Nicknames for the not-yet-born

by Larissa Brown (Subscribe to Larissa Brown's posts) Mar 7th 2006 4:20PM

Categories: Pregnancy & Birth, Playground Bureau

When I was pregnant, I remember wanting to feel more connected to the little person inside me. The experience was a little alienating for me, and maybe a sweet nickname would have helped. But I felt that calling him Blip or Unit was somehow like naming my car, a practice I'd given up at age 17. It seemed immature.

I've since learned from my blog friends that you can, quite maturely, give your little lima bean a classy pre-name name. Cari of Dogs Steal Yarn is expecting Thumper. Heidi of Step Into My Thimble is expecting Mitten (which has got to be my all-time favorite). James at semaphoria was awaiting the birth of Bob, until he was born and actually became Travis. Back in '04 Julie of a little pregnant was expecting Batman (nee Charlie). Kate's nickname stuck after her daughter was born, and she still calls her adorable baby Tadpole on her blog.

As it was I referred to Binx as "this little individual," a phrase picked up from our midwife. I ended up really liking that name for him.

What else have you called your not-yet-born babies? Any great ideas for those parents to be just starting to look for a nom de utero?

Comments (45)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

momma2mingbu 3-07-2006 @ 4:27PM

With my first, I thought of him as "little B" before our u/s because we knew for a boy he would be Keithen Brick and a girl, Isabella Brianne.

Both the girls I refered to as "Roo" (like in Pooh Bear). It stuck as a nickname with Ruby after she was born and she has often been called "Ruby Roo."

sooz 3-07-2006 @ 4:38PM

I was expecting the acrobat, it sure felt like we'd be installing a trapeze not long after birth if my experience of her in utero was anything to go by. I haven't been disappointed.

Erika 3-07-2006 @ 4:39PM

Up until my first detailed ultrasound at 17 weeks, I had a hard time believing I was pregnant because I had zero symptoms. I took to calling my unborn child "The Alleged Baby."

We also called her "Bean," because at the very first 7-week ultrasound, all we could see was this little pulsating bean.

kelly jeanie 3-07-2006 @ 4:41PM

We called our little boy "Harvey" while he was still in utero. It's from Farscape, which my husband and I enjoyed watching on the SciFi channel before it got canceled. Nerd alert!! :)

christy 3-07-2006 @ 4:52PM

With my first it was Turtle, and with the second it was Shoehorn. Both have goofy stories associated with them that only me and my husband find amusing, but the names are pretty good. Neither one stuck upon arrival though.

Rachel 3-07-2006 @ 4:53PM

Claire was "Tiny American Citizen". Jules was Jules.

Raj 3-07-2006 @ 4:57PM

We called our little one Twiglet (it has sadly not stuck). At the first ultrasound we only saw a fetal pole.. pole led to stick.. stick led to twig (it was a long day :-) ).

Kate 3-07-2006 @ 5:14PM

When we found out we were pregnant with Morgan we had just finished watching the old TV series "The Prisoner" on DVD so we called her Number Three (as in the 3rd member of our family). We kind of call the one we're growing now Number 4.1 but it hasn't really stuck. We call it Squid sometimes too. Unfortunately, I think we are going to have the same problem settling on an actual name for this one that we are finding a nickname.

Jessica 3-07-2006 @ 5:23PM

We call ours "Pod" because it feels like an alien taking over.

Stephanie 3-07-2006 @ 6:14PM

My husband had nicknamed our unborn child "Stratus." I have no idea where that came from, but he thought it sounded gender neutral since we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. Maybe he was secretly hoping for a car....

Jenny 3-07-2006 @ 6:22PM

We based our nicknames on those e-mails sent by babycenter.com that say "your baby is now the size of [a peanut, an avocado, a canteloupe]." Babycenter is very fond of food metaphors. We called both babies "peanut" and still do, though we called the second "avocado" for a while.

msLaura 3-07-2006 @ 6:28PM

Gingerbread Baby. That's exactly what he looked like at 8 weeks. See for yourself!

http://www.viviente.com/images/ultrasound_8weeks.jpg

Keith 3-07-2006 @ 6:38PM

Cletus...as in Cletus the Fetus.

tulip 3-07-2006 @ 6:52PM

We always called our gal bebe, like a weird form of baby. It has stuck for her and we call her bebe all the time even though her name is Tess. We get odd looks on the playground sometimes when people ask "what is bebe short for?"
And I love the numbers guys! Long live the Prisoner! ;)

L. 3-07-2006 @ 6:57PM

I don`t remember calling my kids anything before they were born, although my husband did. I know everyone feels differently about this (especially some of my friends who lost pregnancies very early on) and I don`t mean to say there`s a right way and wrong way to think about this. But to me, my embryos/fetuses just weren`t people -- they didn`t get names.

Adrienne B. 3-07-2006 @ 6:59PM

We called our daughter "The Smidge" and "Sparky." She's two now and we still call her Smidge all the time.

jj 3-07-2006 @ 7:04PM

Our first was nicknamed Chessie, 'cos his heartbeat sounded like a train the first time we heard it, and the Chessie (C&O) train line has long been my favorite, thanks to the adorable sleeping cat logo.

This one we've been calling Otis, since that's what our son, Milo, insists he will be named, as "Milo & Otis" is one of his favorite DVDs. Needless to say, his name will NOT be Otis.

mic 3-07-2006 @ 7:04PM

another Harvey here--"Harvey Wallbanger"
and "Holly Berry" for a Xmas due date

speedyima 3-07-2006 @ 7:10PM

When we first heard our son's heartbeat, it was 120 BPM. My partner observed that that was the same pace as a "Speed Racer" techno song. "Speedy" stuck, and remained apt as he boogied his way through gestation.