If you’ve missed my previous posts, read Beckett’s birth story via these links: Introduction, part one, part two, part three, part four, and part five. Phew! You’ve made it to the end!
When I started having contractions on Friday afternoon and later when we were getting ready to leave our house for the hospital that night, I had let my best friend Paige know what was happening. Paige, her husband Khang, and their daughter Eliana traveled down from Raleigh that night and arrived at the hospital around 1am. I tried to convince them they should go spend the night at her parents house, but she assured me that she wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway. I remember being so worried that they’d be waiting forever for us to have our babe, but I was so grateful they came anyway. The three of them came in to say hello when they arrived, give us hugs, see us through a few contractions, and then ducked out to wait in the waiting room.
Our parents managed to get a few hours of sleep before coming to the hospital in the middle of the night. Looking back now I would have just had everyone come to the hospital once our babe was born, but I know that it’s sort of a part of the package and part of the fun and anticipation to wait in the waiting room, knowing a baby is arriving soon on the other side of the doors.
We spent the first couple hours just us with our little guy as the doctor stitched me up, Mary went through all the new baby protocol, I nursed him (or tried to) and Mary washed his hair. At some point Tim went out to the waiting room to make the announcement, “It’s a…BOY!” along with sharing his name with everyone. Once we had some time with Beckett and once Mary completed all the necessary tasks, our parents, my brother, and Paige, Khang, and Eliana all got to come in and meet him.
I remember telling my parents the story of driving to the hospital that night, being surrounded by lightning in the distance, experiencing the power of that storm and being struck by the thought of God being the creative force behind this immense storm, and also the one growing the tiny baby in my womb. My dad had tears in his eyes as he reflected on that and he said “and this” pointing at Beckett, “this is His crowning glory.”
It makes me tear up every time I think of that moment. It was so immensely special.
The next day we had friends come visit us and I was so glad we did! One of my favorite memories from that time in the hospital is having our room filled to the brim with people laughing and chatting. My family, Tim’s family, our friends from Charlotte and Raleigh and Columbia. It was so special and we felt extraordinarily loved.
Choosing Beckett’s name was one of the hardest things for us. Since we didn’t know if we were having a boy or girl, we wanted to have at least one name chosen for each. It wasn’t until a couple weeks before he was born that we landed on Beckett, and I think it was even the week he was born that we decided on Elijah as his middle name.
Since my name is so unique, people were constantly asking my parents what it meant as I was growing up. It was so special to have the meaning of my name spoken over me again and again. “It means Blessed. It’s the first word of the first Psalm and the word Jesus spoke in the Beatitudes.” Those were the words my dad always used. Because of that, it’s ingrained into who I am. I believe so much in the power of a name, and I wanted to give our child a name with meaning.
It was tricky! Finding a name that has a great meaning, one that Tim and I both like, and one that sounds good with our last name – man oh man. So difficult. I love where we landed though. I can’t imagine him having a different name!
Beckett means stream or brook. We love the symbol of water as it gives life, sustains it, refreshes it. Two passages in particular stood out to us as we were choosing his name.
John 7:37-38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
His middle name Elijah means my God is Yahweh.
We hope and pray that Beckett Elijah becomes a man of God who is wise and gives life to others, someone whose heart overflows with the love of the Lord.
And with that, I’ll leave you with these which include a few of my all-time favorite photos. These are from the day we left the hospital. All the emotions hit me at once as I realized Beckett was ours for keeps. So grateful to have these images.
Thanks for reading along!