Picking something as important as a name is kind of scary if you think about it. It’s something that sticks with that person forever, sure there are ways to go about changing it if you really want to, but our names are something we get no say in. I wasn’t sure how I felt about having that kind of responsibility for my child. When it came to names we knew if it was a boy it was going to be Joseph Preston Ridley III. Joe is a Jr. and he was/is set on a JPR III someday. When it came to a girl he had no ideas and I had a list but I wasn’t really super thrilled or excited about any of them.
I never really felt like a name had to have some uber significance, just so long as it was cute & maybe a little different, and sounded good with “Ridley” and wasn’t something that my kid would get made fun of for in the future then I would be happy. Then one day my mom and I were kind of talking about names and Augusta came up because that’s where we went for treatment, then Georgia came up and I thought it was nice but wasn’t really sure about the whole “state” as a name. Then Joe told me his mom mentioned the name Georgia as well. I really wanted June for a middle name because that was my grandma’s and once I heard “Georgia” a few times then put it together with June, my mind was made up & there was no going back.
Joe and I both really love it and I honestly cannot think of a better, more suitable name for our first born daughter. For one thing, it’s classy and timeless, reason enough for me right there. But it also has insurmountable significance to us, it’s where our donor lives (duh!), it’s where she was “conceived”, and it’s always going to have a special place in our hearts. Combine that with June, my grandma’s name, and also the month that the entirety of this DEIVF cycle (I’m talking donor starting meds, being monitored, having retrieval, embryos growing, embryo transfer, TWW, and first 2 positive betas) took place. I’m not sure that I know anyone with a more significant name than our daughter.
We shared the name with most of our family and friends early on, even before we knew the gender Georgia June was our number one contender. Now that we know for certain and are about halfway through this pregnancy we felt comfortable sharing. Lots of people asked after I shared a picture on Instagram of the assembled nightstand with a light up letter “G” on it. Joe said he was fine sharing publicly which gave me a reason to share the beautiful custom piece I had made for the nursery with her name on it.
I know a lot of people like to keep the names a secret for various reasons, but for me I just cannot contain the excitement that I have had about every part of this experience so far. I want every single person I know to relish in the joy that we are feeling. I want to sprinkle that joy and excitement around like glitter to every single person that I can. Right now this world is a scary place filled with dirty politicians, idiots dressed as clowns terrorizing communities, devastating weather, and so much more that I just cannot help but put these happy vibes out into the world in the hopes that someone will feel some of the joy that I am feeling right now.
We cannot wait to meet our little Georgia peach.
