Name Game: Standing Up to My MIL’s Surprise Rename

MIL Changed My Baby’s Name While I Was In The ER After Giving Birth, I Did Not Let It Slide

Ruby, Emilia’s daughter, is three weeks old when she and her husband decide to throw a celebration to welcome her into the family. Ruth, Emilia’s mother-in-law, unexpectedly shows up, though, and the couple just wants her gone after learning how she took advantage of them by legally renaming the child without their permission when the child was born.

It was the morning of the celebration for the arrival of our daughter, which Jake and I had been organizing over the final few months of our pregnancy.

Emilia, you’ve been placed on bed rest,” Jake informed her. We’re going to be secure at home and treat that with seriousness. We can make up for it with a small welcome celebration when our daughter is born.”

My spouse then informed our friends and family that, in the weeks preceding the birth of our daughter, we wanted space.

“They’re not going to be happy,” I remarked while massaging our daughter’s belly.

“I am aware,” he replied. “My mother especially, but it’s about respect, Em.”

Jake and I decided to present our daughter to our closest friends and family members—all the individuals who had showered us with gifts at the hospital—now that she was three weeks old and doing well.

While Jake was setting up the decorations in our backyard, with pink and white balloons all over the place, my mother-in-law Ruth unexpectedly cast a shadow over the celebration.

Her voice rang out across the house, “Hello!”

While feeding my daughter, I recoiled. Ruth wasn’t welcome here. I didn’t want to talk to her or see her. Even though I knew she was my husband’s mother and my child’s grandma, I still needed some time to process what she had done.

Three weeks earlier, on the night our daughter was born, the fight had broken out.

Jake and I had made the very emotional decision to name our daughter after my late grandma during the months I was bedridden. The first member in our family to embrace Jake with open arms was Grandma Ruby.

Jake once told me, “Ruby is the perfect name for her,” while passing me a mug of hot chocolate.

“Isn’t it too old-fashioned?” I enquired, mulling over the peculiar names some famous people gave their kids.

“No,” he laughed. “But maybe she’ll be a cute little hipster kid, and it will be her whole personality.”

Then again, everything was different. Jake hurried me to the emergency room since I had gone into labor early in the evening. Everything was proceeding according to plan, and we were confident that our daughter would join us shortly.

My labor took a turn as the hours passed, and I started to bleed.

“Tell me what to do,” Jake said to the physician keeping an eye on my development. “Tell me what we’re going to do.”

“We’re going to deliver the baby right now,” the physician declared. “And then we’re going to take care of Emilia.”

After pacing the corridors, my spouse finally phoned Ruth to come in for assistance.

When our baby was born, she was in wonderful health. Jake was instructed by the doctor to stay with our daughter while I received blood transfusions and under close observation.

Jake advised me, “You just rest,” while I drifted in and out of consciousness.

Ruth was our child’s new name, and my mother-in-law felt it was important to alter it while I was still getting over the birth of Baby Ruby. Jake and I had no prior knowledge of it. Only Ruth had actually done it.

She handed me the baby and added, “I’ve given all the necessary details,” as Jake fed me ice chips.
We simply thought that she had made the correct decision.

My heart fell to read a different name on our baby’s official birth certificate, which the hospital mailed us.

I called her, hands shaking and shock dominating my thoughts. The subsequent discussion ultimately created the conditions for today’s conflict.

“Did you give the hospital the wrong name by error?” With the infant dozing in my arms, I asked, attempting to maintain a steady tone.

“That’s not right,” my mother-in-law remarked. “I decided to name her after myself, as I’ve always wanted.”

“What?” I let go, and Ruby woke up, swinging fiercely through the air with her fists.

Emilia, it’s an homage. You ungrateful daughter, a tribute to myself for producing such a beautiful husband for you,” she retorted.

Her remarks infuriated me, and at that moment I realized I needed to discipline her.

This brings us to Ruby’s celebration day, which is today.

She didn’t formally invite Ruth, but she still made a splash by occupying her spot and brandishing a present package. The caterers tended to their duties, distributing food and restocking glasses.

Naturally, my mother-in-law decided to make a big deal out of a special occasion for her grandchild.

“How could you be so selfish, not inviting me?” With a loud demand, everything stopped to listen to her.

I could hear Ruby gurgling somewhere in the backyard when Jake held her.

I was determined to face my mother-in-law. This was the moment I had been waiting for. I had intended to respond right away when we initially learned of her actions. However, my spouse advised me to give Ruby my whole attention.

He remarked, “You’ll get a chance to do it,” when I informed him of our brief phone conversation. “But right now, our daughter comes first. Not my mom.

Then he started the process of renaming her.

“When you changed my daughter’s name while I was helpless in the hospital, you went too far. You showed no regard for our decision.

To reclaim her lost position, my mother-in-law desperately tried to play the victim who was misinterpreted.

“I didn’t do that at all. You gave me permission to do this. Jake’s and yours. Don’t you recall that you consented to it? Perhaps the medication and agony caused you to forget.”

Everyone in the room tensed, waiting for my answer. The music that was playing seemed forced and out of context.

Jake had trailed me, his comforting hand around mine.

I said, “Let’s clear this misunderstanding,” and put my phone on speaker mode.

The audio of our earlier talk started playing, and the crowd fell silent. Ruth’s remarks reverberated throughout the room, shattering any façade she might have kept up.

The effect hit me instantly as soon as the recording stopped.

My mother-in-law’s normally composed demeanor was completely gone as she stood there, looking both astonished and stern. Her own words had loudly acknowledged the transgression; no justification could undo it.

Ruth walked out without saying another word, her departure as dramatic as her arrival, leaving a stunned stillness in her wake.

“I’m sorry,” I said to my spouse. I detested the fact that I was arguing with his mom. But it was impossible for me to ignore this.

She took advantage of my vulnerability when I was in the hospital, turning the attention away from me and toward herself. She want to be the actual moment.

With the arrival of laughing and conversation, the gathering gradually regained its former energy. By the time dessert arrived, Ruth’s outburst had seemingly faded from everyone’s memory.

My spouse and I shared a reassuring look, our relationship growing stronger in the process.

We were reminded of the significance of formally changing our daughter’s name while we held her close. I felt the same way about Ruby—I needed her to know that she was named after a woman who had loved me more than life itself.

Only time will tell and a heartfelt apology will suffice for my mother-in-law.

How would you respond?