Oh right…the baby!

I’ve been trying to find more time to find my writing mojo by blathering on about trivial minutia here, you know, the Seinfeld-type stuff that rolls through your head while you’re in the shower or sitting at a stoplight.  (“It’s GOLD, Jerry!”)

Of course the major stuff has to wait until I have time to properly plan an outline, compose and execute a flawless blog post. Which is never gonna happen, so here’s the short version:

We had a baby girl on July 12!   We didn’t know the gender (see FAQs).  I felt like she was a girl… but I also “just knew” Marshall was a girl until they told me he wasn’t.  Or rather, didn’t tell me.  While pointing at the ultrasound screen, the doctor said… “Well, I don’t think we have to tell you the gender of this one!” (I’m assuming she was pointing to his genatalia.)  To which I responded…”Yes, yes you do have to tell me.  I’m not a freakin’ radiologist!”   (Actually, I smiled and nodded and double checked with Bill later on.)

In any case, I couldn’t really imagine myself as the mother of a girl, and frankly once you have two boys, a third seems just as much fun.  I got bumped so many times on birthday that I actually completely forgot about not knowing the gender.  We just knew that today was the day that Remy was coming.

I lay on the table anticipating the worst-slash-best part, which is the moment where they basically squish you til you can’t breathe to get the baby out, and suddenly remembered my little surprise was on it’s way.  I guess delivery room staff get bored of saying “It’s a boy / It’s a girl”, because what I heard was “Well, we have a little lady!” and it really did take me about 8 seconds to comprehend what they were saying.

Of course Benson has called it from the beginning, although I was always quite sure that he just didn’t want to have to share his toys with yet another brother.   This also meant that we had to reject the following names: Martin (as in Martin Kratt, from Wild Kratts) and Patrick (I believe it’s from SpongeBob SquarePants, but my kids aren’t allowed to watch that so that’s just not possible!).  Marshall’s suggestion of Batgirl held some merit, but we decided to go with our original pick…Remy.

So, she’s here, and not adding too much to the insanity of the household.  An unscheduled summer sounded so romantic, but ultimately just led to either brilliant play (20 per cent of the time) or cranky, battling children (80 per cent of the time).  I will be welcoming the routines and schedules of September…

 

Music Monday | Darlin, Do Not Fear ~ Brett Dennen

Early pregnancy is always a rough time for me. I fear being overconfident and then broken-hearted. I can’t seem to find that joy without a small piece of pain to weight it down.

This pregnancy in particular gave me a number of worries near the beginning. I struggled to hold my faith while at the same time Googling every symptom, every word that came out of doctors’ mouths. But where there was no definitive negative news, I had to have faith that whatever happened, I’d survive, I’d grow, I’d adapt.

I took so many of these words to heart, in particular:

Sometimes your path is marked in the sky
Sometimes it falls to fit in between the lines
Sometimes all you can do is say no
But darlin, do not fear what you don’t really know

Pregnancy FAQ #2: Do you know what you’re having?

Nope.  We knew with our second, and since we had a planned c-section with him it took all the mystery out of our day.  Which is fine, except it left me to concentrate on one thing: I’m being sliced open today.  It’s always amazingly exciting to have a baby, but with both a name, date, and expected time — I really focussed on the whole surgery aspect.  Sure there were other factors: what would he look like (they really all look the same to me at that point), what would he weigh (alot).  While we did know the gender, we chose not to tell anyone.   And that really irked some people, like we were keeping a secret.  Well, we were, but it’s our secret!

This time just might be the last time, so it seems appropriate to add a little fun (and perhaps temper any shopping impulses) and wonder for just a little while longer.

FAQ #2A:  Hoping for a girl, then?

Nope. I think everyone else is, though.  After having two boys I realize that having two of the same gender is still to have two very different children, each amazing and unique.  And these were the boys I was destined for and meant to have.  So if this is a third boy I will feel blessed.  If it is a girl, I will feel blessed.  I’m not just saying that because we’re all supposed to say, “As long as its healthy.”  I really believe that this is the baby meant for us.  Plus, I don’t know any of the Disney princesses’ names and I’m already up to my ears in cars and dump trucks!

Pregnancy FAQ #1: When are you due?!

July 12.  That’s not my due date.  That’s the date of my c-section.  Yes, I had c-sections with my first two.  No, I haven’t seriously considered a VBAC after two.  I had wonderful recoveries with my first two, and hey, the scar’s already there.  No need to add another.

I know the scheduled c-section loses me a few granola points but for my sanity, I’ll make the sacrifice.