Everyone was right. We had a girl!
Deliverance [name_f]Elanor[/name_f] beat the midwives by a few minutes. We got our homebirth, though it was even more “rustic” than we’d planned! [name_f]My[/name_f] husband caught her while my mom cheered us on, and the midwives did all the postpartum checkups and such.
We had her name chosen since before our first son was born. I found Deliverance years ago in a children’s story about the Puritans, and it was on one of my lists as a middle name when my husband said “Why not use it as a first?” [name_m]Psalm[/name_m] 32:7 was on my mind before she was born: “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.”
I like Liv/Livvy as a nn if she needs one.
Before we were married, my husband and I had a conversation about the end scene of The [name_m]Lord[/name_m] of the Rings books and movies, where [name_u]Sam[/name_u] comes home to [name_f]Rosie[/name_f] and their little daughter [name_f]Elanor[/name_f]. That scene was one of the visions we had for our life together, and my wedding march was “Elanor,” from the movie scene. We considered it as a first name but decided against the combination of a popular name with an unusual spelling for a first. In Tolkien’s Elvish, [name_f]Elanor[/name_f] is a flower name meaning “sun-star.”
Big brothers [name_m]Ransom[/name_m] and [name_m]Tobias[/name_m] are pretty tickled. [name_m]Ransom[/name_m] is already trying to show her all his trucks and “teach her how to use her arms.” [name_m]Tobias[/name_m]: “Pat baby! Hug baby!”
And huge thanks to all of you who participated in our arduous search for a boy name this time. He would have been [name_m]Zebedee[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m].
And I love how special it is to your family 
