My timeline on Twitter is currently filled with lots of pregnant ladies. There are so many it feels like there is a mini baby boom going on in my Twittersphere. All are at various stages, some are even prepared with their chosen name for their little one.
It’s reminded me of when Baby Z was born and was completely nameless. We hadn’t picked anything at all and suddenly had to get a massive crack on throwing names around whilst I was hooked up to my saline and morphine drip post my Caesarian.
I was pretty much bed bound the first couple of days and, with the curtain pulled round my little cubicle, I could only hear what the other mums were up to. There was the mum who had sneezed her baby out in about 30 seconds and wanted to go home within an hour of getting onto the ward, the mum who had just had her 3rd and sounded very determined that “this was it, no more!” and the poor girl whose mother in law seemed to be rail roadjng every decision for her, including what to name her baby.
Then there was the horrible cow.
She was diagonally opposite to me and I never got to see her. But my god could I hear her….All night…long. She seemed to not require any sleep whatsoever, despite having just given birth, and prattled on and on and on on her mobile all night long to, probably, her long suffering husband. When she didn’t have the phone on her ear she was constantly asking the midwife to have a soak in the hot tub. Or to be helped out of the hot tub. Or she would be complaining she wasn’t being given enough attention and would request to go home. Then change her mind within a couple of hours. This would go on most of the night too. By night two I was going mental. I just wanted some shut eye and the horrible cow was relentless with her ability to complain all the live long night.
Anyhoo, amongst all this the hubby and I were trying to pick out the perfect name for “Infant H” as he was temporarily labelled. After going through about a hundred I came across a name that sounded so lovely and right. I looked up the meaning and then just knew it was right; “he who God remembers”…. Ahhhhhh. This was it. Baby Z.
So it was almost decided. The hubby has a much longer acceptance process than me so I knew he had to mull it over.
That evening the horrible cow was back on the phone complaining about the midwife, life, the Bounty woman who had asked her to put her phone down because she wanted some photo taking advice and basically the universe whilst I was feeding my Infant H soon to be Baby Z. Then suddenly I heard the horrible cow say something that made me freeze for a moment.
“How about we name him Baby Z?”
What??!! She was stealing my name!! I knew they’d already picked another name the day before but the horrible cow wanted my name. Our name! I was silently livid and had half a mind to try to pick my saline stand up and try to poke her from a distance. How very dare she.
Ofcourse I didn’t. I just fumed in bed and listened to her go on and on and on about how it had a lovely meaning. Yes. A meaning you stole. Stole!!
I told the hubby as soon as he arrived in whispered rage and lots of wild gesturing. He sympathised (I think) but reasoned we may never see them again so it wouldn’t matter… Hmmm.
I needn’t have worried for long. It seems the horrible cow may have had a silent long suffering husband but he still had some fight in the old dog and veto’d the name as they were all leaving to go home with their new baby. It was that day I started walking after my op and if I was any faster I would have followed them just to get a peek at her.
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Aha yes, I know that feeling quite well (I seethed silently when my eldest was named) Ah, this made me smile, great post.
I’m glad we picked what we did but it was like it was a massive milestone to achieve and to do it right.
Baby naming is so tricky. I went totally off a name last time, which we had both previously loved, simply because there was an awful chavvy family in town one day with the worst behaved child in the world who had that same name. I literally went completely off it in that second. X
There was an early suggestion that my hubby dismissed straight away because he knew a horrible guy at school with the same name. Its funny how we associate someone with a name straight away isn’t it?
baby naming is such a huuuuge responsibility isnt it? I had a noisy lady in the bed opposite me after I had B – like you i was thinking just ssssssh please! she was an older woman who had a younger hubby/boyfriend and they named their boy Ethan or Evan i think.
i am still curious what Z stands for but it has a lovely meaning – i mean to ask you at Britmums but forgot!!!
i am glad you wrote this because it reminds me that i have a post drafted about why i called my boys what i did that i havent finished yet!!
thank you for joining in again – next week will also be a free for all flashback. themes will only be monthly xx
Oh I know!! I kept thinking…this will be his name for the rest of his life. It must be right! I’d love to read the post on how you named the boys. I always wonder if one was after the driver 🙂
There is no worse feeling than someone stealing your baby name is there? Especially when they are a horrible person.
I feared that with both of mine. A friend of mine is now pregnant (only 6 weeks) but has been discussing names and when I suggested Esme Willow I thought she would say no, instead she said she loved it. I’m gutted. I’m hoping she doesn’t use it, even though I never will.
Thank you for linking up to Flashback Friday xx
That’s a really lovely name. Hopefully she’ll forget all about it by the time the baby is born and you’ll be able to bank it for future mini Laurens!
Esme Willow is a lovely name. Names are so special aren’t they? Next time I think I will be much more careful
There was a girl I knew who pregnant at the same time as me. When I gave birth to Little Bear she had 3 weeks left and was also expecting a boy. Months down the line I find out that she’s not only stolen his first name but his middle name as well! I don’t think she’s a horrible person generally but every time I think of her now I think of the thief that stole my sons name :@
Nooooo that’s the worst and with middle name too!!
What a great post, naming is so difficult. Names we liked we changed when the baby was here. x
It was very much a case of whether he “looked” like the name too. I can’t even explain it but after going through a lot of names we finally decided it looked right on him 🙂
Naming is so difficult. With Mads we knew all along that we wanted her name to be that, we pretended and thought about others as we didn’t want it set in stone until she arrived, but deep down we knew. With this one, although early days we have already briefly talked about it and we have no idea! x
We really do feel very possessive of our names don’t we! I would never tell anyone mine after a neighbour borrowed my first baby name while I was still pregnant.
At least you didn’t have your MIL email you saying she disliked both names you chosen and then sends you a list of names you like 😉
I know how possessive names make you feel – I’ve been there too.
Thanks for sharing for the Britmums Carnival hun x
Great post, very funny. I over-nighted after giving birth to my son and I thought the world had some to an end, I could not imagine being in longer. I’m sure I’d have cried like a baby, lol. We are still trying to come up with names for our second. So I totally get what you mean about being possessive about a name. I’ve only told a few UNpregnant friends the name we have at the top of our list, lol.
Exactly why Hubby and I didn’t let anyone. Not anyone know the baby’s names until the baby was born in the hospital. Oh, and I had a private room, so no way in hell was someone stealing my kids name. Some people have no tact. And are apparently lazy naming their own kids if they have to take a name from someone else.
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