Clarke Clan: New Addition of Rosalyn Olivia

For our second kid, we decided to try out a home birth. I had a great pregnancy, the best midwife and team in the area and the perfect house (not to mention a major hospital and a children’s hospital across the street if needed663) all we were waiting for now was the baby.

She came 5 days after her estimated due date. Since Honora was 10 days early, I was convinced I would be pregnant forever. But no, Sunday morning around 8 a.m. the contractions started and Rosalyn was born by 3:18p.m. weighing in at 7 lbs. and 14 oz. It was a great experience, and the best part was getting to go to bed that night in my own bed.

We named her Rosalyn Olivia Clarke,
Let me tell you, it took Ryan and a long time to come up with that name. It’s not that we couldn’t think of any names; we both had lots of ideas, so our conversations tended to run like this:

Me: “I love the name Gwyneth Ivey. I know it’s just the perfect name for this baby!”
Hubby: “Gwyneth Ivey Clarke sounds ridiculous. I couldn’t even call my child by her name.”
Me: “What!”
Hubby: “I like the name Cecilia.”
Me “This baby is not a Cecilia.”
Hubby: “How do you know?”
Me: “I just do, besides it means blind. How weird is that.”

So another name was chosen that we both liked: Rosalyn Olivia Clarke

Rosalyn (pronounced Roz-e-lin) is a modern deviant of Rosalind an Old English name literally meaning gentle horse, which gives the connotation of being soft and tender yet strong and powerful. The other meaning usually given to Rosalind is beautiful rose (thanks to Spenser).

Rosalind gained popularity in England during the 16-17th centuries due to its use it literature. Edmund Spenser* used it in his first poetic work The Shepearde’s Calendar and then William Shakespeare* gave the name to his famous heroine from As You Like It.

I actually like to refer to Rosalyn Olivia as my Shakespeare baby because Olivia was not just a name that Shakespeare used in his play Twelfth Night, he actually created the name. Olivia means olive branch with the connotation of peacemaker.

Whenever I thought of a name for my tiny babe, verse 26 from Proverbs 31 would come to mind.

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” (ESV).

My blessing on little Rosalyn is for her to be a strong woman who is wise and kind. God has blessed her with such a sweet personality. Her joy and exuberance is a blessing to our family already.

*Spenser and Shakespeare are two of my favorite English authors.