It’s a Boy!!

Peter will turn 6 months tomorrow.

Time really does fly when you’re having fun (and changing diapers). I can’t believe it. It’s so cliche but it’s so true; they do grow up so fast. I look at Peter’s photos of this six months and I can barely recognize him. I don’t remember him being so tiny. I have begun to put his clothes away for the next one (yes I want another boy), and it warms my heart when I realize just how small he was. I remember in those first few weeks when things were rough for us, I was so terrified of how fragile he was, I used to go online to look at other babies photos just to see when he would loose his newborn frailty.  6 Months ago I didn’t realize just how much and how fast Peter would change. He is now this big  rolling (woohoo!!) baby. Today I  woke up thinking about how it was for me to be pregnant with Peter, and how much we really wanted a boy.

I know everyone says that they want a healthy baby and it doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl. I said so myself, but deep down: I wanted a boy. You see I was sort of raised by my brother who is 3 years older than me. The story goes like this: When my mother got pregnant with me, they told him they had a present for him, only thing was, this present would grow and he would only be able to see it in 9 months. So for 9 months my brother patiently waited (Ok, not so patiently; he once took a knife and told my mother he couldn’t take it any more, that he was getting me out himself); when I was finally born they gave me to him and told him I was his. He took this to heart. He chose my  name. He protected me more than anything. He would climb into my crib to watch me sleep. If I ever cried he would carry me and console me. He made sure I was never sad or lonely (How lucky were my parents?). As we grew up  I used to follow him everywhere he went (as we got older he started to dislike me being stuck to him like glue, but there was nothing he could do, I was hooked) I used to copy his clothes, read what he read, watched the shows he liked, played with the toys he played, eat what he ate. I became a photocopy of him.  So as a result I didn’t have any girly time, or for that matter any female friends (I met my first girl friend when I was 8, she is to this day my best friend, but before her, even in school, I only had friends who were boys).

I was a textbook tomboy. Thanks to my best friend I managed to make more female friends, but still, the tomboy in me remained strong.  Even to this today I struggle with girly things. So the idea of having a girl terrified me. I had no clue what I would do with her. I mean, I can barely braid my own hair, so this little baby that was coming if she was a girl, she was going to have a rough time. I remember going to toy stores to have a look. I could see myself playing with the chemistry lab, the magicians kit, the dinosaur play-dough. But as soon as I reached the girls lane: The dolls? The mini purses? The make up? The dolls again?  The eyes on the dolls!!!

I had wanted a boy so much for so long I was sure I would have a girl. I was lucky enough that Phillip also wanted a boy, so no gender troubles there. As the ultrasound date came closer I was calmer (I felt it, I knew it was a boy). Phillip became, hmm, well he was kind of obsessed. He used to say: It’s a boy, I know it’s a boy,  It has to be a boy, tell him he’s a boy! So I used to tell him it was probably a boy, but um, you know it could be a girl right? *

Then came the date of the ultrasound. I was nervous for Phillip, he wanted a boy so much, I didn’t want him to be disappointed. We went into the room and I laid on the bed as always. The Doctor came in. He was the funniest guy. At every check up when he was finished he would turn on the lights and say: So it looks like you’re pregnant. Then he would look at Phillip and say: Marry her. This time it was no different. In the middle of the check up while he was measuring Peter, all of a sudden he said: here’s the head, the arms, the tummy, the three legs, the feet, the toes. And he just kept going on. Phillip and I looked at each other. The biggest smiles on our faces. He’s a Boy? The Doctor looked at me. Sorry what? Is he a boy? Nope, he just has three legs. He turned on the lights. Looked at Phillip and said: You’re having a boy, really man, marry her. We left high as can be. Our little boy was on his way.

Now almost a year has gone by. Peter will be 6 months tomorrow. I keep looking at him, and I can’t help the excitement I feel to see his whole life ahead of us. We’re gonna have a blast Peter, that I will make sure of.

* Phillip wanted a boy so bad because his grandma had always wanted him to have a boy. She was the sweetest, funniest, smartest person I have ever met. She had a slight case of Alzheimer. The day we told her I was pregnant, we were leaving the room and she said: Girl, congratulations on you pregnancy. I turned around and said: Thank you Oma (That’s what everyone called her), what’s the baby’s name? and she said: Peter (She had remembered). That was the last time we saw her.

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