After 20 hours of natural labour, 7 hours of medical intervention and an unexpected C Section, our little girl arrived with the biggest scream at 8:07 am on [name_f]April[/name_f] 30th! We brought her home unregistered and nameless, until yesterday when we finally decided to name her [name_f]Olenna[/name_f] [name_f]Philippa[/name_f] Z. As a long long time [name_f]Berry[/name_f], I didn’t expect to struggle this much in pulling the pin on a name, had serious decision paralysis. It wasn’t until my partner started calling her [name_f]Olenna[/name_f] that it felt fully right. I was still holding on strong to [name_f]Linnea[/name_f], because for years that was the name I thought we’d use, but it just wasn’t her. It was hard to reconcile that.
Olenna/Olena was the name that felt right in my heart for most of the pregnancy, I’d think of her as it during our prenatal yoga and when I’d think about her. I enjoy that it’s a variation of [name_f]Ellen[/name_f] which was my grandmothers middle name, and the meaning felt strong and bright. We ultimately decided on the double “n” spelling which wasn’t a Nameberry favourite, but feels/looks more balanced with the longer Ukrainian last name. And I love a double letter.
[name_f]Philippa[/name_f] was our non negotiable, but we did discuss using just [name_f]Pippa[/name_f] in the middle. [name_f]My[/name_f] partner said it should be [name_f]Philippa[/name_f] though, because if she ends up getting in trouble and “full name” scolded, being called [name_f]Pippa[/name_f] doesn’t have the same gravity haha. [name_f]Philippa[/name_f] is for my Dad [name_m]Philip[/name_m] who passed away in 2016, (and [name_m]Philip[/name_m] is also my eldest brothers middle name.) I think everyone expected me to use [name_m]Philip[/name_m] for a boy in the middle but no one expected to hear [name_f]Philippa[/name_f] in the middle for our girl. It was definitely a surprise for many. But my Dad always had wanted a daughter and was overjoyed when I came along after two boys, and I know he’d have absolutely loved his second granddaughter, and it would have meant a lot to him to share his name with her over a grandson. I share my middle name with his mother, who passed away long before his children were born, and it always made me feel connected to her, so I hope by sharing with my Dad, she’ll feel that connection too.
Thank you all for your input and encouragement along the naming process and pregnancy, we aren’t sure if we’ll be having another baby in the future but we’ll be holding on to [name_f]Linnea[/name_f], [name_f]Astraea[/name_f], [name_m]Evander[/name_m], [name_m]Ramsay[/name_m] and [name_m]Oberon[/name_m] just in case! 
What a beautiful and meaningful name she has!