Today is a special "What's in a Name" post, about an amazing little man.  We feel honored to share the story of how Wade Wilson Ares (full initials WWAR) got his name, and how he's proven to be an incredible little warrior!

In the words of his mama, Nici:

When I was pregnant with my second child, my oldest is a boy, I was convinced that this one was a girl. We had a name for a girl picked out and were waiting anxiously to find out the gender. My husband and son were sitting next to me as my ultrasound started. Right away we saw that the baby was a boy. We hadn't chosen any boy names yet and I was anticipating the odd names my husband would want to name our son.

Our oldest's name is Thor and he has two middle names. So I thought we would give this boy two middle names and I would put together a list of names after comic book characters to avoid some odd suggestions from my husband. I wrote a few down and handed him the paper. He saw Wade Wilson right away and shouted, "I love Deadpool!" So Wade Wilson it was.

We still needed a second middle name and wanted his initials to spell something as our oldest's spell THOR. So we chose Ares, the Greek god of war, making his initials WWAR. Our son was born and he fit the name perfectly, I just didn't know how perfectly.

When my son was two months old, I noticed he couldn't lift his head up when he was on his tummy and he couldn't bear weight on his legs. After several months and urging doctors that something was wrong, my son was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1. It is the baby form of ALS, a genetic disease that causes the wasting of muscles. My son was officially diagnosed at 6 months which was when he had to start eating by a feeding tube because he was losing his swallow. He would never sit up, walk and probably will not talk. 90% do not live after age 2, but doctors expect them to pass away before their first birthday. We were devestated, but decided we would do whatever it took for our child.

My son was in the hospital for the third time in 4 months. A common cold could take his life and puts him in the hospital. An x-ray tech came in and we were talking about Wade's name. I told him about Wade's initials spelling "war" with an extra w and about his middle name being the god of war. He looked at me for a second and replied, "you knew somehow he would be fighting a battle and gave him such a fitting name."

I will never forget that and it has really touched my heart. My son is 18 months old. He has been hospitalized 7 different times and intubated three times. He has completely stopped breathing before and has had several close calls. The doctors that once told me that there was nothing they could do and that I would see my baby in heaven, are now telling me how he is breaking all the odds.

He is a fighter, his name says so.

Thank you, Nici, for sharing your strength as a warrior mama right along your warrior boy, Wade Wilson.  We wish Wade, Thor, you, and your husband many more blessed memories together!