Life’s Last Great Mystery!

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Neither my husband nor myself is an only child. We are both the older sibling to a younger brother, and when we discussed having a family, there was never a question about having more than one child. We never talked about how many we wanted, but we were certain we’d have at least two.

I became pregnant soon after we married and was brimming with excitement. We painted the nursery green and decorated it with the Fisher Price Rainforest theme. I even commissioned the art teacher at the middle school where I taught for three paintings to hang on the walls. After all, the nursery would be used by more than one child, and I did not plan to paint the room with each subsequent baby.

With our first, there was no question – we definitely wanted to find out the gender. At 20 weeks they told us it was a boy, and we eagerly filled dresser drawers with blue outfits, hats, and socks.

When our oldest was 8 months old, we discovered we were expecting again. My mother’s intuition had me so convinced #2 was a boy (unlike my first pregnancy where I had no idea one way or another), that my husband and I found the perfect set of bunk beds on Craigslist. The ultrasound proved I was right (of course), and these two boys are the best of friends. (They’re only 16 months apart.)

To our surprise, we discovered that we were expecting again soon after baby #2 turned one. This pregnancy was different than the other two; so much that I was convinced I was having a girl. When the ultrasound revealed differently, it was a blow. I got over myself, however, and now I could not imagine life without my happy, goofy, youngest son.

Life's Last Great Mystery | Columbia SC Moms Blog

We thought we were finished having kids after baby #3, but it seems the universe had other plans, and we are happily looking forward to baby #4’s arrival.

“Maybe this will be your girl.”

“I hope it’s a girl.”

Those phrases are repeated over and over as we’ve shared our good news with family and friends. As I heard these statements again and again, I realized my hopes are not tied up in the gender of this baby, but in the hopes that we will have yet another healthy child. (As cliche as that sounds, I really will be happy with a healthy baby.)

So the decision was made. I will be having my 4th Cesarean section and when we pack for the hospital, along with my comfy slippers and toothbrush, I will pack a blue outfit and a pink outfit. This is our last baby, and I am so excited we chose not to find out the gender until the birth.

Could you hold out? If you did, tell us more about the thoughts behind your decision.

4 COMMENTS

  1. I have one of each gender and I noticed that people always asked me if we would have another one after baby #1 (boy) but very few people asked me if we would have another after baby #2 (girl). I think that society assumes that people with multiple children of one gender are only having more children to get the opposite gender. I think it’s great that baby #4 is going to be a surprise!

  2. 4 kiddos here and have never found out the gender before birth. I just found that the pregnancy was more bearable if I new that would find out at the end. It felt like my reward for making through (other than the baby of course). Plus, having 2 of each I was always grateful that my supplies weren’t tied to gender. I’ve seen so many little boys in their sister’s pink car seat!

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