Part Two - The Best Surprise

So, where were we?

Ah...a girl or a boy? That was the question.


You've heard me bitch talk about it several times and that morning was no different. Everyone wanted to know what we were having from the lady who took my pre-op blood to the nurses and passersby, anesthesiologists and doctors. No one could believe that in this age of technological breakthroughs we would decline the early knowledge of baby three's gender. So, when the doctor came in scrubbed and ready, he leaned down over my numb body and asked "the question." When I told him I didn't know he told me that he could not remember how long ago it was that he had been to a "surprise" birth and how excited he was that we were going to all be surprised that day. He asked my thoughts and I told him I thought it was a boy and he asked why. I explained that, aside from the obvious other two boys, that my favorite after-school television show was My Three Sons. The doctor seemed surprised that I even knew that show existed so we had a mini quiz-and-answer where I answered even the tough ones with ease. The doctor then pronounced that I was fated to have three sons and I agreed, although my anesthesiologist friends were split and the PA and nurse felt I needed a girl "for balance". It was actually quite fun and Elizabeth put in her two cents by flopping all over and impressing the crew with her acrobatics. I had been really nervous to find out the gender after all that waiting and I wondered what my reaction would be to either announcement. Part of me wanted a girl, being my last baby and all, and another part wanted a boy, because I just love my little boys so, but by the time they began the surgery I was ready. My husband was ready. People I had just met were ready. It took the doctor much longer to get to the baby this time, scar tissue and all, so the wait was a bit nerve wracking. He also took a long pause when he was ready to retrieve her to tell us this was it and she was on her way. I could feel them pulling her out and kept listening and he finally said "We have hair, lots of hair" I about jumped out of my skin because I was expecting boy or girl definitely NOT hair, so I proceeded to get excited about a hairy baby, having had only bald babies in the past, and almost missed the official verdict. In fact, I think I did miss it as the anesthesiologists and my husband practically pushed each other out of the way as she was being born to see for themselves when everyone started cheering and clapping...THEN I heard him say "It looks like a girl" and I broke down and bawled like a newborn baby myself. Apparently I wanted a girl more than I realized or maybe the excitement was just too much for me but, thank goodness, I wasn't strapped down because I truly needed tissues at that point.

What happened next, though, truly surprised me. I looked over to find my husband crying just as much, if not more, than I was. I was stunned. It never really dawned on me that he could have been wanting a daughter, but apparently he was. Like the Grinch, my heart grew three sizes for him at that moment and I, naturally, bawled some more. Then I looked around and saw that the women were crying too. Once the husband took the baby out to meet the family (which I am sad I missed those excited brothers), the doctor told me that ours was the best delivery he had done in a very long time and that he rarely sees that pure emotion from the excitement of the surprise since most people don't wait anymore, and that my husband made his day over his uninhibited joy to have a daughter.

I am so glad we waited for the surprise. We had tons of fun throughout the pregnancy wondering who would be joining us. I know the husband wanted to know ahead of time and maybe that would have made us a little more prepared room wise, clothing wise, and name wise, but that fleeting moment when we met her AND found out what she was, was one of the best of my life. The last real surprise in life they say and for us it really was.