Pregnancy diary: How we chose the name for our son

In this chapter of Imogen’s pregnancy diary she reveals how her baby shower went and also why she’s keeping her son’s name a secret until he is born.

This is the eighth instalment of Imogen’s pregnancy diary, with a new chapter released every Sunday.

Part one: Why I was dumbstruck when I found out I was pregnant

Part two: The first doctor’s appointment, blood tests and dating scan

Part three: Photo reveals why pregnancy announcement didn’t go to plan

Part four: I had these dreams about my baby’s gender

Part five: My family’s devastating loss while I was pregnant

Part six: Testing the wives’ tales about babies to see if they have any truth to them

Part seven: Coming to terms with the realities of giving birth

Back when my nan was alive, she claimed she used to be able to control the weather.

We’d all praise her talents when it was a beautiful day and give her a ribbing when it wasn’t.

As is family tradition, I still ask her to forecast the weather for me, especially when I’m relying on it to be a nice day.

So for weeks in the lead up to our baby shower, I had been asking Nan for a 26C day with a light breeze.

And look, she certainly didn’t underdeliver.

If anything, she went a little too far above and beyond because she gave us a 32C day with 30 km/h winds.

The stinking hot day was squeezed between two rainy days so the sun was definitely preferred over the rain, but the wind meant we couldn’t put up our outdoor umbrellas which would’ve provided some shade.

At my baby shower! 31 weeks pregnant.

Regardless, the day went down a treat.

We had about 60-odd people come and celebrate our baby boy with us, sharing their love, advice and generosity in amounts that were overwhelming – yep, I cried in front of them all.

I was especially thankful to Vanessa and Emily who organised the whole day, the games, the lolly station and my punny sign. Also massive shoutout to Mum, Tayla, Liz, Matt and Michael for helping set up and pack down on the day.

All I had to do was sort the food and drink, which was easy peasy.

Speaking of food, the big winner from the day – and a hot tip to anyone planning a big baby shower – were the wood fire pizzas we had catered.

Christian from Melrose Place 3051 came with his wood fire pizza oven on a trailer and he and his colleague served us unlimited pizzas for two hours.

We’d previously specified the six flavours we’d like and they rocked up and did the rest.

Their rate was also very affordable in comparison to traditional canape-style catering.

The reason we got the party catered is because I didn’t want Michael or I to stress about cooking the food and then serving it to everyone. I wanted us to just enjoy ourselves and socialise without having to keep an eye on the party pies in the oven.

Given it was a stinking hot day, it turned out that having the oven off inside was a huge win.

I also wanted to make sure that everyone had a proper meal given the party ran over lunch time and people were having a drink.

So, woodfire pizzas were the go. And they were absolutely delicious.

If you’re wondering how our registry turned out, we ended up having about 40 items on it, most priced up to about $50, some between $50 and $100 and then only a couple of items that were $100+.

We also requested books instead of cards so we received a beautiful library of children’s books with heartfelt messages to our son written inside them.

Michael, Imogen and Teddy at the baby shower.

We didn’t have to ask for any baby clothes as we got so many adorable little outfits, onesies, shoes and socks. Muslin wraps, burp cloths and face washers were also practical, popular choices.

Throughout the party, we played a few games, our guests wrote their advice to us on nappies so when we’re in the throes of newborn routine and sleep deprivation we get some words of encouragement, and they also wrote their guesses as to what the baby’s name will be and when he’ll be born.

We’ll have to see if anyone gets it correct!

It took Michael and I a while to settle on a name because we were going between two for a while.

We eventually came to our decision based on how the name rolls with the baby’s middle and last names, and what a potential nickname for him could be!

The only factor that could change our minds is if he doesn’t look anything like the name we’ve chosen.

The way we came up with his name was relatively simple.

As neither Michael or I had names we HAD to call our son, we would just suggest names to one another in passing.

If the other person gave it an immediate ‘no’ then it was out. If it wasn’t an immediate no, then it was contemplated for a while until another one replaced it.

We’ve decided not to tell anyone the name until he’s born because we don’t want to hear any opinions about it – good or bad!

Even without saying what the name is, we’ve had people tell us names to definitely not call our baby, based on ratbag kids that they know by that name.

Luckily, no one has told us horror stories of kids with the name we’ve chosen – phew!

Originally published as Pregnancy diary: How we chose the name for our son