BabyWatch3: 20 Wks II

Daddy's Turn:

1. What sex do you think the baby is, and why?
I'd bet the house that it's a girl, and here's my reason: Suppose that being pregnant could be equated to a sunny day. Then along those lines, being pregnant with Justin was like a light rain for V; perhaps with an occasional thunderstorm. Being pregnant with Jasmine? Now we're up to hurricane winds and torrential rain. This 3rd pregnancy? Picture a tsunami wrapped in a tornado on the eve of a volcanic eruption. And that was just the first 10 weeks. The earthquakes didn't start until week 11. Landslides were week 15. So with that, I've come up with the theory that carrying a girl is that much more difficult for V than carrying a boy. With the hormones of two women living in one body, I picture chemical warfare of epic proportions going on in V's body right now; which explains everything she has been going through. Like I said, it's just a theory. It's either that, or I have to blame the fact that the pregnancies have gotten progressively more difficult on the reality of us not getting any younger. And if I do that, then hopes of baby #4 are out the window for sure. So I'm sticking with the hormone theory. A girl it is.

2. What do you hope it is, and why? I have four 4 different perspectives on this one.

• Angle one is the purely testosterone part of me that says having sons is totally cool. What guy doesn't want his own little crew of knuckleheads to train up in the way of the Jedi. That's just awesome... even though I've got a feeling that Jasmine would handle a light saber better than any of my existing or hypothetical sons would… but that's a different blog entry.

• Angle two comes from the part of me that simply says having more girls is scary. I guess it boils down to simply being more fearful of the "raising a teenage girl" experience than the equivalent experience with a boy. I could spend 10 more paragraphs there, but I'll move on.

• Angle three involves the different type of bond I have with Justin and Jasmine. I don't know if it's because he's a boy, or because he was the first born; but for some reason I feel as if having another boy would take away more from what I have with him more than having another girl would take away from what I share with Jasmine. I've thought about this multiple times, and don't quite understand it myself; but that's just the feeling I get. Granted, I know that whatever we have, all of these things that we worry about "in theory" will work themselves out. It's not like we have to take love away from the first two children to share it with the third. Love for our kids is somehow more like this bottomless jar that a parent always manages to reach into a pull out enough for everyone… and I get that. But these are the thoughts I have. And these thoughts say girl. And finally…

• Angle four: The get along factor. For Justin, I don't think it matters a single bit. But for Jasmine, I think having a little sister would be the greatest thing in the world. Jasmine is just so hardcore sometimes (yes, we secretly call her a thug around the house). She is the consummate tomboy by virtue of having (a) an older brother that loves to thrash and (b) a dad that throws them both around like beanbags. And she loves every minute of it. But I think a little sister would give her the balance that she needs to feed that inner girlie girl that comes out from time to time. She loves babies (she'll change a diaper in a heartbeat… even if the kid is older than she is) and she's an incredible help. And I could just see her bonding with a little sister for life from day one. Given a little brother, on the other hand, she might punt him like a football.

So with that… I've got two "emotional" votes for boy, and two "logical" votes for girl. Take away the labels, and we're tied at two apiece. Which means I'm going the politically correct route and calling it… a tie. What a cop out!