Girl or boy?

How does one go about choosing a name for a life that hasn’t even been born? This has to be one of the most exciting moments during pregnancy when names get tossed about like the confetti at your wedding!  A new addition to your family brings awe and wonder as you try to imagine what kind of person they’ll be!

During my first pregnancy, I was convinced I was going to have a girl! I spent the months making up names although I’d never met a child who went by any of them. Serenity Blessing were the perfect names for my baby girl – she would be a much better version of me! Just in case I was wrong, Theophilus was my choice for a boy, Theo for short!

People thought I was crazy! It must have been the hormones because I thought they were very acceptable choices. Luckily, a few days before first born was born, the names Noah Angel were decided upon.  As soon as I told family and friends, there was a huge sigh of relief.

The night baby was born, at home, I was supported by the father, the midwife and his assistant and my very good and crazy Aussie friend, Anna! Noah was born naturally and into the most incredible silence I have ever heard! He then made his announcement with sound and it was then I found out I had delivered a boy!

What next?

For my second child, there was no name or gender knowledge throughout the pregnancy! I didn’t even worry about names as I knew I had plenty of time to find one. However, this one decided to come two weeks in a record 20 minutes – too quick to be fun. He was tiny and we were all taken by surprise by his arrival.

His birth date was the day after 9/11 and Mikel, the midwife, had delivered three other babies in the preceding 24 hours too. For the record, no one tells you what happens in a second or third delivery!  Spending most of the night awake I therefore had time to come up with a name or two before dawn.

Pau, meaning peace, was the obvious choice given to what had happened in America in the previous 48 hours. When I said his name for the first time to the others the following morning, it was received with happiness and smiles!  This tiny creature – only 2.1kgs – was born to bring us gifts.

Some days later I learned about the indigo children for the first time. That became his second name although the Justice of the Peace who registered baby did raise his eyebrows. Pau Indigo is his name, I said confidently and thus it was registered!

Your choices

Whatever name you choose for your baby is for you to decide. It may be after a loved one who no longer lives and in their memory you choose to remember their finer qualities via their name. Or you might like the sound of something foreign to your ears and discover the meaning is special to you. Once you’ve found a name, enjoy it and hopefully, your child will thank you for it! Whilst my name has never been a modern one and is rather old-fashioned, I will forever be grateful to my parents for their choice. I am yet to meet another Glynis Catrin German anywhere in the world!