Whoop - There IT Is!
When your parents stick a plate of food with the side dish of steamed spinach in front of you, for the first time, your reaction is usually, “Yuck! I don’t want to eat that!” Then your parents - if they are good mommies and daddies - will force you to try a bite of the green mushy looking blob of food. The outcome varies from child to child. If you are like me it was the yummiest green blob of food ever! If you are like my niece, Keirra, who had closed her mind off to the idea that the green blob could really taste good, you wince and gag until it’s gone from your mouth… and then you gag some more with the idea of what you just did. New foods and things enter our lives all the time, and like the spinach we either try it with an open mind or we shut down and turn away never knowing what it would have been like. I used to be the turn away closed minded person when it came to the idea of having children. I had made up my mind that they weren’t a good idea. I guess it would be like a sibling watching the other taste the spinach only to wince and gag. Then never want to try it themselves because it looked so awful - never knowing had they tried it they would have love the taste! I watched other people with their children - probably not the best examples of parenting out there - and I got a bad feeling about the whole motherhood thing. Then, as if the mother of the child who would not taste the spinach pried open their child’s mouth and shoved a bite of spinach in. At first the child is all angry and holds the bite in her mouth just knowing it is going to be bad. Then something amazing happens, her taste buds start to react to the food and they begin to sing a song of happiness as the child begins to slowly chew the mound of spinach in her mouth. After it’s gone into her stomach she looks up with delight and dives her fork in for another bite!
I love analogies - as if you couldn’t tell. The point is coming - I promise!
One night after a few glasses of wine and feeling pretty good, and probably a little dumb, Scott and I created our future - without even realizing it. When I found out I was pregnant it was like someone pried open my mouth and shoved a mound of spinach in! After a little while, a few months, I started to feel excited and before I knew it my little boy was born and I was the happiest mother on the planet! I couldn’t believe I didn’t want to try this, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. As with most people after trying spinach, they can’t believe they never had this tasty bite of yumminess before! It was the most awesome feeling and I embraced his little life with mine. I want the best for my little fella and I strive each and every day to ensure he gets what he needs for a happy, healthy life. Sammy is such a hand full of energy! He wants to learn and explore and jump off of everything in sight! He is all over the place without fear and taking charge of his own three-year-old life. I am so excited for him, because I don’t see a naughty boy whose parents let run amock and who may be spoiled. I see his future and how powerful he’ll be in whatever he wants to do. He lets no one tell him how it’s going to be, he sets his young mind on something and does it - no matter what! I watch as some people try to instill fear into their children and I feel sad for that child. How unfair is it to shut off their natural wants and desires? If Sammy wants to do something I try to make sure it’s safe first, although it’s life and he has to do what he has to do. There is no bubble around anyone and fear of what might happen is crippling and I will not do that to my child.
Anyhow - that really wasn’t my point for this blog. Let me return to the topic at hand…
I took the bite of nasty-looking spinach and loved it so much that I dove back in for a second helping. Sammy is such a great child and Scott and I couldn’t be happier parents. We love him so much that we had decided to create another - a sibling for our little Sammy. We tried and tried for a few months and nothing was happening. It was looking like we were destined to have only one child. I didn’t want to have to miss work so we were planning the pregnancy around my summer vacation. The window time frame had closed and there was still no baby, so I gave up. I threw in the white towel of defeat and tried to move past it. Just as the white towel hit the floor it jumped back up and smacked me in the back of the head! I was pregnant and once again had no idea. Scott was just as confused as I was, but that didn’t stop the flow of happiness! We told a few choice people but wanted to wait for the doctor to tell us everything was looking good before we let the rest of the world in. It’s finally that time - to let the rest of the world in on a secret we’ve been holding onto for 18 weeks now. Last Friday we went to the doctor for a check-up and to find out the sex of the baby. The baby was not cooperating with the ultrasound machine, so we almost didn’t get it. The doctor was getting ready to give up when he said, “Oh wait! There - do you see that?” He froze the picture and put a little arrow to where we should be looking. I looked for a second and said, “Is that a penis?” Whoop - there IT is!
I had this really strong feeling it was going to be a girl. I had people telling me they were getting a girl vibe. Scott and I were oddly focused on a girl’s name and didn’t even feel the need to talk about boys names. It was a deeper feeling than a wish… But, there IT was in clear view of the ultrasound. I would lie if I didn’t say that my heart sunk a little and I felt a little sadness that I was wrong. I couldn’t shake the surprise of seeing the penis - it was like I had lost something important and had to start all over again. The doctor left to do something and when he returned he said he needed to take one more look because he didn’t get a good shot of the kidneys. I thought maybe he’d look again and realize that the penis we had seen was merely a shadow or something. It didn’t happen. Ultrasounds have been wrong, but there are too many odds with the baby being a boy. The penis was really dominant and Scott’s family history of only boys being born (on his father’s side going back to his grandfather) is loud enough. I am sure it’s a boy and I am happy that he’s healthy. We are in the hunt for a boys name now - something powerful. Sammy is not yet clued in on the whole idea of a baby being in mommy’s belly, he thinks we keep calling my belly button a baby. I know he’ll be happy and welcoming of a brother - or as Sammy said, “brover.”
I just wanted to share the “Whoop - there IT is” shot - there is no mistake, as you can see…
Baby! He looks a little alienish - it was really hard to get any good shot of him because he was in a breech position. I’ll get many more pictures of our new little fella, and I’ll be posting them! He is healthy and weighs 9 ounces.
