Baby and Her Name

This post is about our daughter and how she got her name. I know with Roan I blogged a lot about my pregnancy. I have been keeping a journal with this pregnancy but most everything else I have kept close to my heart. I am willing to share but just a little shy for fear if I share too much I will jinx myself and things will get bad as they have done the last two years when it comes to staying pregnant. 

We are very excited and grateful that this little girl is coming to our family now. 

We had a few names on the table that we previously liked with other pregnancies. 

Illiana

Freya

We both have Danish in our heritage and decided that when we had kids we wanted them to have old Norse Danish names with special meanings. When we chose Roans name I knew without a doubt that it was his name. I heard it and angels sang in my head. We had his name picked out for him around 18 weeks. Seriously that was just how it went. 

Now that he is growing up I can tell that his name was supposed to be his. 

When we found out we were having a girl Lars wanted to settle on her name being Freya. I liked the name but didn't have the angels singing in my head so I was nervous to settle. SO we kept on looking. One day Lars came home with a list of 5 more names. We reviewed them and I thought they were all okay but nothing exactly stood out except for one name, Liv. But at the time Lars said the old Norse way of spelling would be Leev and I thought that too wonky so I shoved it out of my brain. 

Over next few weeks I reviewed over 100 Old Norse Danish names. I passed by Liv a few more times and really researched what the name meant and alternate spellings and pronunciations. 

Derived from the Old Norse name Hlíf meaning "protection". Its use has been influenced by the modern Scandinavian word liv meaning "life".

I really liked it and couldn't stop thinking about it. Then I realized that some of my favorite t.v. show characters were named Liv (iZombie & Fringe). But I wanted to make sure her name was hers and not to be confused with those famous people or character that happen to share her name. I am also not into giving a child a name and then shorting it with a nickname, like Livy or Livia. 

I vowed that if I ever had a daughter I wanted her to share my middle name or to use my Mother's first name as a middle name. When we put it together. 

Liv Joy

I just fell in love with it. 

Liv Joy Barlow

I loved that fully her name meant Protector of Joy or Life and Joy. Which honestly was spot with how we are feeling about being pregnant here and now. 

I shared my findings with Lars. I told him that if this was her name we should spell it LIV. He said he needed to think on it. A week or so later he came to me and said that one night he got the impression that this was HER name. I cheered. I was so excited that we finally had a name and felt like it was supposed to be hers. 

As her pregnancy went on we stopped and pondered about the past few years, something we do often. Lars and I talk about the struggle it has been to stay pregnant, what we have learned, and what it means, what our heavenly family will be like, and how grateful we are for what we have now. During one of these discussions it dawned on us that her name literally means LIFE. Something we have wanted so badly in another child here on earth. So for us her name has a double meaning. 

We cannot wait to meet her on the outside on the womb. She has brought so much joy into our lives so far. I love feeling her grow and move and I love hearing Roan tell me all about her.  Seriously it is like he knows her so well already. The other day he voluntarily described what she looks like to me. It is so special to me that he loves her with all his heart already. He is going to be an amazing big brother. I love my family. 

And Now a fun comparison pic of bellies

32 Weeks with Liv NOV 2015

32 weeks with Roan NOV 2011