Jon Jon

After Britnee’s birth, I suffered two miscarriages (for which, I should add, I chose meaningful names, but that’s for another post). We finally got pregnant for what was my fourth pregnancy and would be our second child and I was very sick to the point of being bed-ridden. This pregnancy required a trip to the hospital for IV’s to try to get me hydrated and during those few days, they also did an ultrasound to check on the baby and the possibility of multiples. It was only one baby, but she was also neighbors with a dermoid cyst. That had to go before it burst. So at the best possible time for surgery during pregnancy, my doctor operated and removed my left ovary along with the dermoid.

All of this was accompanied by much stress and anxiety. I so wanted this pregnancy to work because being 8 years removed from the sibling next to me, I wanted my children CLOSE and I felt like time was running out. As it was these two would be 2.5 yrs apart and that was my maximum wish.

When I was able to get through the extreme hyper emesis and the surgery without losing the baby, I felt confident that God had answered my prayers.

It was also during this difficult time that the song, “Through It All” (which I never cared for) took on significant meaning for me. The particular tape that Tony had played during one of the lowest nights of those weeks, was by Gold City. Ivan Parker sang one of the solo verses. I never had paid much attention to Gold City (I was stuck on the Cathedrals for years) but Tony had seen them during his college days and had really come to like the group. During my days of laying in bed, I would play Gaither Homecoming videos by the hours and had enjoyed “getting acquainted” with Ivan Parker on screen. I really liked the way he carried himself - confident without arrogance.

When I discovered the name Corbin (meaning “the gift”) for a boy, Parker just seemed to go with it for a middle name. Again, we decided we would use Andrès for a third middle name, so Corbin Parker Andrès it would be.

We hadn’t decided on a name for a girl yet. I really liked Brooklyn but was never happy with anything I found to go with it for a middle name. I liked Jade, but that seemed almost cruel to put two unusual names together.

I was sitting across from Tony at my parent’s kitchen table reading a list of girl names from a call out in my baby name book. I don’t think the list had any rhyme or reason - just a selection of 26 names from A-Z. Ten years later, I do not recall any names other than Janae for J and Kimberly for K. As I was reading the list, I came to Janae and thought I could POSSIBLY sneak that one in for a middle name. On to Kimberly and then L… when Tony looked up and said, “I like that name!” My heart sunk? Kimberly? Ugh, I thought I had really compromised when I went with Britnee. But Kimberly?!?!? So, I guardedly repeated the name, “Kimberly?” “No, the one before that.” My heart skipped a beat, then careful not become too hopeful, I said, “Janae?” “Yeah,” he responded with a smile. “For a middle name?” I suggested. “No, why not a first name?” I was gleeful and flipped to the J’s to see what the name actually meant. And there it was, in black and white, “Janae – God has replied”. Perfect.

We did, however, struggle to come up with a middle name. One day I mentioned to Tony that since we had Parker to go with Corbin, maybe we should think about a feminine version of Ivan to go with Janae. I looked over the course of the next few weeks and couldn’t come up with anything I liked. Then one day, I discovered this interesting twist. Ivan is the Slavic form of John. Jane is the feminine form of John. Janae is a variation of Jane, thus, Janae and Ivan both come from the name John. If I were to use a feminine form of Ivan for a middle name, we would in essence be naming this child Jon Jon.

Well, knowing that Janae and Ivan derived from the same root name pretty much double confirmed that this child’s name would be Janae if it was a girl. And somewhere along the line we decided Beth would work for a middle name.

So, when our second daughter - born at 4:57 pm on Friday, December 19, 1997, with scads of dark hair, weighing 8 lbs 6 oz and measuring a mere 19 ¾” in length- arrived happy, healthy and with no complications during the delivery, we knew that God had truly replied!


…stay tuned for story number three.