Confession – I Wanted More Than Just a Healthy Baby

I’m just going to come out and say it. I desperately wanted, with my whole mind, body and soul, for my first child to be a girl. I wasn’t going to love a boy any less, of course, but that didn’t stop me from hoping that I could make my baby be a girl through sheer psychic brain power and force of will (of course I knew that the sperm decides the gender and I had pretty much no choice in the matter, but did that stop me from wishing? nope). In the end I was very blessed to have my wish granted (and I made the sonogram operators check multiple times because I couldn’t believe it, haha).

My baby girl (so long ago!)

I’m sure there are some people who genuinely don’t care whether they have a boy or a girl, but I was never one of them. And getting flak for saying something more than “I don’t care as long as they’re healthy” is crazy. I remember being completely shocked when I read an article about the public getting mad at Vanessa Lachey for saying she was hoping for a boy. Of course Vanessa and I both wanted healthy babies, I just also wanted mine to have a vagina. What’s wrong with that? All babies are going to be one or the other and there are differences between the two, so you can’t help wondering. And I’m sure we both would have loved the opposite gender just as much if that’s what we were given instead.

But of course I had to ask myself why I felt so strongly about it. I don’t think boys or girls are necessarily better; I’m in love with a great man and I know lots of amazing women. I think my feelings came from the fact that I have one sister myself, grew up with my grandmother living with us, and nannied for 2 girls for a few years. I’m just more comfortable around girls, I know what to expect with them, I know how “girls” (stereotypically) play, etc. And, as a fashion lover, I admit I was swayed by the idea of being able to pass down my clothes, shoes and bags to a daughter as well as by the significantly greater clothing freedom given to girls. My experience with young boys was limited to a few short babysitting jobs – so it was mostly just fear of the unknown.

Now that I’m expecting baby number 2, I was really surprised that I did not have strong feelings one way or the other this time. I actually felt a little guilty that I didn’t have a strong preference! (My only real reason for leaning one way or the other was the fact that we could pass down & reuse a lot more clothes if we had another girl – not enough to make a difference in my opinion). And, in the meantime, my sister had had an adorable baby boy and she and I had already spoken some about the differences in diaper changing. So when my hubby and I found out we were definitely going to have a boy this time around, there was only a tiny bit of panicking and a lot of excitement. :) I can’t wait to meet you #2!