The long, long road to motherhood is finally over for The Real host Jeannie Mai Jenkins. The new mom is now able to hold her child, formally known as baby J, and is finally letting the world in on some of the details she decided to keep privacy through her pregnancy. One key thing fans of her and rapper husband Young Jeezy were dying to know, what was baby J’s real name!? Well, Mai finally opened up on the name and story behind it in her latest Youtube vlog.
Mai’s channel, Hello Hunnay, has been the central hub for all things related to Jeannie and her first pregnancy. The talk show host was famously against having children, so much show she tatted up her belly in rebellion. Her desire to not have kids is reportedly what ended her first marriage to Freddy Harteis. However, everything changed when she fell in love with Young Jeezy.
As she explains throughout her journey, her desire to finally become a mom was rooted in her overcoming traumas from her own childhood and finding a partner she could trust. Mai has gushed about her husband a lot over the years, championing his dedication to family and ability to communicate. Mai says that on their first trip together, the pair traveled to Monaco, which is where they first discussed their aspirations as a couple and what kind of life they wanted.
According to Mai, the trip was so transformative that they decided to name Baby J after the city. Henceforth known as baby Monaco, Mai decided to theme the baby’s room after the city as well and gave fans a tour during a video titled “Nursery Tour + BABY NAME REVEAL.” Filmed before giving birth, a visibly pregnant Mai walked around the room, showing off Monaco’s crib, stuffed animals, and rocking chair.
She also delved further into her trip to Monaco and a picture she hung up on the nursery wall to remind her of the time she and Jeezy first traveled there together. Mai recalls her husband asking her, “what kind of life do you want together” during that trip. As things got more serious for the pair, Mai says she went back to that bridge alone and face-timed him. The two talked for three hours and Mai began to understand that it was ok for her to want more and change her mind about kids. “I didn’t know if that was weird to ask for everything or if I deserved it,” said Mai.
“At the time I didn’t know what it meant, I didn’t know technically it meant marriage and having kids, I just know that I wanted to spend the rest of m life with him. I wanted to build with him, I wanted to grow with him and I wanted us to bear fruit together and I saw that it meant so much more than just kids, it meant like family, and visions, and hope, and memories, and all happened here.” Mai jokes that she wanted to initially give her firstborn a J name like mom and dad, but Monaco was the name that really stuck out and felt right.
Mai goes on to say that for her, Monaco represents “family, moments, traveling, discussions. important key points in my life and Jeezy’s life that brought Monaco here.” Mai revealed last year that she had no plans on finding out the gender till Monaco was born. She decided to do a gender-neutral nursery, with most of the room being soft whites and greys. She did not reveal Monaco’s gender in the video either and tells fans she will be posting less as she settles into motherhood and gets to know Monaco.
