Bachelor in Paradise alum Raven Gates has revealed the original name she and husband Adam Gottschalk had decided on for their son before switching his moniker to Max last minute.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Raven shared last week, "We were so set on this particular name and then we saw the baby and it just didn't fit! We were up late going back and forth on a name that we think works better. It's hard when you have the name set and then it just doesn't fit the baby."
During an Instagram Q&A with her followers on Monday, July 31, a fan asked Raven, "What was the name you originally picked out for Max that didn't fit him?"
Raven answered, "We didn't have a name we absolutely loved, but we had decided on Asa Jordan. (Same initials as Adam & same middle name as Adam). But after we saw him, something bizarre happened."
"Adam's dad ALWAYS wanted us to name him Max," she continued. "When we saw him for the first time, my mom, my dad, & Adam's mom mentioned the name Max. (No one really knew Adam's dad wanted Max as his name). It was all a major coincidence."
The Bachelor alum said that "everyone" thought her second child "looked like a Max."
"And to me and Adam, he did too!" Raven confirmed. "So I waited two days in the hospital to turn in his name on the birth certificate [because] I wanted to make sure that I liked Max despite everyone else loving that name."
Raven said the name Max finally "just clicked" for her and so that's what she and Adam went with.
"His name is Max! And I love it and Adam's dad is very happy. He told me last year during December that 'I know Max is the right decision' and yep it was!" Raven said.
Max's middle name is now Asa, which was initially supposed to be his first name.
Max joins Raven and Adam's first-born son, Gates Zev Gottschalk, who was born in January 2022.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW"I'm getting a lot of questions of what Asa (Max's middle name) and Zev (Gates middle name) mean. We wanted Hebrew middle names and Adam's great grandpa's name was Zev," Raven explained in her Q&A.
"I'm the one that picked Asa (if we did end up naming him Asa as his first name we were going to call him Ace). But we moved it to his middle name. I liked the story of King Asa and also the meaning of physician/healer."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Raven subsequently shared via Instagram Stories that she's "doing really well" after delivering Max in the hospital.
"I'm recovering from the c-section fine... [and] emotionally, I'm doing really well. And I will say having a baby in the summer... is totally different. I'm not stuck in the house in an ice storm, that was just so terrible," Raven said.
Raven gushed about how Max is "an easy baby," and she praised her husband for going back to work right away and also helping her around the house with cooking and cleaning.
"He has honestly shocked me by how he has been juggling everything & making it look easy," Raven boasted of her husband. "We're super thankful for him."
Raven, however, said "a hard truth" is that parents with a new baby will be "sleep deprived" and there's no way around it.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Bachelor in Paradise couple announced they were expecting their second child back in January.
"Baby #2 due in July! Any tips on two under 2? Pray for us!... especially Adam," Raven wrote on Instagram, along with crying-laughing emoticons.
On July 13, Raven shared her conflicting emotions about giving Gates a sibling.
"As time ticks down as Gates's last few days as the only child I have been having a lot of mixed emotions! I thought I would share some negative & positive ones!" Raven began.
"Negative Thoughts: Its unfair to this baby that I won't get the one-on-one time like I did with Gates. It's unfair to Gates that I now won't always be one-on-one with him. I won't be able to carry Gates after this c-section. He's too little to understand. Will he start to resent me?"
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Raven, however, went on to share her positive thoughts as well.
"Positive Thoughts: When I close my eyes I dream about seeing my 2nd baby's face & my heart could burst. I cry at the thought of holding both of my children on my lap. I'm so blessed to be able to have children. Thank you, God. Gates is going to be the best big brother. He is strong, fearless, and will lead the way for so many adventures to come for the both of them."
The Bachelor alum concluded, "With conflicting emotions of mommy guilt and extreme happiness... I hope both of my children know. I love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."
Before Max's birth, Raven and Adam also enjoyed a babymoon to Italy.
Raven and Adam fell in love on Bachelor in Paradise's fourth season in 2017, and then they got engaged in June 2019.
After getting engaged, Raven and Adam initially scheduled their wedding for May 30, 2020, but they had to postpone the wedding multiple times due to the coronavirus pandemic.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I think we agreed [that] we'd like two or three [kids]," Raven told Us Weekly in June 2021. "But Adam has said, you know, we'll see how I do with two and then go from there."
Raven then publicly announced she was pregnant for the first time in July 2021.
Raven wrote on Instagram at the time, "OVER THE MOON EXCITED TO SHARE THE NEWS! Our Honeymoon baby will be here in January! I've loved you before you were in my womb!"
And Adam simultaneously wrote on his own page, "Beyond excited to announce our little baby into this world. Your Mom has already started to like Daddy's food groups and I think that's a great start. Cheers to fatherhood. Coming soon... January 2022."
The pair then shared in October 2021 how they were expecting a son with a cute "little pumpkin" picture on social media.
A few months after Gates was born, Raven shared on the "Click Bait with Bachelor Nation" podcast in May 2022 how she and Adam attend therapy and "don't want divorce" to ever be an option for them.
She then told fans in a December 2022 Instagram Q&A session that she knew Adam was The One when she visited him in Dallas, TX, and they talked about their future together, which made her feel safe and protected.
Prior to appearing on Bachelor in Paradise, Raven competed to win Nick Viall's heart on The Bachelor's 21st season and finished as the runner-up.
For Adam's part, he competed for Rachel Lindsay's heart on The Bachelorette's thirteenth season in Spring 2017 before his BIP stint on Season 4.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
ADVERTISEMENT
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
