Boy, Oh Boy

In yet another example of second pregnancy neglect syndrome, I am just now getting around to blogging about the results of our gender and anatomy scan that happened almost three weeks ago!  Similar to the first pregnancy, Matt and I never played the "I hope it's a ...." game, because thankfully it is something that we have zero control over and I didn't want to dwell on it too much or end up disappointed if I wanted one gender over the other.  I happen to like that the big decisions regarding our family like If, When, and Who are determined by God, it helps me not second guess the outcomes since I trust Him.  Of course the suspense was killing me the first half of the pregnancy, and waiting was driving me especially crazy since my doctor's office performs the scan much later (after 22 weeks) than other practices.  I can honestly write that when we walked into the office on August 7th for the test I had no preference regarding the gender of this child, I was very ready to find out, but would have been completely thrilled either way.

Introducing... our baby boy!

As soon as the tech told us it's a boy (at the very end of the appointment this time, unlike with Kate where they declared "girl" within the first 20 seconds), something clicked in my head and heart.  Yup.  Even though I never gave it much thought beforehand, I immediately realized that a boy is exactly what I wanted and exactly who should be joining our family.  Matt and I just stared at each other grinning, relieved to hear he was healthy and giddy to know that a son and baby brother was in our future!  Over the next few days I kept saying in disbelief, "it's a boy!" because if I had been forced to guess I would have said another girl based on my pregnancy being very similar and the fact that there has not been a boy born in my family in almost 60 years (an entire generation was skipped, both sets of my grandparents only had granddaughters). 

Kate inspects the ultrasound picture of her future best buddy

Every now and then I panic and think, "But I won't know anything about raising a boy!" and then I remember that even if it was another girl, she'd be her own little individual personality and I wouldn't know anything about how to specifically raise her either.  Let's be honest, from one moment to the next I don't know what I'm doing with Kate because she changes so quickly.  Parenting is one of those jobs that is redefined daily.

So here we are, a few days shy of the third trimester and suddenly it seems like we're way behind on preparations for this little guy.  He has no bedroom, no crib, no boyish clothes, no entries written in his baby journal (maybe he won't care?  Sorry, that's gender stereotyping.  I'll write him a few notes soon.), and no name.  Before you start feeling sorry for him, it makes me feel better when I think of the things he already has that we didn't have to research at all this time around.  He has a pediatrician, a spot reserved at daycare, an infant car seat, a stroller, a Mama who has a clue about nursing, and a big sister who loves to give him kisses.  I know he will be the perfect fit for our family!

Kate takes a nap on her baby brother, they already love to snuggle