What's in a Name?

When Tony and I found out we were finally pregnant (before we found out we were having triplets) we, like most couples, immediately started picking out names. That is such a fun part of pregnancy I think! People always want to know what names you have picked out. For us, it was pretty easy. If we were having a girl it would be Olivia Thay. Olivia has ALWAYS been my most favorite girl name and Thay is after my grandma, Era Thay. If we were having a boy the name would be Nash. We couldn't decide on a middle name. Nash is named after Tony's favorite NBA player, Steve Nash.

Well, when we found out it was triplets, the fun became a little more challenging. We had to pick out basically six names. Three girls, in case they were all girls. And three boys, in case they were all boys. Not to mention finding middle names. Whew...what a challenge! We really couldn't decide on boy's names very well. We liked Nash alot but that is really the only one we loved. We focused on girl's names. Hmmm...maybe a little sign that we didn't really need boy's names. We knew Olivia was in. Now for two more. We liked Alice, Grace, Sadie and Beatrice. However, none of them just totally bowled us over except for Grace. We decided we were not going to tell family or friends any of the babies' names until they were born. How exciting, we thought, to have all three babies rolled out to see family and then introduce them by their names. Little did we know...

The exact day we found out we were having three girls was the exact day I was admitted to the hospital. The names kinda got pushed to the back of our mind as we had so much more to focus on and worry about. At this point we knew baby "A" was in trouble and so I remember saying to Tony just minutes after I was admitted, "Should we name this one Grace". He agreed. I felt as though we needed to name her because we were expecting to lose her any minute. I couldn't have a baby before I had even named her. Grace Ann. We also decided we wouldn't keep the names secret anymore. Things turned out a little different than we expected. All the girls would share middle names with me, my mom, and my grandma. All three generations. Ann is my mom's middle name.

For some reason, and I still don't know why to this day, we skipped baby "B" and I decided to name "C" Olivia Thay. Maybe it was because I always wanted a little princess named Olivia and we always joked she would be a pistol, just like I was. Everytime the nurses tried to listen to Olivia's heartbeat in utero she would move. We got the biggest kick out of that. She did not want to be bothered. What a booger. Baby "C" you are officially an Olivia!

So we went on, still no name for baby "B". I felt so bad. I have all my children named except this one! Tony and I could not agree on ANYTHING and it was becoming frustrating!! Since I knew I would be in the hospital for a while we decided to make it a game. We made a "suggestion box" and decorated it in girly pink paper. Any one that came into our room was to make a suggestion for a girl's name and drop it in the box. It was fun. All the nurses participated, family, the ultrasound technicians, my doctor, volunteers, everyone. It was great. When the box started to get pretty full we decided to look through the names. The problem was, we didn't really like any of them. Nothing just POPPED out at us. Bummer. I felt there were good names, just not good enough.

I remember it clearly. Tony had left the room to go get something to drink. I was looking through the box at all the names. I thought, maybe we can take a name and kinda find a different variation of it. When Tony returned that is exactly what I said to him and exactly how I said it. "Like this paper says 'Elizabeth', but instead of using that name, we could use variations of Elizabeth, like Beth or Betsy or Eliza. I didn't go any further. Tony butt in and said "BETSY! That's the one". I said, "Really, Betsy!" TADA! That is how Betsy became Betsy! We absolutely loved it! We immediately called all our family and made the big announcement that we finally named baby "B". Betsy Linn. Linn is my middle name.

What an amazing little name that turned out to be. When I finally came home from the hospital I did alot of researching of that name, just out of curiosity. Betsy means: My God is an Oath. She shares the name with the most famous seamstress, Betsy Ross, who made the American flag. Also there is a Betsey Johnson fashion designer. Betsy King, a famous woman golfer. Betsy Randle, actress. There is even a test scoring system: Bayesian Essay Test Scoring sYstem (BETSY!!)

I have such an amazing Betsy. We all think she will be something big one day given her rough start and her will to survive. She was literally born a fighter and I hope she continues to fight through her entire life for the things she wants and can achieve big things. I really hope Betsy can grow up to inspire and be a leader. I hope Betsy grows to love the Lord and do his good will. But most importantly, I KNOW Betsy will grow up to carry her sister's legacy and to never, never let their memory fade.