The biggest question we got while we were expecting our daughter was what her name was going to be! It's so funny because I hated my siblings for keeping their children's name a secret until they were born and swore I wouldn't do that. It's funny how much different we felt about naming her, and sharing her name once we found out she was a girl and everything felt so much more real. We did share the names we were thinking about until about 24 weeks. Then we just kept saying, "We have a list of favorites, but we're waiting until we meet her to choose one". And that was our intention from the beginning! But the truth was, at 24 weeks I had a follow up ultrasound appointment and while we were waiting for them to come back to take my blood pressure, Anthony said "You know what? I think I really like Sage". And I said "Me too." We just kind of looked at each other for a second, before Anthony said, "Did we just accidentally decide on a name?" to which I responded, "I think so, but let's not tell anyone."

Even as the weeks went by and we didn't waver on our love for the name Sage, we still felt nervous about sharing it with others. What if people bought her monogrammed things and then she came out and the name didn't fit? Sharing a baby's name before they are born also invites opinions but more than that, I just felt a sense of wanting to keep the name between Anthony and I. We referred to her as Sage before she was born, but the idea of other people calling her that weirded me out. They didn't know her yet! Heck, we didn't really know her yet, aside from the kicks, punches and hiccups we could feel as she moved inside my belly. But in reality, she was/is a whole new human being, with her own personality waiting for us to discover. With that in mind, the idea of her name just felt much more serious. 

We chose Sage because we liked that it was unisex (it's traditionally a boy's name), nature-inspired but also strong. Aside from being the name of an herb, Sage also means "wise one". Anthony was the one who suggested it. My favorite name was Marin for a long time, but Sage slowly but steadily grew on me. I chose her middle name, Catherine. With a short, strong first name like Sage I wanted her middle name to be more traditional and feminine so her name as a whole felt balanced. Out of all the old-fashioned girls names, I just felt that Catherine sounded the prettiest. Catherine has Greek origins and means "pure". And for those who know my love of the British royal family, yes, I suppose she is low-key named after Kate Middleton. Anthony and I are big on nicknames and once we realized we could call her Sagey Kate, I think the name choice was really cemented. I remember the moments after they put her on my chest in Labor & Delivery, she was so close to me I couldn't get a good look at her but I didn't want to let her go.  So I asked Anthony with tears in my eyes, "Does she look like a Sage????" and he said "Definitely, yes". 

All Portraits by Savannah Smith Photography

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