What’s in a name?
A week ago today I was wrapping up last minute business at work, laughing with all of my coworkers who shook their heads at me as I waddled through the halls, anticipating a call from the hospital that a bed was ready for us to begin induction. This experience was a whole new ballgame for me; Bella’s birth began with my water breaking at home and holding out as long as I could before driving to the hospital. This time around, labor would begin chemcially, in the hospital already, with two very unsure parents — not unsure of how the birthing process works, but unsure of what to expect from the actual labor this time around.
Really, it wasn’t much different. The pitocin drip began around 8:30 on Friday morning. This time, I was able to labor longer without the epidural, but finally gave in around 6:00 PM. Three and a half hours (and a nap — thank you Dr. Anesthesiologist!) later, our beautiful Number Two entered the world. We named her Sereneda Gianna.
We’ve gotten many questions about the origins of Sera’s name. In June, we learned we were having a girl. From there, the name game began. We knew that after naming Number One “Isabella Gianna” we couldn’t have a Molly or a Jennifer or Jane this time around. For the next 5 months, we researched names, trying to find one that would suit our daughter and that would be just as ethnic sounding as Bella’s name. We tossed around Cecelia, Franceska, Anya, and others that were equally different. Sereneda kept coming up. We knew it was Z’s grandmother’s name, but no one called her that: the world knew her as Sally. Unbeknownst to Z’s parents — or anyone, for that matter — we chose to name our #2 Sereneda. We discussed it with Bella, and she wanted to share her middle name with her sister… hence the Gianna.
But when she arrived and we asked Z’s dad for the proper spelling of Sereneda’s name, we found out what made her name even more interesting and special. As it turns out, Bella and Sera’s great grandmother Sally was named for her paternal grandmother, Rosaria. Sally’s mother did not like the namesake or the name, so she called Sally “Serena.” In Italian, the diminutive form of Serena is Serenedda, which is what Sally’s mother called her. After some discussion, we decided to drop the second ‘d’ and spell it “Sereneda,” calling her Sera for short.*
This week has been full of adjustments and learning about each other. Bella is loving every minute of time she has with her new baby sister, and I’m loving watching the two of them together.
Wow. We’re a family of four.
*Bella knows nothing of the story of her great-grandmother Sally’s name, yet, strangely, she insists on calling her sister Rose. Coincidence? I’ll let you decide…
