how we chose Lyla Delcie

It seems like everywhere I turn I am hearing of another new baby girl being named Lyla. I would be lying if I said it didn't annoy me a teeny tiny bit. I know it shouldn't, but I always felt that we chose such a unique and un-used name for her. It hasn't been on any top 100 lists, and I have never known a Lyla in my life, and now all of a sudden, baby Lyla's are being born right and left. I guess that fact that our doctor delivered a baby girl named Lyla, just hours before she delivered our own baby girl, should have been our first clue. How did we come up with name Lyla? Here's the story... Before we were even pregnant, and while we were trying, I was in love with the name Eden. I thought about it all the time. I would scrawl the name Eden all over scrap paper, over and over again. I felt it was so sweet, unique and pleasant and I was sure that if we had a baby girl, that would be her name. And better yet, AJ actually agreed to the name, too! As soon as we found out we were having a girl, I was so excited that we would get to use my favorite name. But since AJ really wanted to wait on deciding on her name until after we met her, we had to have a few other options. Shortly before getting pregnant I thought of the name Lyla. It literally came from no where. I thought it was beautiful and original and so lovely sounding. I had never thought of the name before, so I wonder now how it even originated in my mind. I ran it past AJ, and despite him nixing almost all the other girl names, he actually liked it. It went on the list. Even though we decided that we would wait on deciding on her name, slowly throughout my pregnancy the name Lyla really began to grow on me. Whenever I went into her nursery, I would always picture the name Lyla spelled out in block letters above her crib. I started doodling the name Lyla on everything.

 When I thought of her, the name Lyla was always there. I felt really strongly that she would end up with that name, it felt right. Toward the end of the pregnancy the name Eden was almost never mentioned in our choices, it was put on the back burner, and although I still loved the name (and still do) it slowly began to fade into the pile of names we weren't going to use.

 It was always going to be a choice, but I think we both knew it wasn't the right name. It came down to the names Lyla and Phoebe. Yes, Phoebe. And no, not after Phoebe from Friends. Perhaps, we thought of the name because of the show, but it would never be after her. 

We really thought it was a spunky, quirky, but very cute and original name, and if chosen, we felt it would probably compliment our babies personality perfectly. Secretly, AJ favored Phoebe and I favored Lyla.

 I started leaning toward Phoebe during the last weeks of pregnancy. But looking back, I think it was out of rebellion. Most people either told us they didn't like that name, or secretly were hoping we wouldn't choose it. I wanted to be different, and choosing Phoebe would be a little more daring than choosing Lyla. Hours after she was born, we sat in the recovery room as a new family of three. She was in my arms, a sweet little bow glued to her hair.

She looked so beautiful, so dainty and so not a Phoebe. 

 Yet, we still sat trying to decide on her name. After a long day, and so many life changing events having taken place, I couldn't find it in me to decide on such a permanent thing. I told AJ to make the decision, and I would be okay with whatever it was.

 He chose Lyla. And it was perfect. It felt right. She had always been a Lyla. Her middle name is Delcie, and she is named after my Grandma Delcie, who passed away when in 1996. 

Her middle name was always going to be Delcie, no matter what her first name was. I thought of it a long time ago, and AJ fell in love with the name, too. Lyla Delcie fits her perfectly.

And even if there are hundreds of other Lyla's, there is only one Lyla Delcie, and we are so grateful she is ours.