Parents often agonize over the name they’re going to give their kid, because it could shape their personality. Unfortunately, this can sometimes become an issue if one partner has a specific idea of what they want their baby to be called and isn’t willing to compromise.
This is what a man faced when he found out that his wife had been secretly referring to their newborn daughter by another name for an entire year. This freaked him out and affected their marriage, while also revealing shocking information about her health.
Sometimes parents might be so hung up on the gender they want their future child to be that they might not be able to appreciate the actual kid they end up having
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The poster shared that he and his wife made a deal that if they were having a boy, she could pick his name, and if they were having a girl, he could pick what to call her
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Even though the pregnant woman wanted a boy, she seemed okay when they had a girl, but the man caught her and his mother-in-law a year later using another name for the baby
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The postpartum woman demanded to get her daughter’s name changed and called her husband controlling when he refused and found her actions creepy
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In an update, the man shared that his wife moved out of their house, and that their pediatrician said that their child wouldn’t be affected by being called two different names
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Later on, the poster’s father-in-law called and said that his daughter had a breakdown, and that her doctor had diagnosed her as having postpartum depression and gender disappointment
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The man also realized that his mother-in-law had been enabling his wife’s delusions, and that he had probably made things worse for her by criticizing her
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The poster figured that since his wife’s family always favored a son, that’s why she must have been desperate to have a boy too
The man shared that when he and his wife were trying to get pregnant, they made a deal that she could name the kid if they had a boy, and he could do so if they had a girl. The problem is that even before their baby was due to arrive, the woman was insistent that they were having a son and began preparing accordingly.
When it comes to the little one’s moniker, parenting experts state that folks always want to pick unique names for their children. They might steer clear of the traditional route and try to be creative by mixing and matching ideas, but in the end, regardless of what they choose, both partners should be happy with what their kid is called.
In this case, even though the poster’s wife seemed to be okay with the moniker that he had chosen for their daughter, he found out a year later that she was using a totally different name for their child. This worried him because their kid often had trouble recognizing when folks would call her, and he felt that this could be the reason behind that.
According to healthcare professionals, language development in children usually happens around 4-9 months, and they should be able to recognize their name around that time. Parents can make sure this is happening by seeing if their kid makes eye contact when they are called or turns to look if their moniker is said out loud.
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The poster felt extremely creeped out by his wife’s behavior and the fact that she didn’t recognize how wrong it was of her to call their child by a completely different name for a year. Even when she went to stay with her parents after the confrontation and called him controlling, he felt that he needed to get divorced from her to protect their kid.
Later on, the man’s father-in-law contacted him and told him that his daughter had a complete breakdown, so they put her in a center to get professional help. That’s when a doctor mentioned that she could be suffering from postpartum depression and gender disappointment, which is probably why she had acted in such an extreme way.
When it comes to something like this, research shows that women who have just had a baby might experience a type of depression that causes them to have mood swings, anxiety, or lose interest in daily life. The symptoms of this condition could even start up during pregnancy or immediately after it, and can last for a long time if there is no intervention done.
When the man realized that his wife had been suffering from this mental health problem, he immediately began to regret how unsupportive he had been. He knew that she still needed to get help before she could be around their daughter, but he hoped that she would recover so that things could go back to normal.
What are your thoughts on this man’s experience, and do you think you’d be able to forgive his wife if you were in his shoes? Do share your opinions on this story in the comments below.
Folks sympathized with the man and felt that it was good that his wife was getting the help she needed, but they warned him not to leave his daughter alone with his mother-in-law
