On March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, Patrick, the kids, and I traveled together for my 20 week ultrasound. We were going to find out the gender of our baby!

I had always felt that I was pregnant with a girl. 

The Feast of the Annunciation is one of my favorite feast days in the Catholic Church. It is the day we remember when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she would conceive and give birth to Jesus.

The story is beautiful, but what has always struck me most is Mary's “yes.”

She was given an enormous invitation from God without knowing exactly how it would all unfold. She didn't have all the answers. She didn't know what the road ahead would look like. And yet she said, “yes.” She surrendered herself to God's will.

I would encourage you to read the whole story of the Annunciation in Luke 1:26-38.  It is an incredible story of trust, surrender, and God's faithfulness.

When we arrived for our ultrasound that day, everything changed. The ultrasound technician told me that there should be four chambers in the heart, and she was only seeing two. She referred me to Maternal Fetal Medicine at Children’s Hospital. 

Uncertainty and fear began to seep into my heart. When we got home later, my mind and heart started swirling with what ifs about our daughter. What would this mean? Would she be okay? What would her life look like?

When we got home, I went into my room and cried. And I said the only prayer of surrender that made sense to me:

“I entrust our baby and her heart into the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

I knew she would be safe in the most perfect hearts.

In the days that followed, I began asking the Holy Spirit, “What is her name?” I knew it needed to be a strong name. I knew it needed to somehow speak to the heart. And slowly, the Holy Spirit began revealing her name to my own heart and mind.

I have always loved Mary under the title ‘Our Lady of Sorrows.’ As the most perfect mother, she has comforted me through the heartbreak of my miscarriages. 

Mary has many titles, which can sometimes be confusing. But as any mother of young children knows, we also wear many titles and ‘hats.’  Mother. Chef. Teacher. Doctor. Comforter. Chauffeur. Entertainer. Janitor. The list goes on.

Our Lady of Sorrows has always been particularly meaningful and beautiful to me because I see in this title Mary's complete surrender to God's will, even in the midst of tremendous suffering. I see a heart that is most compassionate (meaning to suffer with). This is the type of heart I desire to have. One that is able to walk with others in compassion and love. 

She is a mother whose heart suffers with and for her child. And then I thought about the moment when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to be presented to the Temple.

Simeon recognized the infant Jesus as the salvation God had promised. He rejoiced at seeing the Messiah, but then he turned to Mary and told her that her own heart would be pierced.

He said:

“And you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Read Luke 2:22-35

That verse caused me to pause and reflect. 

A mother's heart would be pierced because of what her child would endure. And somehow, through that suffering, the hearts of many would be revealed. That became my prayer for our sweet girl.

Lord, let her heart and her life reveal the hearts of many. May people be drawn to You through her. May they know Your love for them. May her life, no matter how long or short, have a purpose that points people toward You.

I knew her first name would be Dolores.

Part of that was because of Our Lady of Sorrows. The name Dolores comes from dolor, meaning sorrow or suffering, and is associated with Mary under the title Our Lady of Sorrows. But there was another reason why this name would be so meaningful.

Patrick's 96 year old grandmother was also named Dolores. Before she passed away on April 26, 2026, Patrick and I were able to tell her the name of our little girl and her newest great granddaughter. That made her name even more special!

But what should her middle name be?

I kept coming back to the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and what it represents: Christ's love poured out for us.

And then I thought of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, the saint so closely associated with the devotion to the Sacred Heart. Jesus appeared to Saint Margaret Mary and entrusted her with helping spread devotion to His Sacred Heart and making His love known. 

Margaret Mary.

And then I remembered my own family. My great grandmother on my father's side was named Margaret. Her daughter, my grandmother, was named Mary. Margaret means “Pearl”. This little one would also be the pearl of great price!

Suddenly, it all came together and I was filled with peace and joy at the revealing of her name. 

She would have a strong and faithful name devoted to God, while also carrying the names of strong maternal women who came before her. She would be a pearl of great price.

Dolores Margaret Mary.

Her name carries love, surrender and strength. It carries the heart of Mary. It carries devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It carries our family history. And it carries the hope and prayer that her life would point people toward God.

The Beauty of a Name

I've always loved the way names are treated in Scripture.

In the Bible, names often carry meaning. They can speak to identity, purpose, mission, and belonging. A name can become a reminder of who you are and, ultimately, whose you are.

That is what I wanted for our daughter. I wanted her name to be strong. I wanted it to carry meaning. I wanted it to point toward her mission and remind her of who she was and who she belonged to.

I never could have known, when we chose her name, just how deeply it would come to reflect her life.

Dolores Margaret Mary.

Our daughter. A little girl whose life was so much bigger than the number of days she was given. A daughter who taught us about surrender and  who brought us closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Dolores Margaret Mary, a precious child with a heart entrusted to the Lord from the very beginning.

We pray her life continues to reveal the hearts of many and draw them closer to God.

Our sweet Dolores Margaret Mary.

We are so grateful that God chose us to be her parents.