Naming your baby is a defining experience and one of the first big decisions of your life as a parent. Sometimes the right name just hits you and you’re at peace with your decision but sometimes it takes a while just because you need it it be just right.

While you’re going through pages and pages of baby name books online and offline, unisex names stand apart for parents who don’t know the gender of their unborn child, but still want to name them before they are born. If you are on the fence about some names check out these uber-popular unisex baby names that work beautifully for babies no matter what the gender.

Drew
A Greek name, Drew is derived from the name Andrew and it stands for courage and masculinity. This name has different meanings in different languages and works well for girls and boys alike.

Harper
Harper simply means a musician who plays a harp. Of English origin, Harper is also a last name. This name became quite a trend among girls after author Harper Lee rose to success.

Charlie
A unisex name, Charlie is derived from names like Charles, Charlotte or Charlene. Also of English origin, the meaning of Charlie is said to be free. It is also a very common nickname in countries like France and England.

Taylor
An English last name, Taylor has now become a popular unisex name after celebrities like Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift emerged. Derived from the occupational ‘tailor’, the name continues to stay on the top of unisex baby names.

Bailey
Coming from the word bailiff, i.e. an agent or an official, over the years, the name has gained widespread popularity as a unisex name in the country. It also happens to be a very prevalent name across the pond.

Alex
With a Greek origin, Alex is often a nickname for formal names like Alexandra or Alexander. Though, many parents tend to name their child just Alex. Simple, short, sweet and perfectly unisex.

Max
Max just sounds cool. It is a shortened version of names like Maxima, Maxwell or Maximilian. It is derived from old English names.

Addison
Originally a last name of the English origin, Addison means ‘son of Adam.’ In the past few years it has strayed away from the label of a guy name and has drastically gained some serious popularity as a unisex name.

Morgan
With an old Welsh origin, the name Morgan has multiple meanings like the sea circle, warrior of the ocean or the bright sea. Morgan prominently transformed into a unisex name in the past few decades.

Parker
Parker is simply someone who is a gate keeper or a park keeper. But is sounds way cooler than that. Currently, it is speeding towards becoming a cool first name for babies.

Choosing a baby name can be fun as well as a terrifying experience for new parents. And why wouldn’t it be! A baby’s name will be the foundation of her/ his identity, and that’s why it must be perfect! The experience of a picking name for the baby varies for every parent. It could come quickly or even take months. So, if you haven’t chosen a name for your baby, don’t worry, you’ll eventually find the best pick. Meanwhile until you scratch your head and think hard, here are some suggestions that can help you decide the perfect name for your baby.

How does it sound?
When you are picking a baby name, say it out loud and contemplate whether it sounds right. Figure out if it makes you happy when it’s uttered. Also check whether the name that you have picked perfectly balances with your last name.

Consent as a couple
If you have arrived on a consensus with your partner regarding the name, half of the battle is already won. If not, don’t bicker over it. Sit down with them, see which names they fancy, note down options and gain some perspective.

The unique factor
There are many amazing names, but sometimes they can come across as undesirable as they are too popular. If you don’t have a strong liking for particularly common names, you can research for rare baby names. But make sure that you don’t pick something extremely eccentric. If you decide a name, test it out, by talking about it to your loved ones. If it gets too difficult to resolve then think of a high school situation, and wonder if you would like this name if you heard it for the first time in a class.

Names from family
Rather than naming your child after some celebrity, you can name your child after a close family relative. This is because it happens to have its own unique and intimate meaning. It could be after your grandparents or siblings or even your best friend. It is the best way to honor and foster a new and an existing relationship.

Find meaning
If you like a name but you are uncertain about it, find its meaning. Maybe after exploring what it infers, you might resonate with it.

Go literally literary
If you happen to be a bibliophile, then you consider shortlisting some names from your favorite books. Your beloved fictional character and your most treasured person in life will be having at least one thing in common.

Waiting
If you happen to be royally confused, then name the baby after its born. Your baby’s reaction to her/his name can be your first lesson in the universe of parenthood.

Whether you are the kind of mommy who loves traditional baby names or is a hipster mom who thinks that fruits and cities too make for like, picking a baby name is definitely a tricky task. Here are some of the handpicked and most popular Christian baby names that the last century has seen. Take a look!

William a popular name of the 1900s
Most of the parents today see this name as a conservative one. While there have been a number of modern variations to these, the name William has been a famous Christian baby name in the early 1900s. Do not like the traditional William? Do not fret and tweak this conventional baby name with a stylish twist of ‘Will’ and you are good to go.

John Meaning god is gracious
It is interesting to see that for near four centuries, John topped the list as one of the most famous options for Christian baby names. The name gets its inspiration from John the Baptist. While it is also seen that the name has lost its admiration over the last two decades but the newer variations include names such as Jonathan and Jack.

Lisa Rules the charts in the 1960s
Lisa has been one of the top baby names from the year 1960 to 1969. While the name has gained its popularity from the hit song of Elvis Presley, ‘Mona Lisa’. On a similar note, if you are a Da Vinci fan, then why not add a variant to this and name your baby girl Mona Lisa. While if you think, you want to tweak the original name with a similar ring, then go for Liesel or Elisabeth.

Jessica let your baby share her moniker with a Hollywood star
From Jessica Simpson to Jessica Alba, this particular name had made its spot in the top baby names throughout the 1980s and 1990s. If you are in for a more trendy and modern variation to this, then name your baby daughter Jessa, which is a less common name, Jess or simply Jessie.

Madison Gained popularity in the later years
While the name ‘Madison’, was inspired by the classic mermaid film of the 1980s, Splash, the name took its own time to become famous as a baby name. But it is only in the recent years you will notice that one in every ten kids are named Madison.

Baby showers are a great way to shower love on an expecting mother, wish her well and make her feel special. It is a union of happy friends and family members who join the mother to celebrate her new journey, which is about to begin. And that is why, baby shower is an age old tradition celebrated all over the world. It involves well-wishers sharing helpful tips with the mom-to-be as well, while they gift her things she loves or can use. Nowadays though, this tradition has become very fashionable and is celebrated in different ways.

Since guests bring gifts for the expecting mother, it is also a wonderful gesture on her part, if she has return gifts or baby shower favors on her hand. It is also considered as the token of gratitude for those who made some time to visit, give love, support and bless the new mother. It can be in the form of just a return gift or prizes for games conducted during the celebration.

Now comes the hardest part of choosing the baby shower favors or return gifts. There is of course a wide variety available to cater to everyone’s budget.
• Baby shower favors can have a theme base, or gender base (if gender of the baby is known before pregnancy), season based, color based, etc. There are even some exciting DIY (Do It Yourself) baby shower favors. There exists a big market that works in designing, customizing, distributing personalized gifts according to their customer’s needs and budget. The products might include candies, jars, cookies, chocolate boxes, cakes, stationary gifts, accessories, garments, baby products, toilet requirements etc.
• In most places, baby showers are female-exclusive celebrations including only the mother and her female pals. In that case, favors can go all girly. Sometimes baby shower is thrown to both the new parents; hence both the male and female friends are invited.
• Many online businesses have flourished recently since they facilitate organizing the baby shower party. They have umpteen packages that include personalizing stuff right from invitation, stage decoration, cakes, games and favors. They provide variety of gifts that tickles the creativity bone.
Has your mind already started planning an awesome, unique baby shower favor?! Then let your creativity flow and decide on what your heart wants.

The most precious things in life often include pregnancy, child birth and child rearing. When a woman is pregnant, her heart and mind is filled with visions of happiness, love and fulfillment. Pregnancy is a time when a woman spends nine months in anticipation even as she takes complete care of herself in emotional and physical terms, which has a direct bearing on the well-being of the child.

Naturally, there are a number of rituals and traditions that are celebrated around the world to make the expecting mother feel special. A baby shower is one such tradition that helps friends and family get together, so that they can all bring gifts for the expecting mother. This is also a time when loved ones show their support for the mother and child. Typically, this is a big celebration that also includes party favors, food and much bunting.

Some popular baby shower favors are –

Personalized Gifts
You can easily give your friends personalized gifts that will be embellished with icons and colors depending on the sex of the baby you are expecting. You can also choose gender-neutral elements in case you have decided to be surprised as far as the gender goes. You can get mason jars, glasses, mugs and even photo frames personalized as a thank you token for your guests. This will also make them feel special.

Photo Frames
If there is one thing that we cannot get enough of, it is pictures. No matter where we go and what we do, we always like to capture moments in pictures. So a really good gift for your guests could be photo frames. You can choose soothing white frames with colorful buttons and pins, or could also put in a picture of the guest so that he or she feels cherished. In such cases, you will need to label each gift with the name of the guest so that there is no mix up.

Coasters and Card Holders
Pretty table accessories are also the perfect gifts to give someone. So choose cute elephants and tiny dinosaurs for peppy and cheery gifts. These can be shaped as a coasters and card holders so that they can accompany place settings as well.

Candles
Nothing shows your gratitude better than aromatic and fragrant candles with pretty holders. Get tea light holders with a set of scented candles so that your guests feel pampered. You can also get embellished holders or do them up with colored glitter, depending on the gender of the baby you are expecting.

Tutus and Shoes
You can choose tiny little tutus and shoes which can be framed and given to your guests with a handwritten thank you note. This will make the perfect gift for your guests. You can choose frocks or tiny shorts depending on the gender of the baby. For a gender-neutral statement, you can choose shoes.

Expecting your little bundle of joy soon? Want to do a ground study about EDD (Expected Due Date)? Well, a lot of science is involved behind them. There are some handful ways to calculate the due date. Before reading further, please understand that the due date calculator can provide the nearest estimate of when the baby arrives in the world. It can never be 100% accurate. Only 4-5% of babies are born on their pre-calculated exact due date.

Do you remember the starting day of your recent menstrual cycle (LMP last menstrual cycle)? Do you have knowledge about the exact day of ovulation? Even after knowing the ovulation day, are you sure when the male and female reproducing chromosome met each other, because the sperm can wait around for three days to fertilize the egg, after injection. The answers to above mostly are unsure, hence the accuracy of EDD.

Counting from the day of conception, it takes 38 weeks to reach the day of parenthood. But in most cases day of conception remains unsure. Here, the first day of the recent menstrual cycle is taken and 40 weeks (280 days) added for a rough calculation of EDD. In these types of approximate calculation, one can expect labor two weeks before or after the suggested EDD. In cases where the date of conception is known precisely, such as with In- Vitro Fertilization (IVF), the EDD is calculated by adding 266 days to the date of conception.

Ultrasound scanning is one of the age old popular ways to detect EDD and examine the wellness of the growing fetus. Ultrasound scan predicts the gestation age of the fetus in the womb. Gestation is the period between the conception and birth of the baby, the time it takes for the baby to develop and grow inside the mother’s womb. The earlier the ultrasound scanning is done, more accurate is the estimation of the due date.

One of the easier ways to calculate your due date with very less ground data is to consider the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP), add seven days to it and then count backward three months (change to the forthcoming year if necessary). For example, if your last period happens to commence on April 10, 2017, you need to add seven days resulting in April 17, 2017. Then subtract 3 months, which leads to January 17, 2018.

Many of the online due date calculators come in handy to estimate the EDD. They pose a couple of questions regarding LMP, luteal phase (the time when ovaries release egg for fertilization, the time period before the onset of the menstrual cycle), date of ovulation, etc. These online tools always have a near estimate of the due date. All these ways to find the birth day of your baby give a rough idea and remind you to get ready for the surprise any time close to the prediction. After all, your babies know best when to arrive and melt your heart! So keep your fingers crossed and await your bundle of happiness.

The excitement of having a baby starts from the day one learns about the pregnancy, or from the time that one starts to plan the baby. Apart from taking good care of one’s mind and body, pregnancy is also a time when one needs to indulge in various other activities like preparing for the child. In order to be well prepared for the child, you should also have a fair idea of when the child is due. This is called the due date, and there is a precise way of calculating the same.

While most people ask the doctor for their due date, there are other ways in which one can calculate the same as well.

Follow this guide to know more.

Simple Equation
In order to know your exact due date, you can simply add 280 days or 40 weeks to the first day of your previous period. For this, you will also have to have full knowledge of the menstrual period. There are many times when we are not able to keep track of the same, so it would be a good idea to keep a calendar where you mark the beginning and end of each cycle in a month-wise fashion. This should be done by people who are planning a pregnancy so that they can calculate the exact date. In case you are using this equation, the menstrual cycle and ovulation are counted as the first two weeks of pregnancy. Therefore, delivering the baby on the exact due date will actually make the pregnancy 38 weeks old.

Chances of Due Date Delivery
While we are on the subject, we would also like to point out that there are only about 5% pregnancies where the birth takes place on the exact due date that has been calculated, but a day before the date or a day after the date is also considered as the exact date. One must remember that each and every pregnancy is different and unique, which makes it exempt from any set formula or science. Therefore, the baby will arrive only when it is ready and the 38 weeks to 40 weeks period is only an assumption.

Things that your Due Date will tell you
Once you get your due date calculated, there are a number of other things that the doctor will be able to tell you. These are things that you can find out on your own as well, if you are using an online due date calculator. For starters, the report will tell you the date on which you may have conceived the child, as well as the measurements of the fetus at that time, which will point at the status and development of the pregnancy. This will include the weight, size and heartbeat of the baby at that time. Also, the various dates of the trimesters and the prenatal testing dates and checkups will be mentioned in the report. This can be computed manually as well with help from tools online and knowhow about how the various trimesters progress.