We fly overnight so we’d make the delivery, and our catnap at the hotel (thank you, thank you, you wonderful angels Susie, Dan, Andrea and Jim!!!!!) was cut short by mom telling me to
Get to the hospital!
lol. She was right on. K was having contractions 2-4 minutes apart at noon, and we got there at 10:30. She’s alone, and we spent the pre-delivery time in chatty mom-to-mom conversation. Sharing a child like this cannot be explained. I often say I can’t speak about other kinds of adoption, and I can’t. I can hardly describe this. K seems comfortable with her choice and uncomfortable in her body! Getting to see her progress, keep her laughing and trying to reassure her, just making sure she’s not alone – it makes me feel part of the labor. My heart pounds in unison with the baby’s. I’ve had no sleep and no coffee, and I can’t get my mind to work at all.
Remy stalled, then came in two pushes at 2. He’s a squaller, with long fingers and big feet and a ton of hair! Almost 7 pounds, 19″. He’s beautiful – just beautiful. Big and small to us, as he’s over 3 times Tess’ birthweight and bigger than she was when we left salt lake.
Family acquisition: a new little man has entered the Oplinger family! Dave and I couldn’t decide on a name, and then locked in on combining our two favorite boy names – Remy Alexander. The ultrasound techs warned us he’d be big and have a lot of hair.
Dad and I like statistics, so I thought we hit you up with a few. In France, Remy is the 129th most popular boys’ first name. His name day is February 15. (Tess’ is the 15 of October.) Remy is #874 in popularity in the US, so I’m pretty sure he’ll be the only one in school. Remy means “oarsman” – not a deciding factor. I therefore have no heartfelt story behind it – just that it’s a name I’ve always loved, it’s Haitian and French and English and international but not to the point of weird. He’ll do fine almost anywhere.
Alexander means “defender of the people” and is one of the most common first names all over the world. (I believe it’s currently 4th in the US.) That runs contrary to my preferences, but I do like the name and Dave LOVES the name – so using it as a middle name seemed like a great idea. So my breathy strategy on names has been pulverized – and we couldn’t be more delighted.
When finalizing our choice, we ran it by Colin, who is very particular about names. He declared,
It has a nice ring to it!
Sold. 🙂
Congrats Dave and Maggey! I love his name and I’m so happy for you guys!
Take care,
Jackie
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!! Welcome Remy! We’re so excited for you!
So glad everyone is doing well! Love the name, and totally agree with Colin. Also, the initials RAO are pretty boss.
He’s beautiful with the name to match – Congratulations, and can’t wait to meet him!
Felicitation ! Bienvenue au petit… heu au grand Remy Alexander 🙂
So glad that everyone is fine.
Love the names and the way you pick up …. it is so you Two.
Can’t wait to read when he will meet his sister.
Wish Remy Alexander good first “beau dodo”
With love,
Sebastien & Sabine
Congratulations Maggey and Dave! He is a handsome little man! I am happy that you two were able to make it to the delivery and that he is “big” and healthy! You are going to have your hands full with those two little buggers, but I know you wouldn’t want it any other way! 🙂 Congratulations!
Jessica
Congrats! He’s so cute! And his names are great, too. I’m looking forward to hearing how Tess likes being a big sister!
Congratulations, Maggey, Dave and Tess! What a beautiful boy, with a great name! The dynamics of a brood of two will be so much fun for all!
What joy! And Maggey how perfect you and K were his birth together. It’ll be a busy household, but from your blog posts, everyone does well in the chaos. Keeping your beautiful family in thoughts and prayers. We are thrilled for you!!
Kristin, Ryan, and Viv
Congratulations on the birth of your gorgeous son:) Congrats to Tess on her new status as big sister!
Wir gratulieren!!! I am in Austria with all of Tess’s birth aunts,uncle, great grandma….We have all been eagerly awaiting little brother checking several times a day and keeping our fingers crossed. So happy and relieved that everything went well, you got to be there and he is such a beautiful and healthy little man. What a chunky big guy compared to Tess. But he’ll need an advantage if Tess is still as feisty as I remember her.
And oh man is she still feisty! Thanks for the well wishes!!!
Congrats and hugs to mom, dad and big sis Tess! So happy for all of you – he is just adorable!!!!!!
Love, love, love the name and Remy’s beautiful hair. I’m a huge fan of naming your boy “oarsman”. It may not have been a deciding factor for you, but if he has a love of boats in say 15 years, I know a little river in Milwaukee where he can row ;).
Can’t wait to meet your son.
XO Patty
He’ll be Deuce for a bit first 😀
SO Happy for you guys!
I love him!! Yay!