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Parenting
Pregnancy
Pregnant In Heels star Rosie Pope announced today that her third child will be a little girl. The pregnancy guru, who already has two young sons, ages 3 years and 9 months, with husband Daron, told iVillage earlier "I am always wrong about gender. I would be surprised if it’s a girl, but we’ll see. I don’t have a preference."
Pope said that she was "in shock" when she found out that she was having a daughter, and not a third son, according to US Weekly. "Honestly, I thought we were only going to have boys!" she said, adding that the couple wrapped up pink booties for big brother J.R. to open on Christmas Day.
As a fellow mother of three -- two sons, and then a daughter -- I know where Rosie’s coming from. I was convinced our third child would be a boy, and was completely nonplussed when well-wishers all assumed I was pregnant again only because we were "going for a girl."
Then, when I found out I really was having a girl, I panicked. I didn’t know the first thing about raising a girl! I was a Boy Mother; I wore that badge proudly. Being a Girl Mother seemed like something I could only mess up. Because Girls were Totally Different.
And then my daughter was born. And yes, she was totally different. And we all delighted in every single one of those differences and wondered what we ever did without her. Rosie, if you’re sweating the Girl after Two Boys stuff, you’re going to do great -- but here are a few words of advice:
Beware of Little Girl Clothes Overload. There is so much more cute stuff to dress baby girls in that it can be a bit overwhelming, especially after you’re used to only a rack-and-a-half of blue stuff at Baby Gap. You will get tons of baby girl clothes as gifts. Pace your own purchases. Those ruffly-tush tights are cute but not all that comfortable.
Embrace the princess stuff. Once she hits preschool age, let her go deep into Princesses, at least for a little while. Her brothers will probably not want to go near the pink and sparkly stuff, and she’ll have a few things she can call her own.
Let her be one of the boys, too. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to let her brothers rough her up a little. Girls with big brothers learn quickly how to stand up for themselves. It’ll do her good when she gets to junior high.
Set aside some time just for the girls. Find time to do things just with your daughter. Many moms of girls-after-boys find their daughters incredibly calm, contained, and easy to be around, at least by comparison. If your daughter’s anything like mine, she will get hours’ enjoyment out of your wallet and some old receipts. Give yourself time to enjoy it!
Amy Wilson is the author of When Did I Get Like This? You can read her blog here.
