How a long stay at University of Tennessee Medical Center inspired meaningful names for twin boys

Naming a baby is a big decision. Naming two babies takes it to another level. Naming two preemies while hundreds of miles from home is something most parents don’t even want to think about, but that’s the situation Isaac and Kaitlin Carver found themselves in when Kaitin’s water broke at 28 weeks pregnant. But when it was time to name their new sons, inspiration was right outside their window.

The couple are from Virginia but were visiting family in Maryville, Tenn. when Kaitlin was admitted to the hospital. Though doctors were able to stop labor, Kaitlin faced a five-week stay at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Throughout it all, the medical team supported the couple through the ordeal, both physically and mentally.

“We call it hospitalitis," said Rose Fuller, an obstetrics nurse. "I mean, they get to the point where they just have been in the hospital for so long, they have breakdowns all the time and everything. So we just, as nurses, we sit and hold their hands, we talk to them all the time."

When the boys arrived June 1, they needed a stay in UT’s NICU — and they still needed names. Isaac’s father had played football for UT, so they already had a connection to the university; now that connection was even deeper. The couple decided to name the boys Neyland, after the University of Tennessee's iconic football stadium; and Knox, as a shortened tribute to the town that unexpectedly became home.

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