What's in a name?....Oh yeah...IT'S A GIRL!

After three ultrasounds, we were finally able to receive a definitive answer to the question of Baby O's gender...IT'S A GIRL! The first one at 17 weeks 5 days was pretty much unsuccessful because they baby's umbilical cord was between its legs the entire time. We did get some great video and shots (in 4d and 2d) of the baby though. We went back one week later, 18 weeks 4 days and it looked fairly certain it was a girl, but the tech wanted us to come back one more time. So we went back last night at 19 weeks 5 days. This time it took the tech about 2 minutes to find a good view, the baby cooperated, and immediately the tech said, "oh yeah, this is a girl"....and then of course he pointed out all her little girl parts and what not.

While I would have been equally happy to have a little man in our life, I have to admit I am totally over the moon. I have always dreamed of having a little girl. I always thought because I wanted a girl that God would give us a boy. I have visions of hair bows, headbands, and maryjane shoes dancing around in my head. :)

Now comes the part where everyone likes to make faces and give their divine opinions. And the name is .... *drum roll*....Tatiana Antoinette. Bjorn and I had this name picked out long before we were pregnant (as well as a boy name). When I mentioned it to Bjorn I was shocked that he liked it so much, and any other girl name I came up with just wasn't good enough for him. We definitely want something unique, but still traditional (although this name may not seem traditional to many, but I will explain that below) since we have one of the most common last names in the area of the U.S. where we live. My mom is still trying to talk us out of this name, and she says it's too big of a name for a little baby...I really doubt that's going to matter once she arrives.

So what is in a name?....

Lets start by explaining the inspiration for both the first and middle name. I have a really big interest and overall fascination with the history of European monarchy (you know, kings, queens, etc...). It's such a foreign concept to me to think that just because you were born to a specific set of parents that you would rule a country. I read a lot of non-fiction as well as historical fiction related to this topic. Two of my favorite royals are, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanov of Russia (1897-1918) and Queen Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne of France (1755-1793).

Grand Duchess Tatiana

Grand Duchess Tatiana was on of the last Grand Duchesses of Russia. Her parents were Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra (and her maternal great grandmother was Queen Victoria of England). Unfortunately for Tatiana, she was born during a time of political upheaval in Russia, her father was not a very strong leader, and her mother was disliked because she was German. Alas, the Russian revolution began and Tatiana, along with her three sisters, brother, and parents were taken into captivity by the Bolsheviks (do the names Lenin and Stalin sound familiar at all?...or we'll just make it clear cut, communism!) for over a year. At the age of 21 Tatiana, along with her entire family were lined up and shot execution style. Why? Because the Bolsheviks feared people who supported the royal family would somehow see them back to power, so getting rid of the royal family permanently seemed like the best solution. Tatiana (and her older sister, Olga) was named by her mother after a character from Alexander Pushkin's novel, Eugene Onegin.

 

Tatiana, center back row, with her Mother and sisters, Olga, Marie, and Anastasia.

A young Tatiana (second from right) with her three sisters.

The name Tatiana goes back much further than that though. One of the first records of the name Tatiana is from 235 A.D. in Rome. Saint Tatiana, was a deaconess of the early Christian church, and basically to make a long story short, the Romans threw her to the lions. The lion that was supposed to end her life did not touch her and layed at her feet. This infuriated the Romans and so she was tortured and then beheaded. She now has a feast day, January 12th, that is celebrated in some eastern European countries.

Marie Antoinette

I won't go in to too much detail about Marie Antoinette, because she is better known. She was an Austrian princess who married a French prince, and together they became the last King and Queen of France. She was known for being extravagant (but honestly, who at the French court was not? The entire French court itself was all about splendor and grandiosity) and she had a little pug who she called 'Mops.' She gave birth to four children, and along with her children and husband became victims of the French Revolution. She was executed by a guillotine in 1793 at the age of 37. I first really became interested in her after seeing the 2006 movie, Marie Antoinette. It's one of my favorite movies, and it's just exploding with ruffles, cupcakes, big hair, and shoes.

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette in the 2006 film.

Okay well thanks for letting me force a history lesson upon you today! And I will end this post with a cell phone picture of my belly at 19 weeks, 6 days.