The
Friday night before Dakotah was born, I was having Braxton Hicks
contractions, like I had been having off and on for two weeks, and it was
around 10:30 at night. Wayne and I were in bed reading, and listening
to the radio.
The
talk show host on the radio happened to be hosting a show about people's
names. He wanted listeners to call in and tell him their name, how
they got it, and whether or not they liked it.
We
had decided that Dakotah would be named Tracey Gabriel if she were a boy.
A name we were sure of for a boy for three years before she arrived, but
one we didn't even consider when we were pregnant for Paige.
Until
about a week prior, Dakotah was definitely going to be Devin Kathleen if
she were a girl. Then, I heard the name Dakotah and fell in love
with it. Around the same time, Wayne found the name Rhiannon and
really, really liked it. We could not agree.
So,
I call the dj and told him our dilemma, that we were two weeks overdue
for our baby, and we could not come up with a name should she be a girl.
He
agreed to dedicate his whole three hour show to our baby, 'Name the
Baby', letting listeners who called in choose between Dakotah and
Rhiannon, on the condition that we use the name that won the contest.
It
was so cool, laying there, timing contractions, listening to people's opinions.
We laughed really hard when this old lady called in, who sounded like she
had had too much to drink, and said, "I don't like either one, I like Charlotte," and hung up the phone.
Anyway,
as you can guess, Dakotah Kathleen won the contest 17 to 15 over Rhiannon.
The
Braxton Hicks turned out to be the real thing, and the next morning, we
were headed to the hospital.