Today will always be a day I’ll remember. But not because of gunpowder, treason and plot. On this rainy, dreary, chilled morning there’s an entirely different reason why the fifth of November shall never “be forgot.”
For days, I’ve prayed. Prayed without ceasing, you could say. Prayed for a heart with four chambers. A brain formed without flaw. A well-made lip, ten fingers and toes, perfectly sized kidneys, bladder and stomach.
I couldn’t sleep last night. I was beyond nervous this morning. And as I began to recline on the table in the ultrasound room, I said one last fervent prayer.
When the tech placed the wand on my belly, the first thing I saw were two legs squirming around – two gorgeous, long legs with big feet at the end. I immediately began to relax.
The woman who was performing the scan was an expert, and guided the wand quickly across my middle.
“Do you want to know the sex?” she asked.
She didn’t even get a chance to hear our answer or announce the result because it was suddenly, glaringly obvious what kind of equipment our kid was carrying.
I mean, wow. Just. Whoa, dude.
“That’s, um, definitely a boy,” she snorted. My husband broke out in a massive shit-eating grin.
I was instantaneously transported to a whole other plane of existence.
My sons. I have sons. That thought buzzed around between my ears before coming to alight on my heart.
My boys. Brothers.
I barely heard anything else she said – so strange since I’d been so worried – as she finished the scan. Everything beautifully made, perfectly knit.
I was just so in love right then. So in love with the idea of watching my two boys get to know each other. Play with each other. Beat each other up then sit down to share a snack.
I never thought it would be possible for my heart to stretch any more than it did when I had my first son. But sitting there on that table, I was almost short of breath as that same heart threatened to break free of the moorings in my chest.
Monkey was sitting patiently with his father on the bench beside me. We told him, “That’s your baby brother!”
“Baby brother?” he asked. “Ok!”
Y’all, I am so enthralled with the idea of being a mother to sons. I am not a delicate flower, my sense of humor is bawdy and my personality brash. I am, I believe, perfectly suited to raising boys.
My husband is rather smug at the moment. As the only boy on his father’s side, he feels all kingly having provided two men to carry on that name. It makes me giggle – it’s not like we’re Vanderbilts – but I can see how for a man that’s an important thing.
Oh, and remember how I said we had names picked out and I just needed to know the sex so we could start calling it by its name?
Yeah, we’re just gonna call him Turtle, because the second I saw his face all the names we’d decided on just melted away and I feel like we must start from scratch.
So, um, help.
****
My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.” “We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply. “We’re raising boys.” ~Harmon Killebrew
It snowed last year too:
I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down
and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea.
-Dylan Thomas
This made me smile.
Congrats
Thank you, Bailey.
(Hm, Bailey is a really good girls’ name. I think I’ll file that away for later. 
)
Yay! I love having two boys! Welcome to the club!
Thanks!
Perfect. Congratulations, mama. xo
Thanks Tracy!
I”m so excited for you!! i have to say, I want another boy. I just think being a Mom to boys is so special.
It’s really, really fun. Boys just always seem to be funny, no matter what they’re doing.
What a wonderful post! I teared up – I have two boys of my own and you nailed my sentiments perfectly. It’s like my heart couldn’t stretch enough and when I hear them whisper together I just can’t express my joy. Boys rock.
Thank you so much, Jennifer!
I know you would’ve been a kick ass mom to a girl, because you’re a kick ass mom. Period. But I am so excited that you got to see a (very obvious) indicator of your second son today. This is so perfectly written, I teared up, too. I can’t wait to meet him (and possibly give my name opinion once in a while).
Congratulations MM and PMash. And Monkey, of course, who will be the awesomest big brother EVER.
I know everyone wanted this to be a girl, I know. But, well, I don’t really “get” girl world. And while I toyed with the idea of what it would be like, I’m so relieved it’s a boy. Boys I can do. Boys I know. And please, bring on the name suggestions. I am overwhelmed right now!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! (Mainly on the part about the healthy baby, but, you know, glaringly obvious “equipment” is always good too.)
Haha, thanks! He even wiggled his butt, like “LOOK AT THIS.”
Congratulations! This made me smile and brought tears to my eyes.
Thank you! I teared up while writing it, for sure.
Just. Simply. Beautiful.
Congratulations
Thank you so much!
Love those two quotes at the end.
And – congratulations!!!
I did not know that my first was a girl until 4 weeks before my due date – she just did not want to show what she’s got
My son, on the other hand, – well, it was like your appointment today. There was NO DOUBT… you describing that totally brought back that memory and put a great big smile on my face as well
Haha, I’m so glad!
Exciting news – congratulations! I love having two kids of the same sex relatively close together. They’ll be such good friends (except for all the time they spend fighting).
Boy fights are so much less scary than girl fights to me though.
I love saying ‘my boys’. I don’t think boy moms are meant to be anything but boy moms. Not that girls aren’t awesome, but some of us are just better with the boys, y’know?
SO HAPPY FOR YOU, congratulations!!
I’m soooo with you on that one. And I rather like the idea of being the only girl. My husband says I remind him of his grandmother that way. Ha.
Congratulations! That’s so exciting, and they are going to have so much fun together!
I hope they grow to best friends and lifelong confidants!
WOO HOO! Congrats, mama.
Thank you Tricia! Good luck with the move, girl!
CONGRATS! yay for Turtle. Awesome news
Thank you!
Mama to boys. Oh, boy. That Turtle is coming into some good lovin’. (And it does transport you into another dimension once your worries are unfounded).
That release of anxiety is amazing. Oh, this Turtle has no idea what he’s in for! My mother’s fifth grandson!
To the Queen of the Castle:
Cheers to more sons being raised in a house so full of love.
They will be MEN who make this world a better place.
“We’re not raising grass. We’re raising boys.”
THAT is awesome.
So carry on, Mama.
And lord help your lawn.
XOXO
I pray that your predictions come true. Nothing would make me happier than to give the world two good, kind, strong men to keep it turning.
Just go to the public library…. borrow a book or two of names! You’ll find one. You can also research online and find out the most popular names so you can avoid them (trust me, you want to avoid them, I work in a school). Personally, I like family names and traditional names of saints, and I dislike manipulated spellings and first names that “should be” last names (Taylor, Madison, Hudson, Cooper, etc.) but that’s just me I suppose.
I’ve been online researching for weeks! Nothing fits right it seems. We’ll get there eventually!
Sorry, I forgot to say congratulations! I have three boys and two girls, boys are Kenneth (after his dad and grandpa), Michael, and Andrew, girls are Rosemary and Julia. I would have gone with Anthony next, I think.
Haha, thanks! Five – what a blessed family. I think it’s cute you had a name waiting. You’re obviously very good at this!
Congrats! I definitely see you being a mom to a bunch of boys (esp seeing you handle all those boys this summer when you came over!). I know Monkey & Turtle will be the best of friends.
Congrats! So exciting. What names did you toss?
Just awesome. Congrats!!!
Congrats! Monkey and Turtle go so well together