Digesting (But not Disgusting)

Well, I am 19 weeks with the twins today. That puts me halfway to the induction/section point as my doc will deliver at 38 weeks. Does anyone else think this pregnancy is just flying by? Wow...

I had an 18 week appointment last Thursday and an anatomy ultrasound. Both babies are looking very healthy, both are measuring big. Baby A is measuring 1 day big and weighs 8oz and Baby B is measuring 3 days big and 9oz. They each had two halves of their brain, two kidneys, a bladder, and a four-chambered heart, so all of the parts and pieces are looking good, too.

Even more surprising, neither of them had a penis.

Why is this such a surprise? Well, in my Scott's family, girls are a rarity. My mother-in-law has four sons, her sister has two sons, and her brother had only boys, too. Scott's brothers have produced five sons, plus Milo. The only girls are Violet and R, who is seven months older than Violet -- both born in 2007.

And that, I think, is the reason that we're having two girls. Apparently, in this family, you only get girls if they are born in the same calendar year. In fact, as soon as we announced that we were expecting this time, we told Scott's youngest brother (the only one still wanting more kids) that if he wanted to get a girl, they'd better get busy and plan a 2011 baby. When we found out that we were expecting twins, I made the off-hand comment, "Oh, they're probably girls since girls only come two at a time around here."

And I was right. Which is still a shock to me. I really thought that one was a boy. I was looking forward to having another son -- the balance seemed right: two boys and two girls in our not-so-small family.

Please don't get me wrong -- I am beyond thrilled that the babies are healthy and growing and that I am healthy and growing with them. But I am a little sad in that my son won't get the experience of having a brother and that I won't have another little man to dote upon and raise into a fantastic man like his daddy. I love mothering my son. There's just something in his smile...

I'm pretty sure that I might be the only one feeling this way -- everyone else keeps joking about "Wow -- three weddings, huh?" and Scott's aunts have been calling and emailing their infinite congratulations -- it seems to be a big hullabaloo. And I'm not sad about having two more daughters, not at all. I can't wait to see them and watch them grow and learn about the women they will become. I think I just need some more time to digest that I won't have another little boy.

I did remind Scott that a time will come when Milo heads off to college and leaves Scott alone in the house with a sixteen-year-old Violet and thirteen-year-old twin girls and a menopausal wife. He volunteered to go with Milo.