heading into my 20 week ultrasound last week, i admit i expected it to be a girl. i tried to remain neutral on the gender front, but it was hard – and here’s why: my daughter REALLLLLLY expected a girl – early on, she declared this new baby would be a sister, and no matter how many times we tried to tell her the baby could be a boy, she was certain it was a girl.
so of course, it’s a boy!
having realized more acutely each time i’m pregnant how miraculous it all to have everything fall into place to give birth to a healthy baby, just praying everything would be okay was my main thought going into the ultrasound. i know a number of gals (in “real life” and in blogland) that have had a range of heartbreaking “not okay” things be revealed during routine ultrasounds, and once that happens to you or someone you know, i think you can’t help but approach pregnancy with more caution. the baby’s health was, of course, the most important thing on my mind.
the best news is that this little fella is doing great and measuring right on track and is perfectly healthy. so wonderful. but the news that took a bit longer to process is that the little one is a BOY.
our first reaction? “POOR EM!” and no, she did not take it well when we told her that evening. she just was SOOOO certain, you know? she’s only five – she wears her emotions on her sleeve. and then it sort of triggered a reaction in me – i’m one of four girls, sisters are all i know! my mom is one of 11 kids, 8 of whom are girls, many born all in a row. my sister has three daughters. i think, deep down, i always expected another girl, like it was in my genes or something. and as a sewing mama, yes, i wanted another little gal to pass Em’s handmades down to! all that work! all those skirts and dresses she’s already grown out of! ack!
it took a bit for me to adjust to the fact that our family will have TWO boys, one girl, and that Em won’t have a sister.
after a couple days of hugs and snuggles, though, the surprise for both Em and i wore off, and the pure excitement returned. it’ll be fun to have the younger two kids be the same gender – they’ll probably play more together anyway! i love being a mama to a boy – the one i have is super fun! O is a bit clueless about it but is all smiles when we talk about baby brother. Em still kisses my belly multiple times a day and telling us she loves him and trying to feel her little brother kick any chance she gets. and when he does kick her, it seems to make her day. she announces to everyone we come across that “my mommy is having a new baby brother!” with a big grin on her face (she even told the cashier at the grocery store).
all is well and we are very happy and excited and grateful, and can’t wait to meet this little guy in a few months. i love him already. i’m gearing up to do more boy sewing, since i now know it WILL get passed down!
SO! anyone wanna help us out with some baby names?? we have a couple early thoughts but we’d love ideas, if you’ve got ’em! we like names that aren’t super popular or trendy, names that are interesting but widely recognized as masculine. care to share some of your favorites? 🙂
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details on the little elephant pants above:
- fabric is gray elephant fanfare flannel by Rae Hoekstra (to match his big brother’s here).
- pattern is Rae’s free newborn pant pattern, lengthened 1/2″ so they’ll last longer. i made quite a few of these for O when he was little, and they were awesome. didn’t blog most of them though – they’re just so quick and basic and easy!
skirt as top 
Tobias. You’re welcome.
This was my husband’s TOP name when I was pregnant with our first! He was so sincere about it I almost caved, but then we had a girl. Crisis averted. 🙂
Albert or Bertram – biased, me? Nah!!! 🙂
Congrats on the baby boy – wish it was me 🙂
Congrats!! Boys are so much fun (as you already know). Names are really the hard part about them 😉 I love Oliver, Jack, Evan, and Judd (my little dudes name!!)
yay!! I’m glad you’ve reset your compass. It’s hard thinking one gender then actually getting the other. I was convinced up until Natalie was born that she was a boy, I had convinced myself I’d be better off with a boy, but I look now at my two girls and constantly see how blessed I am to have these two. Boy names are fun!!!! Trooper or Dakota, lemme come up with a million!
My daughter would have been called Ted if she had been a boy. I also love Chester.
Congrats Kristen 🙂
I have two younger brothers and I was so upset when the second one was a boy and not a girl! I totally remember that. But, tell Em, there are great benefits to being the only girl. 😉 (And congrats!!!!)
Welcome to the 2 boys & 1 girl club! Once I had 2 boys & 1 girl, I started noticing so many others!
Your daughter will be extra special being the only girl 🙂
i think the nice thing about having a third after having one of each is that someone gets a same sex sibling. it’s a good position to be in! hopefully em will have a girl someday to pass along all that gorgeous girl sewing 🙂
I had a similar reaction when finding out my youngest was to be a boy, I was so convinced it was a girl I cried when they told me it was a boy. I couldn’t imagine my family any other way now.
My favourite boy names are Rylan & Anders.
Great post, Kristin. As always, so honest, open, and sincere- thank you for that. Send E over here for lots of pink, ballet recitals, baby dolls and Barbies, if she’s ever in need. She has three sisters, as long as my girls have two brothers…
With my third I was convinced for about half of my pregnancy that it was a girl, but for the second half of it I just lost my sureness so I wasn’t too surprised when I had a boy. My oldest (a girl) had been sure it would be a girl too, but she was perfectly happy with a boy when he was born. Although she does talk of when her baby sister will be born… A girl and two boys IS run, though I do still hope we have another girl! I’m so bad with names, I just get overwhelmed with all the choices!
Awwww, I am glad you are making peace with it, and of course when you see that little guy you won’t be able to imagine life without him! My husband and his brother are best friends, so that will be fun for O. You already used my very favorite boys name! Others from our list were Henry, Gray, Davis and Peter. I’ll try to think of more, baby names are fun 🙂
Congratulations on a healthy baby boy! I feel the same way about Oscar not having brothers. I guess having awesome cousins will just have to do. 🙂
I have three grandboys and a grandgirl and I so love them all. I will admit to spoiling the girl just a little more. I am so happy for you and your family. Healthy is best news. We have Archer, Max, and Jonathan.
I imagine your little girl will be such a big help when the baby arrives!
We named our boys after our fathers, who both passed away when we were kids (Lee and Daniel). If I had another boy, my favorites are Graham and Noah.
I won’t add much since we already had a long convo about this-but I am so glad that Em is feeling better about having another brother! (and that you’re gearing up for more boy sewing-just wish I could join you one of these days! lol) I am also so glad that he’s healthy-that’s what really matters, right? 🙂 You know my faves-Jack, Finn, Miles…also I like Patrick, Eli…Owen…Isaac….whatever you name him it will be adorable!
oh, Kristin, congratulations on a healthy ultrasound! A friend in Eugene just had her 3rd: one big sister, and now two little brothers. Pretty sure the big sister had the same reaction Em did. But your 4th could always be another little girl… 😉 and in the meanwhile, brothers are so much fun.
We never agreed on a boy’s name, so it’s lucky we have two girls. My favorite was always Benjamin (sheepish nod to “Felicity”…) but that got vetoed early on. I like family names and of the ones in our families, we had Arthur, Daniel, James, and Peter on the list. Good luck and again, congratulations! Sending you lots of love.
What a sweet post, Kristin! Yay for a healthy ultrasound. Em can come over to our house for some girl time, too. 🙂 I’ll think about some boy names…
Oh, congrats Kristin!! What wonderful news and so glad that the full excitement of new baby is back in the air 🙂 A good friend of mine just had a son and named him Eliot, which I love.
wonderful news. Wonderful. My family thought I would have girls (not sure why), but I have three boys. The third time around a tech told us early on that he was a girl, and I admit I became very excited and might have bought a couple of girl items. But then the wing wang appeared and third boy it is. So celebrate having had a girl at all (LOL), and I understand those feelings of expectation and then . . . change of expectation.
Hey, I like suneye13’s suggestion of Eliot, that’s nice. Mine are Jack (family name), Joel, and Jay (modified family name). Uber simple, but that’s how I like it. Boys names are harrrrrd, I think. I’m really not a fan of complicated or (what I call) pretentious.
Congratulations again!
Aw, poor Em! Patrick was about her age when he found out the baby brother he was wishing for was another sister. He was crushed! He still wishes we’d have one more and that it would be a boy. But with our luck, he’d probably end up with twin sisters!lol Besides that, we are done, done, done. Congrats!
As far as boy names…Patrick (of course!), Sawyer, Jackson, Brady, Seamus are all names we (okay, Seamus was only on my list) considered.
I named my boy Edward 16 years ago. We call him Eddie and it fits him. I haven’t heard his named called in public by another mother searching for her child, nor do we know of any other boys in school with his name. His middle name is Gavin. I love both names! If I had another I’d be thinking Howard (Howie), Charles (Charlie), or Simon.
Congrats on the newest boy-child-to-be! So exciting!:)
Congratulations- getting through each ultrasound was such a huge relief for us! We have a three year old daughter and just had our second child. Our daughter was also hoping it would be a girl. We didn’t find out the sex until birth so I think the excitement of the baby finally being here outweighed any disappointment in having it be a brother. I love my little guy so much but part of me is also sad that my daughter won’t have a sister. My sister is my best friend. But I’m sure there are good things about brothers that I just never got to experience! 🙂 And all those girl clothes I’ve made- maybe my sister will have a daughter some day so I can pass things along. Wow- sorry to ramble this post just brought up so many emotions…
As for baby names, I spent more time at nameberry.com and babynamewizard.com than I care to admit!
With my second I was convinced he was a girl. Everyone was convinced he was a girl. When we were told at our ultrasound that he was indeed a he – I was shocked. I couldnt talk. It took me a while to process as I had always wanted a sister myself and had three brothers and I wanted a sister for my daughter, so she could have something I didnt have. It didnt work out like that and I love my little boy and would not want to swap him for a girl. Boys are so affectionate and they give the best cuddles. The hardest thing when I found out that I was having a boy – a name. I had many girls names, but no boys names. We settled on Harry for our son. I love it It is a manly name, but still young for a child and to be named Harry you have to be a bit cheeky.
Thank you guys soooo much for the names and for your stories! I love reading them all and you have awesome taste in names! Keep ’em coming! 😀
Congratulations! With three boys I was sure our fourth would be a boy, but we have a daughter. Boys are just great fun, and I remember being told that boys will always love their mums. Our boys names are Ayden, Callum and Kane
I was convinced that my oldest was a boy so I know how it feels to have your feet temporarily knocked out from you (tell Em I empathize ), but I love how you’re doing your part to bring a couple of boys to your girl-heavy family tree. Now bring on the boy sewing!!
Oh, I forgot to add my boy names. Well, Ben (liked mentioned above) is always a top favorite – mostly because I happen to know one kick-ass Ben 🙂
If we had a boy the second time around we were going to name him Dexter – but you have to be comfotable with that whole serial killer thing….
Your post hits close to home. My 5 year-old son is SURE that I’m having a boy and we find out tomorrow if he’s right. I can’t help but think it’s a girl. I hope he’ll recover as well as your daughter has if he’s getting another sister.
Aw, congrats! My bro and sister in law are also currently expecting a baby brother for my nephew. Names…..hmmmmm, I like Tobias. Or Dean. Franklyn is also a great name, but not a fan of Frank.
Lucas:) Totally adorable for a sweet baby boy and when he grows up…Luke. Uh-dorable.
I have five boys and one girl. My daughter wants a sister, I would have loved to have had another girl. I begged The Lord for another girl but he had different plans. I love all my boys, but I understand a little gender disappointment, obviously doesn’t mean you won’t love and adore this baby!
Oh and I have a Sam, Ethan, Gabe, Joel and a Daniel. Very manly Biblical names!
Congratulations!
I love the name Owen, and when we had our oldest (who is a girl) we thought she was a boy, and she would have been Tristan.
Good luck on choosing a name! That is the fun part:)
Aw, sweet Em…just takes time. I was a bit in shock when grant was born… But man, boys are so great and sweet and funny! Anyway, onto some names. Here are a few that friends have used recently for their own boys: Chet, Julien, Teddy (seriously, how cute), Griffin, Evander (Van). Good luck going through the name game for the 3rd time! It ain’t easy…..
Oh, and this: http://Www.babynamegenie.com prepare yourself to be amused… 🙂
Congrats Kristin! That is so so exciting! And I can tell you that it’s so fun to have two boys together! Also very crazy at times, but never a dull moment, lol! Luckily you have Em to keep them in line :). Yay!
I just went through the same thing!! I was soooo sure that my 3rd (and final) baby was a girl.. But we had a beautiful baby boy! We have boy, girl, boy – and that is where it will end. I desperately wanted a sister for my little girl, had their ‘shared’ room all planned out, bought a few new pink sleepers for the hospital, told everyone that i was positive i was having a girl.. I was shocked when the doctor said he was a boy (and admittedly, a tiny bit disappointed) – but not long after being born, he was wheeled away in an incubator to the NICU – and one of the most unnatural things in this life, is not being able to hold your baby after they are born.. After a day and a half of not having my baby, the only thing that will ever matter is that he is a healthy baby. My boys are very easy going, go with the flow kinda kids.. My little girl is a lot more challenging – hindsight being 20/20, if i had 2 like her i’d probably be in the loony bin right now.. 😉 Bottom line, we are so blessed, and i am so very grateful!! Would not change one single thing! 🙂
My boys are Gavin Josiah and Elijah Fisher
Wishing you all the best!!!
Congratulations! i have such a weakness for baby boys. My third was a girl after 2 boys and I was so surprised I kept asking the doctor was he sure. Then the whole way home I wondered how I was going to do her hair when she was older.
I’ve always loved the name Digby, bit different but not crazy different.
great news that he’s a healthy little guy! i am one of 6 kids (5 girls… and then a boy!) and of my own, the first 3 are girls and the last was a boy. i was so shocked at the news it really didn’t sink in until he was born. don’t know what i’d do without him though. his name is Oliver, and people always ooh and ahh over his name. though the heart melting could just be due to his adorable smile. 🙂
Eamon! (Irish name) Congrats!
WOOT WOOT!!! I love baby boys. Boys are THE BEST (ahem, hope Clementine doesn’t ever read this). It will be great. I totally get that it would be disappointing for Em though…when I was preggers with Clementine everyone used to ask me what E thought, and it was like UH you do realize he is TWO, right? But when siblings are older they can definitely form more of an opinion. Love these little elephant pants!! I just made a pair of Big Butts with that print for a friend’s little guy too!! Love it.
🙂
Oh my, those baby trousers are just dreamy! We have a Patrick – he was born prematurely, and even this seemed like too big a name for such a dot so he is always known as Patch. Or Sweet Pea… still, even at six years old!
when i was pg with gigi, i KNEW she was a girl. and i wasn’t surprised when we opened the envelope we had the tech write it down in, but harrison took the news rather…hard. he was 6.
when i got pg with elliot i thought for SURE it was a boy. and harrison didn’t want to hear otherwise. that time we found out ourselves at the u/s…and i’ll admit it. i was upset. i cried. i cried for harrison–this was it, no more babies, 4 sisters for him. and when we told the kids (a scavenger hunt to a gift wrapped “little sister” onesie) he broke down. and i could still cry now thinking about it.
so anyway…hijacking the post to say yeah. i feel ya. it’s an adjustment sometimes, and i love all my girls…but i still feel sad over the thought of the little brother harrison never got.
hey–tradesies? ;P
jeez louise..also? CONGRATS on your BABY BOY!!!!
(way to forget the point of the post is about YOU, not me…sheepish grin)
Congrats! Best wishes for a safe an healthy pregnancy. When we had our first (and only) we had picked out the name Hayden for a boy. Hope you find the perfect name 🙂
Congrats on a healthy baby. Reactions can be so unexpected. We had two boys, and when we went for the U/S for our third baby, both of us were really caught off guard to find out it was a girl -this despite the fact that we wanted a girl, secretly even hoped for a girl, yet somehow expected a boy. It took us a bit to really get it. Now we have two little girls, too, and life is chaos! For names we used Harrison (Harry) and Simon. Middle names James and Rhys. Thanks for your honesty. Hope the pregnancy continues in a lovely, uneventful manner! -Caro
I’m glad Em is still excited about her baby sibling, even if it is a boy. Just more little guys for her to take care of!
a few names that were on my list before we were settled on using a botanical namewere Greyson, Finley, Porter, Parker, and Morrison. If you name your kid morrison we could both have portland bridge babies. haha
congrats to your family! I’m glad she has some time to get excited for the new little man!
Congrats! Hey our kids are the same genders but in reverse order! 🙂 Having another boy will be so fun. I am so happy he is healthy. I have always loved the name Jack, but I got vetoed twice…obviously. 🙂
I’ve got a boy 7, called Torin and I still adore his name. It’s very ancient, comes from viking Norse God Thor, but also Scottish and Irish Gaelic meaning chief or tower. It’s unusual, but not too difficult to spell! I also have a little girl, 3. We didn’t know whether we were having a girl or boy, but I was convinced it was a boy, and Torin kept talking about his little brother. When she was born, he, and I were so surprised. And he was quite angry for a day or so!. But now he adores her! I love having a daughter – and sewing for her, over at as-it-seams.blogspot.co.uk, but I also adore having a son, and another boy for you will be wonderful. Boys are just so much fun!
I totally understand your reaction, and thank you for your honesty about it all. I really had to adjust to boys too. You already know that I grew up with sisters, but its funny to know about your mom’s family, since our mom is one of 8 kids, 7 of whom are girls. So, I get it. Avery and I talk about how we, the girls, in our house need to stick together! I am glad that Av was only 2.5 when we found out Wes was gonna be a boy, she was not too heartbroken. Cheers to Em for for getting over it quickly! She is so sweet.
my husband originally said we had to have a boy cause he didn’t know what to do with a girl. I was like, huh? did you actually say that? Then when we found out it was a boy, my first reaction was, but??? what am I going ot do with a boy??? 🙂 Love having the little guy! funny!