My Next Daughter

Ultrasound technology these days is astonishing. In the eleven years that have passed since my first daughter was born the image has improved from a fuzzy gray cloud to a very obvious cross section of the human interior. In this case it was my wife’s womb, on a big TV, being observed with awe and fascination by the two of us, our girls, and a humorless nurse.

One by one we itemized the anatomy of our next family member – arms, feet, elbows, spine, a brain in which lobes could be seen, and a quickly pulsing heart with obvious discrete chambers. At what other time do you have such an intimate picture of your own child’s life? You are seeing things that should, really, never be seen again if the child has a healthy life. We were transfixed. And this wasn’t even one of those top-of-the-line 4D models.

We wanted to know in advance: It’s a girl.

There was a part of me that hoped for a son, but only to diversify the portfolio. If our family unit consisted of two boys I’m sure I would have wanted a girl - probably with much more desperation). I hope and pray for a healthy baby and successful delivery, regardless. Boys seem to require more energy at first – but less in the teenage years. And the media keeps publishing articles about how boys have the deck stacked against them, and are set up for chronic underachievement in our society. What’s the cost of another wedding when compared to that, right?

My wife and I both have daughters from pervious marriages – so this girl will be a “bridge” daughter, who will undoubtedly brew together some new combination of traits. The next couple of months we will all be waiting patiently, hopefully - perhaps painting a room and gathering some baby gear, waiting to discover what this little creature has planned.