I’m getting a kick out of all the news coverage as the third in line to the British throne was born to the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge earlier today. The official announcement is a delight in and of itself:

“Her Royal Highness the Dutchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4:24pm today. Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well.”

All of the excitement delights me, as any baby should be so celebrated to have joined the world and given the greatest gift to a pair of expectant parents. Don’t we all wish to roll out the banners and blare trumpets when our little ones are born?! Naturally, the Prince’s birth brings about a bit more pomp and circumstance, but the display and level of celebration is no doubt what many new moms and dads are feeling on the day of their own baby’s arrival.

I would be lying to say I hadn’t checked CNN News each morning over these past two weeks, hoping to stay in the know if a royal baby had in fact been born overnight. Why not be interested is such upbeat news? Of equal interest to me is Kate’s publicly expressed commitment to a calm and naturally-minded delivery. I hope for her sake that it was everything she anticipated and more…no pressure on the style icon who has been watched so calculatingly from day one of the announcement of her pregnancy! I don’t envy her position in many ways (although I do envy her wardrobe), but she has arguably handled her very public pregnancy with grace and strength, holding steadfastly to her paradigm of birth and willingly sharing her position on the ideal birth scenario. I won’t pretend to be one who clings very closely to any celebrity or name. I will admit, though, that Kate is someone I’d love to have around my “if you could have dinner with any five famous people…” table. I just think she has very tough shoes to fill and is doing an admirable job.

So the pressure of girl or boy is off now–Prince ______ of Cambridge is officially on the books. Next of course, the hype will continue to rise until the world hears first mention of his honorable name. And naturally, we’re all curious. (Especially, perhaps, those of us who are pregnant at the moment with a boy or a surprise.) In our case, surprise baby number two has a few names on the list (if in fact we have another boy), but none are set in stone. Our girl name has long been decided, but the boy? Well, it’s entirely conceivable that some of the names we’ve tossed around could be the same that the world’s newest prince will boast very shortly. Knowing that said name will very rapidly become a contender for the top baby name of 2013, would we shift our list around a bit between now and August? Who knows. I guess maybe the royal prince will unknowingly help us to narrow down the list a bit further, as I’ve never loved the idea of our little one being one of six with the same name in every classroom.

Oh, babies! They just bring so much excitement and joy into the world, no matter their royal or more common position. I can say this much is true…our little Button, boy or girl, will be royalty to us when he or she arrives–perhaps just with a little less weight of the world on such tiny shoulders from day one. And maybe the UK’s petite prince will start paving the way right out of the gate…if Kate has anything to do with it, he’ll undoubtedly make waves in the baby fashion world by next Tuesday–something a mom with boys would never hate. The arena of baby boy’s clothing (at a reasonable price!) could certainly stand the boost as William and Kate’s little one makes his way onto website and front pages 😉 Most certainly, he’ll be the best dressed tot in all the land.

royally invested in all things birth and baby…today and every day.

mm