If it's a boy you'll have an easier time. Girls on the whole are high maintenaence.
Since you announced your pregnancy, I've been thinking it's a boy. Funny how people often end up picking a sex even if there's no evidence to support it.
Did you find out the sex with Juniper?
yes.
After two "Daddy's" girls, all I wanted was a son...someone to love me the best. I figured if I didn't have one, I was going to have to get a dog to love me. Well, he's nine now and this morning he hugged me and kissed me as I left for work, then he shouted out the door that he loved me. Then he went to the open living room window and shouted it again twice. We still don't have a dog and I don't think we really need one.
(this is not to say that my girls aren't as special to me as he is, because they are. They're just really different species.)
"I contemplated how to tell him this exciting but inadequate news."
So, did you tell him through this post?
When I was pregnant I assumed I was having a girl, for a pretty stupid reason. Growing up, I always celebrated my birthday doing a girls day out with a neighbor who was born four days after me--the baby was due right in between our birthdays. But the night before an ultrasound I had a dream I had given birth and the Dr. said, "It's a boy." Turns out, the dream was correct and in the end I gave birth more than a month ahead of schedule...I have loved having my boy ever since.
Just curious, are you going to keep the same blog name when Juniper is no longer an only child?
Will you have another ultrasound with your OB later? This sounds like an off-the-record bonus ultrasound. Which is about the coolest thing in the world...
Our he has pleasantly surprised us.
Beck has been so smart, funny, chill and incredibly boy-like in his turd-stabbing pursuits that I think learning a girl will be weird. Only now, 10 weeks out, is it starting to settle in. Then again, I keep wondering, what if they were wrong? And I'm having another boy and everybody is buying me pink sh*t? I think it's nature to expect/want what you are used to, or what you know.
I can't get over how beautifully you both write your experiences. Whatever the sex, he or she is sure to have the fierce and glowing mind of a poet.
I think you get whatever you need when it comes to kids. I know I got exactly what I needed with mine. No idea how that happens.
When I found out I was pregnant in February, I swore it was a girl. I couldn't explain how I knew, but I was absolutely certain. A mother's intuition, I said.
The 20 week ultrasound revealed that she is in fact, a boy. And I couldn't be more thrilled.
I hear you on wanting a kid who sleeps. My current pregnant insomnia (at 35 weeks) makes me fearful of what is to come . . .
I hope your new one is a boy just so we can see your creative take on dressing a son. (We haven't been too edgy except for a kilt, which our guy loves.)
Regardless, he/she will be beautiful.
Ahh, there's no hiding from an ultrasound for a jigger. Yay! Imagine the urchitude that lies in store for you if the forecast is right.
Boys are lovely. Juniper is gorgeous, and I totally want one, but boys romance you by knocking you down every time they see you. We tussle, we love.
I know, I know... tired old gender stereotypes.. but that's what it is for us. I'm so excited for you both, third leg or not.
Until I got pregnant, we both had said that we wanted to wait to find out the sex of a baby. Even though we both changed our minds after I got pregnant it turns out the ultrasound technician could only give us a 65% chance likelihood that it would be a girl - supposedly the umbilical cord was positioned right where a little penis may have been and blocked a clear view. 65% chance means nothing when trying to plan on outfits but I was perfectly happy with that - it's the not knowing when you could know that's hard to take.
I understand feeling torn - that's the best you can feel though because it means you will be happy either way.
This is so beautifully written. And I hope you get one, whichever it is, with your great hair.
A year ago I told my husband that I could have a penis growing inside of me. I guess that's how they all get started, but it was weird to say out loud, eh?
Here's hoping for a low key baby with great hair. Maybe a better machine could predict that for you.
Our first, a girl, was is a very intense little being who still requires a lot of energy. Our second, a boy, has been a mellow little bundle of joy since the beginning and has never had much of a sleep issue after the newborn and teething stuff. It's been wonderful.
Here's hoping for a mellow personality, no matter what the gender!
"All I really want from this one is sleep."
Amen.
Hope you get it!
I used to think "women's intuition" about stuff like that was...suspect. Then it turned out Edan's mom was right about the sex of our baby -- as she had been more or less from the moment she was conceived. Now I figure, if you thought it was a girl, it probably is, right?
Or not.
alice- you give me hope, god bless you. real living hope: "Our first, a girl, was is a very intense little being who still requires a lot of energy. Our second, a boy, has been a mellow little bundle of joy since the beginning and has never had much of a sleep issue after the newborn and teething stuff. It's been wonderful."
wood- i hear you that gender is irrelevant to sleep. congrats on either.
i hope my own as yet unconceived child is another girl- i never imagined wanting a girl until i had one and now i'd love her to have a sister. and then a brother. and then kill or commit me or buy me the largest bottle of xanax cause i'll need it.
I find it really amusing that you and I just want the same things out of our second borns - who cares about gender as long as this one doesn't make me cry every sleepless night for two years? Eat dark chocolate, spend time in the sun, take your flax seed oil - every trick there is to get a calmer baby.
We go back and forth--most of the time we think boy but Maggie thinks it's a girl. Who should be named Baby Henry, after her cousin. I really am so crazy about her, I kinda want another girl--but then I come from a one girl, one boy family and really liked that. Of course it seems everyone around me is having the one family permutation they didn't grow up with, which for us would be two girls (neither Paul or I have a sister).
if I have a strong feeling either way I'll let you know. I am famously wrong ALL THE TIME.
1/2 through pregnancy with #2 and I vacillate between REALLY wanting a second boy and just slightly wanting a second boy. Mostly we just want the same again: a healthy, easy going baby. If that child has girl parts and will wear cute dresses, I'd consider myself lucky for sure. (won't know until the due date though -- a repeat pregnancy has to have SOME excitement to it was what we figured).
i love how you said you could not imagine a penis growing inside you. i felt the same way but got the strangest (!) looks when i shared such thoughts out loud.
it IS very strange, i agree.
my boy is a monster. but we kinda wished for that, since our only other boy was weak and fragile and died. he is every kind of wonderful i could have hoped testosterone to throw my way.
a little penis growing inside me... priceless.
Before I found out Hootie was a girl, I was really sorta weirded out by the notion of a penis growing inside my body too! How FUNNY, I never saw anyone articulate it like that, putting words to what I was thinking at the time!
I have a TOTAL Mama's girl - they do exist. She's my little helper and snuggle partner and gives me loves and hugs and kisses and tells me I'm the best Mommy EVER, and I'm hers, and she wants to live with me always.
But I'll be fascinated to see how the dynamic changes in your household, once another one is there. Fascinated also to see what I have to type to get to this blog!
as a mom of three boys and one girl, i agree that girls seem more high maintenance. maybe i only feel that way because i am a female and i know the storm of hormones on the distant horizon. also, when i was pregnant with the triplets, i was dumbfounded that there were two (TWO) penises, er peni?, growing inside me. crazy i tell you.
the second child seems to sleep so much better. mostly because they are ignored more. seriously. i was so hyper-sensitive to the first one, but the second one..so much easier to just chill. i never let them cry it out, but the 2nd one will just sleep when i cuddle next to her for a bit.
good luck! boy or girl, i send blessings.
this sentence made me giggle too
" a little penis growing inside me... priceless."
Congrats once again! We're about two weeks apart in our pregnancies (although it's my first). I look forward to some sound perspective from the both of you (cuz it sure ain't happening anywhere around here!)
Bossy is also prone to leave a "little penis growing inside me" comment. But she, like, totally won't.
Is having a little vagina growing inside you somehow less strange?
When I was pregnant with Atticus, I was certain we were having a girl, but everyone told me we were having a boy. This time around, my 'instincts' are telling me it's a boy, but everyone is telling me we're having a girl.
A large part of me wants another boy because I 'know' how to deal with one now. A girl suddenly seems scary and foreign to me, despite wanting one so desperately while pregnant the first time around.
But I with you, either way, I hope we get a good sleeper!
We had two girls and then a boy.
I honestly can not fathom the statement "girls are higher maintenance".
My boy is a delight; he is funny, cute, engaging, charming and wonderful. He is also *much* more work than either of my girls.
So there you go.
Having two girls 2.5 years apart, I have to say they play *beautifully* together. They just like to play the same things - ponies, dolls, house, zoo, and on and on. From what I have been told, most boys don't play those types of games - thus I don't see most boy/girl siblings playing together for hours (like my odest two do on weekends.)
I love having both types. They are amazing.
My parents, who had two boys and me, would beg to differ that girls are high maintenance. I was extremely easy compared to both of my brothers.
Also, I have a momma's girl as well. I'm utterly fascinated by this.
I am excited for you. Perhaps another u/s will be more conclusive. I have two quiet, kind and very affectionate little boys (3.5 and 1.5). They really love mom (and anyone who smiles at them). The oldest plays with cars, but its because he loves to organize them in 'parking lots' so they can watch a parade. They are really great kids. I was told my third one is a girl (two u/s confirmed this) and I am excited but terrified.
As a trooper in the same sleep war, I wish you a healthy baby of either sex that is a easy-going, champion sleeper.
Dutch - I hope your dreaded week turned out. I always enjoy your perspective and your honesty-which usually add up to side splitting humor. As a homedad of one year old twins(every day) and a 4.5 year old daughter(two days a week,) I can identify with the fog of war and stress that occassionally seeps in to the dream of homeparenthood. Luckily for us, they usually turn out much better than we fear as long as the breadwinner doesn't bust our balls too much. Fill the day with as many adventures as possible while the last vestiges of summer are here and while you can still spend undivided attention on the mini boss. Funny how things change once the next mini arrives. Of course, it is all good but those pints become even more ephemeral and the incident potential of engaging in society goes up exponentially.
I read you guys all the time, and am often humbled by your a)love for Juniper, and b)your eloquent ness (!).
This, however, brought a little tear to my eyes.
I remember when I found out that a boy was growing inside me, I cried for two weeks. I had wanted a little girl so very badly.
After I had him, I could not imagine it differently.
He DOES miss me when I go away, and gives the warmest hugs when I return. I love my little baby (eight year old) boy.
Ah, boys. Thank heaven. Ah, girls. Thank heaven. No matter what, you are going to be thrilled. I think it's a boy personally. I totally see you mothering a son. Dutch, too. My brother and I were just about three-years apart and he was the best friend I ever had growing up. There are photos of us holding hands when I was old enough to hate his guts and call him "annoying", and of course, he was annoying much of the time. But still... My fondest memories are waking our parents up in our feet pajamas. Together. I have a sister, too and while I love her dearly, the bond with my brother was always something no one else could touch.
What a wonderful site you guys have! I really enjoyed this post. My partner and I have been staring at scan pictures since we decided we didn't want to know the sex. Most old wives reckon it's a boy, but I'm still hoping for a girl - girls love their Daddies.
Congrats again, Wood. Either is awesome; healthy is what matters, as you well note. I have two boys and a girl - I adore my boys, and they present certain challenges in toddlerhood that are, shall we say, gregariously interesting? My girl, she's a spitfire alright and no sound sleeper, but she's different from the boys, even at a wee six months. Both experiences have been interesting and all are favored...all I know is what is meant to be has been, and it's all good. Such will be the same for you!
Oh my! When people state one is easier than the other, I squirm. I have three, two girls and one boy. All three times we did not find out what we were having. We waited until the day they were born. Each brings their own challenges and joys. To say one is easier than the other is silly. You learn as you go and if you can get one in the mix that allows you some sleep, even better I say!
I avoid blogs for a week or so and look what I miss! So so so happy for the whole Juniper family, whatever the genitals growing inside you.
Yay
Yay Yay Yay
Juniper will make an AWESOME big sister. She's already practicing by making your dog talk..ha!
Congratulations and I will send good mama vibes to you for a
1) good pregnancy
2) fast labor
3) good sleeper
and
4) child that lacks in only the ability to whine
Melanie
Like Jen, I squirm when people try to say girls or boys are better/worse or higher/lower maintenance. I think it depends on your definition of maintaining a child. Maybe we need to rethink our idea parenting if we find it necessary to say boys/girls are easy/hard.
Anyway, I hope that whatever you have, it's a sound sleeper. I've often wondered whether you have plans to tackle sleeping differently from the start with number two.
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