Durham's Name

Once we knew we were expecting another baby, I made it clear to Tim that I would be choosing the name this go-round.  He had won out on Ainsley's name.  It was my turn to win.

As my pregnancy progressed closer and closer to the 20 week ultrasound that would identify the sex, I became more and more convinced that we were having another girl.  I thought about using the name I had liked for Ainsley, but it just didn't spark my interest much anymore.  (That name was Emerson.)  Instead, I had my heart set on Audrey.  As in classic beauty.  As in "Ainsley and Audrey, sisters and best friends".

I was utterly convinced that we would be having another girl.  Tim wasn't a fan of the name Audrey, but it didn't matter.  I would be winning.  I started to feel a little sorry for the guy.  This was his kid too.  So I struck a deal.  (Me and my deals!)  If it was a boy (which I was certain it wouldn't be) I would still be choosing the name, but I would chose from a baseball-themed list.  This seemed to pacify Tim.

We went to the ultrasound in early October.  Our ultrasound technician was a student who was just learning how to use the machinery under the tutelage of the regular lady.  This was a slight concern for me, not so much because of determining the sex, but because she would be checking all my child's major organs for possible problems.  Should we give this job to someone new?  I agreed to let her do my ultrasound anyway.  Everyone's got to start somewhere.  The other ultrasound lady would be standing right over her shoulder helping, right?

We got started, and they decided to find the sex of the baby first.  After just about a minute, she timidly declared that we would be having a boy.  I looked at the face of the experienced ultrasound technician who nodded at us and smiled.

A boy?  Huh.  Tim was smiling.

I went home to begin Internet research.  Baseball names?  I didn't want something that would be too obvious.  Ty for Ty Cobb was out.  I began to read the history of the Detroit Tigers franchise.

Some words that popped up as possible names:  Navin Field.  Bennett  Field, Briggs Stadium.

They all went on my list.  Then I went to a site listing the names of other Major and Minor League ball teams.

After reading through this site, I added names like Brooks, Cooper, Durham, Davis, and Stanky.  The final name was thrown on the list just to see if Tim was really reading it.

The list grew and grew.  Finally, I presented it to Tim.  I told him that I was going to start eliminating names from that list until I had chosen a name.  I just wanted to see if any popped out at him.

He looked at the list for a long time before he said, "Durham?  I like that."

I was excited as this was my favorite name from the list.  And I knew they had made a movie about this particular team, so it is multi-connected to baseball!

As the months went on, Tim changed his mind and began negotiating and rallying for Navin.  It was connected to the Tigers more than Durham was.  I wasn't going to budge though.  Navin had fallen far from the top of my list.  To me, Navin is a girl's name.  I absolutely wouldn't budge.

We mostly didn't talk about the first name for the rest of the pregnancy.

However, we knew right away that his middle name would be Glen.  This is Tim's grandfather's name.  Glen Roberts was the father of Bruce Glenn Roberts, the father of Timothy Glen Roberts.  Don't ask about the different spellings.  The story changes every time I hear it.

We ignored the fact that we didn't really agree on the name right until we were in the prep room waiting to go into the operating room for the c-section.  The doctor asked what the baby's name would be.  I looked at Tim.  Tim looked at me.  I said, "Durham."  And that was that.

Timothy Glen, Durham Glen, and Bruce Glenn Roberts