I know a lot of women who dream of having baby girls. I suppose the same is true in reverse. I’m sure there are a lot of men who want a baby boy, though it’s more unusual to hear them speak of it.
Unlike most American couples we decided not to find out my son’s gender before he was born. Shortly after I became pregnant I bought a journal with the word “BELIEVE” on the cover and in it I wrote “I want a baby.” I know it sounds absolutely crazy but I believe in telling the universe what you want in life. Writing it down seemed like an official declaration of my desire.
After awhile I changed my declaration and declared “I want a healthy baby.” This later changed to “I want a happy, healthy baby.”, and finally “Dear God please help me receive a happy, healthy baby.”
I kept that journal in my closet and wrote in it before every doctors visit and every sonogram. I never added a gender to that request. I never wrote “baby girl” or “baby boy.” My only hope and dream was that my child would be happy and healthy.
This post is not meant to sound judgmental. I certainly understand a woman’s desire to have a daughter. Just as I would understand a man’s desire for the same.
I was unbelievably curious about our baby’s gender, but I was not drawn to a specific gender. When I worked in daycare, many moons ago, my most beloved child was a three year old little boy. Every afternoon when I arrived he would climb into my lap and tell me stories like all three year old children do. I’m not sure why I connected to him, but I guess there doesn’t need to be a reason for bonding to occur.
Before my son was born a few friends and family members said, “I think you’ll have a girl.” They said it in a way that really meant, “I sure hope it’s a girl!” Other friends told me they would have been “devastated if they never had a girl.” This frustrated me beyond belief. Having a child growing inside of you is a miracle in and of itself and I did not want to think any less of this child because the gender was not what someone else wanted or expected it to be.
Whenever I heard these comments I replied “I will love it no matter what” and I meant that with all of my heart.
A few hours after my son was born a nurse came into the room. My husband was passed out on the couch after a 5:00 am deliver and I was snuggling with my newborn. She asked me what gender my child was and when I told her he was a boy she said, “Isn’t it funny. Once a baby shows up in this world you can’t imagine any other baby laying in his place.” In my life I have found few other statements to be so true. Before your child is born you may create mental snapshots of what color his hair or eyes might be. If you don’t know the gender you may think it’s going to be a girl or a boy, but once your child is laying in your arms you suddenly can’t remember that child you previously pictured.
I can’t speak for every mother out there, but I can tell you from the deepest region of my heart that I could not imagine loving a child any more than I love my son. Once you hold that baby in your arms you will completely forget that you dreamed of a different gender. At least I hope that will be the case for you.
I agree. All I want is a happy, healthy baby. After years of trying and finally getting pregnant I just kept praying for a happy, healthy baby whose enjoys a long life beyond my years. Before each of my pregnancies I had this feeling knowing that it was going to happen. Now that we’re trying again, I would be happy with a boy or a girl. A boy would be more convenient because I already have all the clothes. But today i did something a little crazy…I was at a garage sale and bought a sleeper for a girl, I just couldn’t put it down. All I can hope is that now that I have some health issues resolved, another pregnancy is on it’s way…and I won’t mind if it was a boy too.
I’m sorry to hear about your health issues Heather. I wish you all the best!
While I was pregnant, we opted to not find out the gender but everyone seemed to think it was going to be a boy. We had so convinced ourselves of the gender that when my daughter was born, even my doctor seemed surprised when she announced, “It’s a girl!”. After the initial surprise, we were fine with it and I was just so happy to welcome into my world a healthy, happy, cute baby.
That’s funny. I have five male cousins. I am the youngest and when I was born and the doctor said “it’s a girl” my mom said no, no, it’s a boy, because she was convinced she wouldn’t have a girl. Apparently she thought the umbilical cord was a penis and my dad had to hold me upside down to prove it 🙂
We didn’t find out the gender for our first child, and I loved not knowing until the birth. It was just so exciting. We have two girls now (we did find out for the second), and people keep asking if we are going to have a third to try for a boy. My youngest is only 8 months old! They are both healthy and happy, and that is all that matters.
Thanks for the comment Lauren. I completely agree. I have friends with three girls and people ask “are you going to try for a boy for number 4.” Healthy is all that matters.
I think that people’s desires for a specific gender are dependent on their experience. I always knew I wanted a girl just because I really love the close relationship I have with my mother. However, I never had a fear of having all boys until I met my mother-in-law. She only had two boys and drives me absolutely nuts. I don’t want to be like her–and even though it sounds ridiculous that I would be like her if I had two boys, there is something about her not having a girl that I feel made her this way. It’s tough to explain in just a few sentences so I won’t even try. I’m sure that when we have children, it will absolutely feel like those were the children we were meant to have.