the 2nd kid gets the shaft

when i was in high school, there was a female dentist who also had a column in our local paper – her name was Monica Anderson and i always thought she was hilarious – she was kind of like a blogger before blogging had a name – one of the columns she wrote that stuck with me was about her 2 sons – i specifically remember her mentioning how with her oldest son, she’d carefully made all of his food from scratch and held him so much his feet barely touched the ground – she referred to him as the Golden Child – her youngest son?   well, he was the Golden Arches Child – he erupted with glee every time he saw McDonald’s and his first word was ‘french fries’ – or something to that effect   but the basic idea was how with the first child, you try to do everything perfectly – you worry about every parenting decision you make and second guess every little thing – and then when the second kid comes along, your goal is just to keep them alive!  i hoped that i wouldn’t become that parent, but i can see that i’m already on my way

i haven’t talked a lot about this pregnancy because for the most part, it’s been the same as the first – i documented every single thing with Sydney and that’s not to say that this pregnancy is any less special or important – but since it’s been so much like the first, there really isn’t anything “new” to report – i’ve been very blessed in that i’ve been a SUPER healthy person my entire life- i rarely get sick and when i do, it’s usually just a random cold – and fortunately my pregnancies have been the same – my OB says i’m basically a textbook pregnancy case – no high blood pressure or weird test results – no gestational diabetes or placenta previa – even my morning sickness was pretty tame – i barely had any with Sydney and although i was sick with this baby, it was just a lot of nausea and no vomiting (thank God!) – it was gone at 12 weeks and i was back to my normal self – i felt the baby move really early and while this baby seems to have a much milder manner than Sydney, he still moves a good amount and there have been no scares at all (unlike with Sydney) – it’s been fairly uneventful and i’m happy with that – i’ve enjoyed being pregnant and have come to realize that i’m just one of those women that likes being pregnant (despite the fact that i’m as big as a house!) – but i’m 39 weeks pregnant today and think it’s time for us to get a move on!

i’m at the point where people are starting to ask if i’m ready and while i want to scream “YES! YES! YES!”, ready is a relative term – i’m definitely ready to meet this little one and introduce him to our world, but ready in the “everything is perfect and it’s place” – welllll …

the one thing that i learned with Sydney is that newborns really don’t need that much – when people tell you that all babies do is eat, sleep and poop they aren’t joking!  and knowing that we’re basically going to run with the same routine we did with Sydney, i know that we won’t really need much more than we already have until later down the line – since i’ll be breastfeeding, we’ll co-sleep like we did with Sydney – so despite the fact that i’m picking up a new bed for Sydney tomorrow so that we can convert her bed back to a crib, we probably won’t use it for a while – since i’ll be at home full time (and MUCH more comfortable nursing in public this time around), there’s really no need to have a ton of bottles ready to go – we cloth diaper so i already have my stash ready (it just needs to be washed one more time) – and as far as clothes, i still have all of Sydney’s gender neutral sleepers and onesies ready to go (though they do need to be folded!) – anything else?

it’s funny because when i found out i was pregnant, i was all concerned about what to do with the nursery – i even briefly considered finding out the sex so we would know how to decorate – rather than put this baby in its own room, we opted to make our spare bedroom into a true office/craft room and move this baby in with Sydney – i was all worried about them sharing a room if it was a boy, especially since the bedroom is painted purple – but we painted it purple before we knew Sydney was a girl, so in reality i couldn’t have been that worried about it – and initially i decided to work in some more “masculine” colors just in case – but time got away from me and i never could find exactly what i wanted – so instead i pretty much kept everything the same and just decided to work in some more green after the baby is born, if it does turn out to be a boy

and speaking of gender – it still cracks me up that people want to know so badly what i’m having – i can’t tell you how many times friends and family have asked me if i know what i’m having – even after the big 20 week ultrasound – i think they all think that we secretly know and just aren’t telling anyone – which i personally think is a little weird, but whateve – Kelley still wanted to know but i won that battle again – when my OB handed Sydney to me and i got to look at her and announce she was a girl … i can’t even describe the emotions i felt – and if i have a chance to experience that again … i’m TOTALLY taking it!  of course that hasn’t stopped the speculation at all – in fact, it’s really just spurred it on

i don’t really know (or believe) any of the old wives tales that predict the sex, but i did a few of them just for kicks – The Chinese Birth Charts all said that Sydney would be a boy – uhhh … clearly that was wrong – and almost all of them have said the same thing this time around too – except one test that was just based on age and month of conception – that one says girl – and just about EVERYONE said that Sydney was a boy based on the way i was carrying – i don’t really know how that whole thing works but maybe you can tell …

with Sydney – i was 36 1/2 weeks (and 3 times the size of the smokin’ hot Kellie Rasberry!)

and with this baby – 38 weeks and 5 days (and still as big as a house!) – please excuse the smirk on my face as a i try to give direction to my photography challenged husband!

i don’t know!!  while i’m smaller this time around (though not by much), i think i’m carrying pretty much the same – i certainly feel the same!  when i was pregnant with Sydney, i had 2-3 dreams that she was a boy – in one dream, i could even see into my stomach and saw an itty-bitty penis – then i had one girl dream but i still thought she was a boy – this time around  i’ve had 2 dreams – one where i could only see the face – i thought it looked like a girl but still thought it was a boy – just a really pretty one – then about a week ago i had a dream where i was able to see into my belly and it was definitely a boy – which of course means nothing!  everyone said boy last time and everyone is saying boy this time too – but i think this time around, they just want me to have a boy since we already have a girl – which leads to the question, what do i want?

i know people say this all the time, but i really just want a healthy baby – i honestly don’t care either way because i could make arguments for both – if i’d been able to have a talk with God and give him my input, i would’ve asked for 2 boys first and then a girl – i always wanted to have a big brother so i really wanted that for my daughter – and i figured any daughter of mine would have my bad attitude and not wanting to deal with more than one of those, i decided one girl would be enough for me!  but then i found out my due date was a week after Sydney’s birthday and that changed things for me – Sydney and this baby are going to be almost exactly 2 years apart which i think is WAY cool (and no we didn’t plan it like that – it just happened!) – so i would love it if they were both girls because they’d be close in age growing up and could have simultaneous birthday parties and share clothes and hang out together – and although i’m sure the tween/teen years would be hell, i picture them being BFFs – my sister and i are 5 years apart and although we’re really close, i wish our age gap wasn’t so wide – besides if i have another girl, then we have to have a 3rd baby to try for a boy -  right??  which leads me to the boy argument

i have ALWAYS wanted boys – bad-ass, dirty, rough-and-tumble little boys who track in dirt and mud and play in creeks and bring home bugs and scare you half to death by trying death-defying tricks that end in trips to the ER – yes – me, the girliest of the girls, has always wanted boys – plus, my mom always told me that little boys LOVE LOVE LOVE their mamas – and how could you not want a bond like that?  i have been adamant that i really want 3 kids – and Kelley has been pretty insistent that he only wants 2 – now, anyone who knows us knows that there are VERY few things that my husband says no to when i ask – and while in my mind, i’m pretty sure i can talk him into a 3rd baby – what if he gives me the Heisman and i only end up with 2?  if this one is a boy then at least i’d have one of each and i’d never have to wonder what it would be like to have a boy

of course then there’s always the chance that this one is a girl and i’d talk Kelley into a 3rd and it would be a girl too – then i’d really be screwed because i’d end up as a single mom – Kelley would surely run away from home to escape this estrogen filled house and i’d be left trying not to kill to manage 3 girls with attitude just like mine!    oh well, either way it’ll be okay and somehow we’ll work it out – as long as this baby is healthy and comes soon, i’ll be happy … and i mean soon like tomorrow – and i don’t have to be induced