We chose not to find out whether we were having a girl or boy. There aren't enough surprises in life and I wanted this to be one.
Liz was convinced from the outset that we were having a boy. So, we gave 'him' a working title of Stevie Gerrard. Some of my family and friends were worried that if it did turn out to be boy he'd be named something ridiculous like Stevie, Kenny, Rafa. Ok, I am a keen supporter of Liverpool FC, but even I recognise that you can take a good thing too far.
We did the usual thing of trawling through a book of baby names and shortlisting our favoured options for a boy and a girl. We'd pretty much decided on Daniel Jensen Lewis for a boy, but that we'd see how it felt before confirming it. Then something rather amazing happened.
We arrived at the hospital at 5.30am, Daniel was born at 1.45pm and I left the hospital at 9.30pm. I got into the car - exhausted but elated - and switched on BBC Five Live. There was a football commentary on Denmark v Republic of Ireland - and the first danish player to touch the ball was called Daniel Jensen. Now I'm half danish and I like my football, but I'd never heard of this guy before. That's what Liz calls a 'sign' - and who am I to argue?
The other remarkable coincidence that day occurred in the delivery room, when the midwife asked to check Liz's full name and address. Her patient labels carried her maiden name -Elizabeth Rose - since when we'd got married. Turns out there was a woman called Elizabeth Rose giving birth in the next door delivery room. You can imagine we kept a close eye on baby Daniel to ensure there were no mix ups!
Incidentally, I see that Daniel Jensen joined his current club two years ago on 15 July - the same date as our wedding...
Liz was convinced from the outset that we were having a boy. So, we gave 'him' a working title of Stevie Gerrard. Some of my family and friends were worried that if it did turn out to be boy he'd be named something ridiculous like Stevie, Kenny, Rafa. Ok, I am a keen supporter of Liverpool FC, but even I recognise that you can take a good thing too far.
We did the usual thing of trawling through a book of baby names and shortlisting our favoured options for a boy and a girl. We'd pretty much decided on Daniel Jensen Lewis for a boy, but that we'd see how it felt before confirming it. Then something rather amazing happened.
We arrived at the hospital at 5.30am, Daniel was born at 1.45pm and I left the hospital at 9.30pm. I got into the car - exhausted but elated - and switched on BBC Five Live. There was a football commentary on Denmark v Republic of Ireland - and the first danish player to touch the ball was called Daniel Jensen. Now I'm half danish and I like my football, but I'd never heard of this guy before. That's what Liz calls a 'sign' - and who am I to argue?
The other remarkable coincidence that day occurred in the delivery room, when the midwife asked to check Liz's full name and address. Her patient labels carried her maiden name -Elizabeth Rose - since when we'd got married. Turns out there was a woman called Elizabeth Rose giving birth in the next door delivery room. You can imagine we kept a close eye on baby Daniel to ensure there were no mix ups!
Incidentally, I see that Daniel Jensen joined his current club two years ago on 15 July - the same date as our wedding...
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