We're having a girl!

We just found out we are having a girl!  We are so excited.  Like many parents, I went into this ultrasound appointment thinking I will be happy with whatever I find out and this was honestly the full truth.  That being said, I was happiEST when I heard those words “it’s a girl” and I don’t feel guilty saying it.  My heart jumped with joy.  As a woman, I just have these visions of raising another strong, empowered, beautiful woman.  I think about all of these specific female experiences, thoughts and needs that I had as a girl growing up and I get excited just thinking about using that experience to guide my own little girl through similar chapters of her life.  As thrilled as I am, I am also terrified because I know what I know about growing up as a girl.  This morning I was in the basement with the kids and discovered a box full of my old diaries.  I stopped everything I was doing and just began to read.  I was 10 years old when I first began journaling and I’m amazed at the kind of thoughts I wrote down.  Insightful reflections, naive assumptions, funny developmental questions; and it made me think about my little baby girl.  She too will have her first period, first boyfriend, first kiss, first FRENCH kiss, first breakup and so on.  Her boobs will grow and she’ll want to shave her legs and put makeup on.  We’ll have arguments about her sassiness and her outfits. 

Oddly, I know that my boys are going to have many firsts as well and Hal and I have talked about those many times.  We wonder how we will react to them and what we’ll say/do.  But my thoughts are different now that I know I’m having a girl.  I suppose because I can really relate more.  I know my own personal experiences and thoughts as a girl and feel I’ll be able to connect more with those parenting moments while she hits similar milestones.  I’m excited and nervous.

Putting gender aside, I wonder what her personality will be like.  I also wonder how being the third child will influence her character development.  How lucky is she to have these two older brothers looking out for her...and how unlucky she will be to have these two older brothers always taunting her.  Sam is so sensitive and Liam is a tease.  What will she be?