One baby, two babies, hidden babies, new babies by Kirsten McCul

Ever since I got pregnant people have felt the frequent need to ask my four-year-old, Liam, whether he thinks the baby will be a boy or a girl. Before the 18 week ultrasound his answered never faltered – “Both, I think,” he’d say with a grin.

He wasn’t always so keen. When most of my peers from Liam’s playgroup were having their second (or in some cases third) children, back when Liam was around 18 months, he was fascinated by the babies. But when we asked him if he’d like a little brother or sister his answer was an emphatic “No!”

Around the time I finally started to feel ready to go again though, when he was getting on towards two-and-a-half, Liam started to think a sibling might be okay after all. At first he insisted that our baby would actually be his friend’s little sister.

“I think it will be a sister,” he said. “I think it will be Phoebe. She can play lego with me.” At this stage Phoebe was all of six months old and not playing lego with anyone – nor was her mother about to hand her over to us! But she fascinated Liam.

Later he decided maybe a brother would be okay too. This was where the idea of having both came in. But once he got to that point he decided two wouldn’t be enough. We needed to have six babies – one of each for him, one of each for Daddy, and one of each for me. Uh huh. I suggested we start with one, but he wasn’t buying it.

Getting on towards 18 months later, when at last I did get pregnant, Liam started to accept that there would not be six babies coming. He still thought two was the way to go though, and “You’ll have to have the other ones later, won’t you Mummy?” he’d say to me.

Then at 18 weeks he came in for the last few minutes of the ultrasound to see the baby on the screen. The sonographer printed out a ‘photo’ of the baby for Liam (and one for us).

Well, he was a little disappointed. “But I want two babies,” he complained. “I want a brother and a sister.”

However, he didn’t mention it again, and we figured he was over it. Mostly he now talks about ‘the baby’, not the babies. But the other day someone again asked him (why do people always do this?) whether he thought it would be a boy or a girl. “I think both,” Liam said. “We think one of them was hiding from the camera, don’t we Mummy?”

Kirsten McCulloch

Coffee Break is a parent’s insight to life in Canberra.  If you’d like to contribute, we’d love to share your view of the world with other like-minded mums and dads.  Just send your contributions through to feedback@canberrakids.com.au along with your contact details.

The information on this webpage is provided by the advertisers listed on this site. Canberra Kids takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect those of Canberra Kids.

For more information please see our privacy policy and disclaimer.