names, and I finally get the guts to pose it to Mike...he loves Katie Lynn too! Now all we have to do is find a proper formal name for Katie, and we're set!
You see, baby naming experts agree (and I know all their advice by heart at this point) that a baby shouldn't be just given a nickname. Even if you use the nickname all the time, they usually like having options for what they are called, and nicknames make them sound childish when they sometimes want to sound more mature.
Katherine is out--I just simply don't like it. Mike has a cousin named Kaitlyn, and we agreed that we wouldn't use any first cousins' names. Katana is too weird, Katrina had too much of a negative connotation, Kateri and Katia are too exotic sounding. Kate Lynn sounds too abrupt to me.
We have the right name, but we can't flesh it out. We argue our way to a stale mate and realize...we can't go any further than this. We can't have our Katie because we can't find a formal and I won't use a nickname as a full name.
Back at square one in the hospital, we start asking everyone we pass for suggestions. The nurse asks what we think about Emma Leigh. I hate it. It's trashy...but Emma would make a cute nickname. Em...Emily....Emeline...Emerald?
I ask Mike what he thinks of Emerald, and he loves it. He is all for the nickname Emma. My heart breaks at leaving the name Katie behind, but Emerald is beautiful and she just looks like an Emerald when I meet her =) Katie would have fit too, but she is our Emerald.
The nickname got abandoned along the way, but now we have our gorgeous, perfect jewel of a daughter with a name all her own. I think we did pretty good. The whole naming affair stressed me out beyond all reason, which is NOT how it is supposed to be, but now I know better....I should take less of the responsibility and let Michael do more of the heavy pulling, and I should just enjoy the ride =)
~Andie~
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