Baby Ordering

Baby Ordering

 

           Becoming an older brother was exciting for Alexander, as he had asked me for a baby brother for years. The first time was shortly after I divorced his father in 2002. We were having dinner and he looks at me and says “I’m putting in my order for a baby brother.” which totally threw me for a loop. Putting in your order?  I explained that since I hadn’t remarried and it was just the two of us that having a baby now would not be wise for us and that maybe someday but maybe not. I hit all of the high notes for explaining in very logical terms why this was not for us, not now. You can imagine how far that went. We were shopping one day and he picked up one of those little toys that has a tiny gun and little holster with a badge so one could play good guys and bad guys or whatever. He was showing it to me and explaining to me in the same logical terms I had spoken to him in that this would be for his baby brother, James, and would be his Halloween costume. I asked where he came up with the name James and he said he just liked it. I decided to go another route with this conversation. Since he wanted a brother possibly explaining that if I were going to have another baby it could turn out to be a girl because it depended what God wanted us to have as to what we would have. He didn’t miss a beat and explained back to me, very slowly so I would understand this time, he was putting in his order for a baby brother. I told him I’d think about it and hoped he would forget. 

       In the meantime, I got remarried and a baby became a possibility. Alex never stopped pleading his case for a baby brother. I didn’t tell him right away that I was pregnant when I found out. If something happened it would be mine to deal with and not his. I had my first appointment with my mid-wife who told me I was three months along, to that I told her I was not three months along, that was impossible. So we bickered good-naturedly back and forth and she decided an ultrasound would settle our dispute. It was scheduled for the next day and I took my husband and Alex with me. Needless to say, we discovered there were two babies. Yay us! On the drive home from the hospital Alex decided that God had sent us two babies so he could have a brother and a sister and they would be named James and Suzy.  Great, more conversations on the topic of names and sex of the babies. He was five years-old and I didn’t expect this from him in any way. Carrying twins is high risk so I had changed to a doctor who could better handle my situation and had ultrasounds and office visits every two weeks. In that time I found out that I was having two boys which was, to me, a huge relief. The conversation at home that night was revolving around statements of “What about my sister, Suzy?” We did name one of the boys James, Andrew James. It’s a great conversation piece.