Post by Rhonda on Apr 8, 2009 3:11:38 GMT -5
Its a Boy... Again
By Susan M. Heim
It's a Boy... Again? From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More
Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.
~Plato
I must admit I was a little princess as a young girl. I played with dolls, jumped rope, loved make-up, and squealed at spiders. When my sister and I played "house" with our friends, my name was always Cher. I married Donny Osmond, and we had four perfect children. Of course, when I pulled that pillow out from under my pretend maternity dress, a little girl baby always emerged. I just expected to have girls! After all, I grew up with just one sister - no boys in the family. And my father - no offense, Dad - wasn't a particularly macho man. He didn't insist on watching the football game or drag my sister and me to any monster truck shows. In fact, he knew much more about cooking than kicking. As for me, I was lousy at sports! So I was certain that I'd have daughters when I became a mommy because I had no idea what to do with boys. I even saved my beloved Barbies, and my Chrissy doll that grew hair, to pass on to my future daughters.
Well, life is full of surprises, and my first pregnancy was certainly one of them. When they put my firstborn son in my arms, I was surprised yet thrilled. I was in my mid-twenties and hoped to have more children, so I figured my daughter would arrive with the next delivery. But when I got pregnant with my second child nearly three years later, the ultrasound technician drew an arrow pointing to a particular body part on my unborn child and typed, "It's a boy!" Hmmm, interesting. Okay, well, that wasn't exactly how I had planned it, but maybe it was better this way, I told myself. Two boys would be good company for each other. They could play with the same toys and wear the same clothes, just like my sister and I did growing up. The next one would be a girl….
Then life took another unexpected turn. Actually, many turns! I went through a divorce and nearly ten years of single parenting with my boys before I finally remarried. My new husband had no children of his own, and I was eager to meet my long-awaited daughter, so I decided to go for "round three."
We showed up at our first ultrasound appointment eager to check out our new family member-to-be. "What should we name her?" I asked, certain it would be a girl. My husband liked the name Hayley. "Hayley Heim?" I asked. Hmmm, I wasn't sure. Finally, the doctor came in and began the procedure. It seemed to take him an awfully long time to take the baby's measurements. I didn't remember it taking this long with my previous pregnancies, but it had been eleven years. I figured the technology had changed.
At last, the doctor turned the screen toward us, and we looked at him expectantly. It was still too early to know the baby's gender, but we expected at least a "Congratulations!" or a "Looks good!" Instead, we heard two words we never expected to hear in a million years: "It's twins!" I think my husband and I caught a few flies that day when our mouths flew open in shock. TWINS!
A few months later, after we had recovered from the news, I began to look forward to having twins. My brightest thought was that, surely, with two babies, at least one of them would be a girl, right? Wrong! Amazingly, I gave birth to two more boys! (And at seven pounds, thirteen ounces, and six pounds, nine ounces, they were ready to join the family football team!)
So now I am the mother of four wonderful boys. I must admit that a double dose of testosterone in one fell swoop has been quite a challenge! My twins have mastered wrestling, burping, and peeing while standing. (Their older brothers are an inspiration, of course.) And when I tried to present them with my beloved Barbies, they pulled off the heads and tried to cut off the dolls' hair. So, back they went in the box under my bed, getting older and dustier by the minute.
Now don't get me wrong… I adore my boys! I actually like snakes and building houses with Lincoln Logs. And I no longer blush when I pass the athletic cups at the sporting goods store. My childbearing days are over, but I'm not giving up hope yet for a girl. There's still a good chance that I'll be buying frilly pink clothes some day for a granddaughter. (I'm certain she'll be the most spoiled little girl ever.) Or, dare I hope, I might even get twin granddaughters! But, in the meantime, I'll embrace the color blue and know that I've been given the perfect family to love.
By Susan M. Heim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Susan M. Heim
It's a Boy... Again? From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More
Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.
~Plato
I must admit I was a little princess as a young girl. I played with dolls, jumped rope, loved make-up, and squealed at spiders. When my sister and I played "house" with our friends, my name was always Cher. I married Donny Osmond, and we had four perfect children. Of course, when I pulled that pillow out from under my pretend maternity dress, a little girl baby always emerged. I just expected to have girls! After all, I grew up with just one sister - no boys in the family. And my father - no offense, Dad - wasn't a particularly macho man. He didn't insist on watching the football game or drag my sister and me to any monster truck shows. In fact, he knew much more about cooking than kicking. As for me, I was lousy at sports! So I was certain that I'd have daughters when I became a mommy because I had no idea what to do with boys. I even saved my beloved Barbies, and my Chrissy doll that grew hair, to pass on to my future daughters.
Well, life is full of surprises, and my first pregnancy was certainly one of them. When they put my firstborn son in my arms, I was surprised yet thrilled. I was in my mid-twenties and hoped to have more children, so I figured my daughter would arrive with the next delivery. But when I got pregnant with my second child nearly three years later, the ultrasound technician drew an arrow pointing to a particular body part on my unborn child and typed, "It's a boy!" Hmmm, interesting. Okay, well, that wasn't exactly how I had planned it, but maybe it was better this way, I told myself. Two boys would be good company for each other. They could play with the same toys and wear the same clothes, just like my sister and I did growing up. The next one would be a girl….
Then life took another unexpected turn. Actually, many turns! I went through a divorce and nearly ten years of single parenting with my boys before I finally remarried. My new husband had no children of his own, and I was eager to meet my long-awaited daughter, so I decided to go for "round three."
We showed up at our first ultrasound appointment eager to check out our new family member-to-be. "What should we name her?" I asked, certain it would be a girl. My husband liked the name Hayley. "Hayley Heim?" I asked. Hmmm, I wasn't sure. Finally, the doctor came in and began the procedure. It seemed to take him an awfully long time to take the baby's measurements. I didn't remember it taking this long with my previous pregnancies, but it had been eleven years. I figured the technology had changed.
At last, the doctor turned the screen toward us, and we looked at him expectantly. It was still too early to know the baby's gender, but we expected at least a "Congratulations!" or a "Looks good!" Instead, we heard two words we never expected to hear in a million years: "It's twins!" I think my husband and I caught a few flies that day when our mouths flew open in shock. TWINS!
A few months later, after we had recovered from the news, I began to look forward to having twins. My brightest thought was that, surely, with two babies, at least one of them would be a girl, right? Wrong! Amazingly, I gave birth to two more boys! (And at seven pounds, thirteen ounces, and six pounds, nine ounces, they were ready to join the family football team!)
So now I am the mother of four wonderful boys. I must admit that a double dose of testosterone in one fell swoop has been quite a challenge! My twins have mastered wrestling, burping, and peeing while standing. (Their older brothers are an inspiration, of course.) And when I tried to present them with my beloved Barbies, they pulled off the heads and tried to cut off the dolls' hair. So, back they went in the box under my bed, getting older and dustier by the minute.
Now don't get me wrong… I adore my boys! I actually like snakes and building houses with Lincoln Logs. And I no longer blush when I pass the athletic cups at the sporting goods store. My childbearing days are over, but I'm not giving up hope yet for a girl. There's still a good chance that I'll be buying frilly pink clothes some day for a granddaughter. (I'm certain she'll be the most spoiled little girl ever.) Or, dare I hope, I might even get twin granddaughters! But, in the meantime, I'll embrace the color blue and know that I've been given the perfect family to love.
By Susan M. Heim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~