Week 17 - "You are having a boy!! You are naming him WHAT!?!"

Week 17- " You're having a boy & you are naming him what?!!"

As most parents to be know advice and opinions are thrown at you like a rough game of dodge ball!  Some of the hits aren't too bad and don't sting for too long but, then you get the ones that sting like a mother and leave welts the size of Russia on your body!

Well, a rough week long game of dodge ball is what my husband and I played with family and friends for the long 7 days in our week 17 of pregnancy.  Before my baby daddy and I even remotely thought about trying to conceive  we would find ourselves talking about what we would name our future child.  Since we knew we were going to only have one child we knew we only had to pick two names. The names would have to be ones that we loved and fit our family best.  After hours of daydreaming of our future child we came to a nice strong list of names that WE loved.  We wrote them down and put that piece of paper in a nice little box, only to be pulled out again when we were faced with the question of what to name our child.  

After our exciting news in week 16 we decided to pull out the ol' list and give it a once over.  We knew we had a couple of boys names we had to chose from but, once we opened up that piece of paper and took a look at the names; just one seemed to jump out at the both of us.  We knew in our heart of hearts that this was the name we were to give our son.  With love in our hearts we both called to my belly at the same time "Han Solo"*.   We knew that the name was not traditional in the sense that everyone has heard it and knows how to say it but, we figured that all people in our lives would be accepting of the name and would just think "well, that's typical Roberto and Ashley for you".  

So, when we were finally asked "do you have a name?" we didn't hesitate to tell them.  We were (and still are) proud of the name and we wanted to share his name with family and friends.  BAD IDEA!  BAD, BAD, BAD!  Holy cow, if I would have known how much sh*t we were going to get for his name, I would have kept my mouth shut until the day he was born! I know that people are going to give out unsolicited advice once they find out your are preggers but, nothing prepared me for the unyielding amount of flack we received in regards to our decision.  

For example:

1."You are naming him what?"

2. "How can you do that to your child?"

3. "You have no idea what you are doing to your child."

4. "Your child will get picked on."

5. "Your child will have no friends."

6. "Your child's teacher will never be able to say his name."

7.  "You HAVE TO THINK ABOUT YOUR CHILD!"

8.  "Swear to GOD you are naming him that."

9.  "You are not!?!  Really!?!"

I am sure I have forgotten a few comments but, all for the best I am sure of it.  Here were my responses that played over and over again in my head:

1.  Repeat after me, HAN-SO-LO

2.  Um, do what exactly?  Give him a strong, kick ass name like Han Solo?

3.  Okay, you tell me what I am doing to my child?  Last I checked I was giving him a name.

4.  ALL CHILDREN GET PICKED ON GENIUS!  KIDS ARE JUST MEAN!

5.  Good thing our son will not be born with your pessimistic attitude.

6.  My child's teacher will learn to say it!

7.  I am thinking about my child jerk!  Friendly reminder to this person, you named your child with a equally difficult name to pronounce!  Same amount of letters too!

8. If you want to get all "put it on your momma", fine I will!  I thought people left that in high school.

9.  Yes, yes I am Thank-you-very-much!  When YOU give birth to YOUR next child, I promise I will let YOU name him or her whatever YOU want.  PROMISE!

Okay, I know that some of my thoughts may have been a little harsh but, come on people please keep other peoples feelings in mind when you are spouting off pregnancy related advise.  I do know that the people in our lives were not saying all these things to hurt us but, there came a time when our spirit was a little worn down by all the negativity that came at us.  

So parents to be and future parents to be, my unsolicited advice to each and every one of you is to keep your mouths sealed when it comes to sharing the name you have picked for your little bundle of joy.  For all those mommas out there, your child the light of your life is coming out of your vagina, you are the one going through the vaginal marathon so, if people want to have a say in what you name your child…you can tell them to go get pregnant and then it will be at that point they can name their child whatever they want!

Week 17 was a rough week and dodge ball is not our sport.  Here is looking at Week 18!

*The names have been changed to protect the innocent.