Nate's Birth Story - Part 4 - The Name
Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 7:55PM 
Nathaniel Martin
We knew even before we conceived that our son's middle name would be Martin, which is my dad's first name. (We also had a girl middle name picked out.) My sister and I have our grandmother's first names as middle names and I always loved the family connection, so it was something I wanted to continue. My brother's middle name is Martin as well, so this was a way to honor primarily my dad, but also my brother in a way. When we told my parents the name, my dad cried. (If you know my dad, this comes as absolutely no surprise what-so-ever.)
As for Nathaniel, we chose the name by going through The Baby Name Bible page by page. The hubby and I each made a list of 7-10 names. Nathaniel was one of two names both our lists had in common. (I'm keeping the other to myself in case we use it for a future son.)
But here's my little confession: I've been hoping for the name Nathaniel for months. I've even called him that in my mind a few times, although I never did so out loud because I didn't want to get my hopes up.
The first time I came across the name in the book and pondered it for a minute, I started to cry. It just felt right somehow. The name means "given by God" or "gift from God" - and while my views on faith and religion are complicated, I felt like this little baby was indeed a gift from a power I couldn't fully comprehend. We conceived the first month we tried, the pregnancy was extremely easy - it was like everything was a gift.
I also like that it's not in the top 50 names for the past decade and we don't know anyone who has a child with that name. I love the nickname Nate and I love how Nathaniel ends in "iel" - visually, it appeals to me.
So I was really thrilled when the name appeared on the hubby's list. When they confirmed at my last sonogram the week before the c-section that Nate was still breech and the hubby and I sat at the hospital while I was on the NST monitor, we figured it was time to choose a name since this little man was entering our life in a short five days.
Even now, it hasn't settled in that it's truly his name - that not only were we lucky enough to create this little person, we got to choose a name for him that he carries with him throughout his life. I hope he loves his name as much as I do.
Nate's Birth Story - Part 1, Delivery Day - Prep
Nate's Birth Story - Part 2, Delivery Day - The Prize!
Nate's Birth Story - Part 3, The Hospital Stay - Visitorville
Nate's Birth Story - Part 4 - The Name
Nate's Birth Story - Part 5, The Hospital Stay - When it got hard
From Breast to Bottle - My Story
Nate's Birth Story - Part 6 - The Hospital Stay - When it got scary
Nate, baby, birth story, family in Baby 
Reader Comments (2)
I'm so happy for you!! Its a beautiful name for a beautiful baby...more pictures please!! :-)
Congratulations! It's an incredible, challenging, thrilling, awe-inspiring, exhausting, enthralling, inspiring journey that you've embarked on. And it only gets better. Your heart will grow bigger than you ever imagined it could, every. single. day!
Many blessings to you and yours!