New?

"It doesn't feel like he's new," she said.

"Huh?"

I didn't understand the statement.

"It doesn't feel like Z is new," she repeated.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"There's not a lot of new stuff that we have to get," she replied.

"You mean you feel like we've had him all along?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Why do you feel that way?"

"Because we used to get stuff for you when you were pregnant."

That coming from my eldest, the biggest help in the house. I had thought she meant that it felt like we have had Baby Z all along, even when he was in my belly, which was sweet. I had wanted a Z if it was a boy and for some time we even started to call the baby Z. On the other hand, we had trouble finding a girl name if it was a girl. The kids didn't like the name Rayyanah, which hubby wanted to spell Raeyyana, or something of that variation, to make it unique. I loved the name, and was about to embark on another girl name search towards the end of the pregnancy. I picked Rumaysa, but we didn't really agree as a family.

Alhamdulillah, Allah made it easy. Out came a boy. Z it was then.

I asked N and H if they felt like Z was new. H said yes and N said. "A little bit new."

In a way, I suppose we have had Z all along, though I keep calling him H and sometimes J.