Think Again

Being pregnant with Matt was easy. No nausea. Very little backache and pain. I could work on a project for hours without problems. Walk for miles without needing a break. Matthew came a week late and I felt I could be pregnant with him another month. It was a great experience.

Then there was Mark.

I joked that it was a “real pregnancy”. From the beginning I had several food aversions. Morning sickness not only visited my first trimester, but the second and third. Acid reflux kept ringing my front door and not even Tums helped. Steve and I vacationed in San Francisco during my fifth month and while on our Alcatraz and Napa Valley wine tour I was having a hard time keeping up with the group. “I have to sit down again!” On another occasion while running errands, Mark caused me to pass out at our local Wal-Mart. I went down like a sack of potatoes!

So everything was telling me that Mark was probably a girl. I admit wanting a boy. Not only do I relate to boys better (having brothers myself and all male cousins with Matt to boot), but the idea of recycling our baby items made better sense. I started to talk myself into the idea of having a girl. Accepting the colors pink and lavender. Realizing I may have to purchase toys that aren't geared towards Thomas the Train and Go, Diego, Go -- you know like Cinderella and Ariel. Oh the thought! Steve and I always talked about having two kids, so whatever God gave us was fine. It's all His plan, right?

I prepared myself to see this girl at my first ultrasound appointment. There I was. On the table. The technician started to sweep the device over my belly. Steve and Matt were there too. All of us looking at those black/white images -- scribbles and scrabbles of stuff if you ask me! Saw the heart beat. Then we saw “it”. The tech didn’t need to explain what “it” was. Mark let us see everything. I was shocked. A BOY!!

Matt screamed, “It’s a boy! I’ll have a brother! I wanted a brother!”

Steve looked at me and said in his confident tone, “I knew it was a boy all along.”

I was elated watching my boy. Another son. My Marky! We left and started to plan for Mark to arrive. Pulling out the baby gear. Washing Matt’s old stuff. It just goes to show you no two pregnancies are ever alike.

Mark is two today. Two years. Just like that! We’ve conquered sleeping thru the night. Those cranky hours between 3-8pm are a thing of the past. The highchair is stored in the basement. Bottles packed away. It’s bittersweet, but I look forward to watching Mark grow up. Attending his baseball games –- maybe basketball games for that matter! Witnessing him graduate preschool. Having heart to heart talks like I do with Matt now. He’s already showing a comical way about him. And better yet not buying diapers anymore with potty training yet to come. Oh joy!

One night Steve and I were watching “The Sound of Music” and the boys came into the family room. Matt made it perfectly clear the movie was for girls and made that gag-sound. “Turn it, Dad!!” Mark followed with his own gagging sound and gave our TV “the hand”. In that moment I pondered the idea of what it would have been like having a girl. To watch my chick flicks with her. Maybe play a little Barbies or buying a dress with a big bow on the back. But....and this is a huge BUT....I’ll take the hugs, kisses, sports and , yes, even the gag-sounds over “The Sound of Music” any day!

Happy birthday, Little Man!!!