For that second before the balls dropped, I thought, “It has to be a girl. I’ve only ever felt girl. I’ve only ever dreamt girl. Leyna wants a girl so bad…. OMG it’s going to be a boy.”
I saw my sister’s face as she came downstairs, after handing our neighbor – who was perched above on our 2nd story – the correct color ping pong balls (that Scott spray painted the night before). He face said boy to me, but then it said girl.
And as that first ball dropped…
I didn’t want to look, I held my breath, waiting to hear the others’ responses.
When it finally registered- “Blue! Boy! Of course!” there was joy. There really was. Two little boys, 3.5 years apart. Close enough in age to share a room and other life experiences.
But after the balls all dropped, and we came down from the thrill of it all, I saw Leyna’s face drop.
“But I really wanted a girl. And you are done growing babies, and I will never get a little girl baby now.”
There was some genuine sadness. Having grown up with a sister, and being as close with her as I am now, it breaks my heart that Leyna won’t experience that bond. I came to terms with that after I had Lowell, back when we thought we were done. We are FOR SURE done now, though, and once again, no little sister.
Total honesty- I was hoping for a girl, willing it to be a girl. I was also sad it was not for that brief moment.
I scooped her onto my lap, we sat at the bottom of the stairs, and I told her it was okay to be sad. I reminded her how special it will be to be the only girls in the family, how we’ll get to take more mommy & Leyna trips, like when we went to Disneyland.
And then I promised her a puppy- a girl puppy, a tiny one, that she could name Rosie. I PROMISED HER A PUPPY. I couldn’t even stop the words from coming out of my mouth. And then I took her to get her nails done.
The thing is, she’ll be fine. I know this, we know this. She’ll be great, actually. But, I wasn’t expecting for it to sting so much when people replied to the news with “Oh, poor Leyna!” I mean, it’s obviously hypocritical of me to get upset with that sentiment because I felt “POOR LEYNA!” so much that I. PROMISED. HER. A. PUPPY.
The news is settling in today. I’m truly excited. Lowell and the baby will share a room once the baby is sleeping through the night. Until then, he’ll have a nursery set up in our Texas-sized master bedroom. I still get to buy a ton of new clothes because both Lowell and Kendall were warm weather newborns.
And Leyna? Welp, we’ve already spent quite a bit of time on Petfinder.
Also, speaking of sisters, my sister Kelly is co-owner Flipside Experience in Austin, TX. It’s an experiential marketing firm, and they do cool stuff like make flipbooks and slow-mo videos and GIFs. So she hauled her equipment up to Dallas, and made this for us.
We never did any kind of elaborate gender reveal for the three others, but since at least Kendall and Leyna are old enough to have fun with this, we thought it would be cool for all 5 of us to find out at the same time. Having this GIF is such a treasure. Here’s another view (press play):
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14 comments
Congratulations! I have to be honest – I chuckled at the first line when you talked about the second before the balls dropped… I didn’t realize you were talking about ping pong balls rather than a view on a sonogram. So it was a fabulous pun! Leyna is going to be great – puppies make everything better!
I love this. I love experiencing things with your family. Hubs and I aren’t ready for children, but I certainly have some baby rabies. I want them. At least two. but I’m not in a position to support another life. I get to live vicariously through your experience and I love every moment. Thank you, for sharing your life, love, and family.
My first reaction was, “yay for Leyna!” I’m the only girl in a family of boys and I love it! My mom and I are so close and best friends. I love not sharing that girly attention 🙂 and there is nothing better than protective brothers (even if they’re younger!)
I felt so strongly with my first that he was a boy the entire time, to the point of feeling guilty looking at anything for a little girl. I was not even a little surprised with the ultrasound that revealed him being a boy. However, with my second I had no concrete feelings about it. I set about looking at all the ruffled diaper covers and pretty little dresses and bows. Then, the night before the ultrasound it hit me like a ton of bricks that he was a boy. And he is. And they are wild together, but have really loved each other from the start and so I am happy.
Are they SURE it’s a boy? You know, I’ve heard stories where people were told they were having a boy and ended up giving birth to a girl or just being told it was a mistake and it’s a girl after the initial gender reveal. And vice verse. 😉
Ha ha. Yeah. I know, it’s a boy! Still – all the congrats! Boys are awesome and so is Leyna. You have a beautiful family.
I have a sister, but it’s never really felt like I have. She’s been a tomboy since birth, prefers men’s clothes, hasn’t a clue what to do with her hair, and likes dragons. So I’m not the only girl in the family, but it’s always felt like I am. No guarantees you’ll get the “traditional” sister experience even if there are two girls. I love my sister to pieces of course, and she is the best big sibling, but I have a sister without the “classic” sister bond with all the girly frills. You never know what little individual is coming to you.
I love this!!!!! And having 3 boys is really fun, I promise! We don’t know what this baby is yet and I’m notoriously wrong when I guess gender. But I feel like an alien has taken over my entire being so I’m leaning towards girl? Which means it’s pretty much a given that we’re having our 4th boy. Congrats to you all, and you look lovely, mama!
[…] I told her we’d get her a “tiny girl puppy,” and we did. Meet Rosie. […]
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