Two days ago marked the one year anniversary of our discovery that Claire had hydrocephalus. Today is another important anniversary: One year ago today, Brad and I picked out Claire's name.
In the days after we learned that Claire had hydrocephalus, our heads were swimming with information and our hearts were aching believing our child might not live long after birth. Although we had learned during that very same appointment that we were having a girl, neither of us felt "up" to discussing a name. Given the doctor's suggestion that she may only live hours or days, we weren't sure whether we should name her at all.
Before the discovery, we had excitedly discussed our favorite girl and boy names and couldn't wait to find out the gender so we could begin calling the baby by something other than "it." The name "Claire" was our top choice for a girl, and we planned to use "Elizabeth" as a middle name, since it has a family significance.
Immediately after learning that Claire had hydrocephalus, we began to question whether we should "use" our favorite names for our child at all. If she didn't live long, would we want to associate the pain of loss with those names? Did it make sense to pass along a family name to someone who likely would be unable to carry on the tradition?
In the days after we learned that Claire had hydrocephalus, our heads were swimming with information and our hearts were aching believing our child might not live long after birth. Although we had learned during that very same appointment that we were having a girl, neither of us felt "up" to discussing a name. Given the doctor's suggestion that she may only live hours or days, we weren't sure whether we should name her at all.
Before the discovery, we had excitedly discussed our favorite girl and boy names and couldn't wait to find out the gender so we could begin calling the baby by something other than "it." The name "Claire" was our top choice for a girl, and we planned to use "Elizabeth" as a middle name, since it has a family significance.
Immediately after learning that Claire had hydrocephalus, we began to question whether we should "use" our favorite names for our child at all. If she didn't live long, would we want to associate the pain of loss with those names? Did it make sense to pass along a family name to someone who likely would be unable to carry on the tradition?
Choosing Claire's name represented our commitment to her: To love her no matter what, to be the best parents that we could be, and to provide her with the best life possible. By giving her the names we had originally chosen, we made a commitment to treat her just as we would a typical child.
From that point on, she wasn't just a nameless baby. She became, and will continue to be, our precious little Claire bear.
Happy Namiversary, Claire Bear!
Happy Namiversary, Claire Bear!
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