Tiny BIG News
And by big, I mean my belly at this point. That’s right; we are expecting our first blended baby. Having lost my very first pregnancy almost 15 years ago, I am not one to alert the news outlets the minute I find out that I’m pregnant. Actually, this one, we kept under wraps (pun intended, as it was still summer when I started showing a bit in my bikini) until it became uncomfortable for James. He was just too excited and I feared that he’d implode if I made him keep the secret much past the halfway point. We did tell his mother and step-dad as well as my parents and two of our closest friends after the first trimester was over. But that was it. You see, there are (and have been for going on two years now) court negotiations with an ex-spouse and we feared that it might have a negative impact on our children if they knew they were getting a half-sibling in 2021. Especially around the beginning of their first all-virtual school year, we figured it might be too much news and adjustments for them to handle.
So, we kept quiet until 22 weeks. At the end of September, after the big ultrasound was done and everything appeared fine, James broke to the children that I was pregnant. The kids reacted even better than we had ever imagined! Our littles screamed with joy, hugged each other and us, and didn’t stop dancing around the dining room. The bigs’ reaction, which we had expected to be indifferent at best, really showed us how much our two 13-year-olds had matured since they squabbled over who would share a room when we first blended our family under one roof two years prior. They went immediately into the logistics planning phase…
- When will the baby be here?
- Will we know if it’s a boy or a girl?
- Where will the baby sleep?
- When will the baby sit at the table and whose chair will the baby get?
- Where will the car seat go in the car?
James’ son, who had just started his first Home Economics class in August, had an even more interesting question: How soon can I teach him to ride a bicycle?
Our boys are very much into mountain biking right now, so clearly, this was a pressing question. And yes, we did remark on the gender pronoun in his question, too. As it turns out, the boys are naturally wanting a brother and the girls wants a sister. As for the truth: We don’t know, but we’re pretty sure it’ll be either a boy or a girl; so far, they’ve only ever found one heartbeat LOL. But, having both carried a boy and a girl before, I would have sworn up and down that I was carrying a boy this time… right up until the end of the second trimester. By the time I reached the third trimester, my cankles became huge and the heartburn at times unbearable – both things I had NEVER experienced with my son, but definitely with my daughter. I used to pray that the weather wouldn’t get cold before my daughter was born because I pretty much had to live in flip flops.
Why wouldn’t you just find out then, you might ask? Wellllllll…
I cannot lie for the life of me, so if I knew, everyone else would, too. We’d constantly hear either complaints or gloating from either the two boys or the two girls. Uh, non merci to that! This kid will be the tiebreaker either way; that’s enough pressure, in my opinion. Also, people LOOOOOVE shopping for baby clothes and – while I wouldn’t want to stop anyone from buying the kid clothes – I am what James affectionately calls frugal and I just call cheap. I despise having a baby outgrow an outfit immediately after wearing it once. The more stuff the baby has to wear, the more likely that would happen. We are at an age where most of our friends have been done having babies for a while, so it’s not even like those unworn clothes would be easily passed on. If you don’t know the gender of the baby, you yourself and all the grandparents are much less likely to start buying stuff for baby. So, there are my two reasons to not find out the gender of baby. Plus, it is entertaining to be able to guess along with and be just as surprised as everyone else in the end.
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday – whether you celebrated Christmas last week or Chanukah the week before, Kwanzaa or the Solstice!
2021 will be here in less than 48 hours and after how 2020 turned out for many folks, here’s hoping next year will bring only joy to everyone in the world!
Ashley@Shakenstirredandblended
Hi, I'm Ashley and I am a freelance writer and editor for one local and one national publication. In my spare time, I teach foreign languages and manage two households. Oh, and raise four children. It's a crazy life that I chose and I love every second of it :o)
