16 years ago today, very early in the morning, we headed to the hospital for the birth of our third child.

It would be our third child born by c-section, so we were pretty familiar with what we were in for. I have to admit, while I was very excited to meet the newest member of our family, there was a part of me that was a little apprehensive.

Our first two children were girls, and (according to our doctor), the chances of having a boy after two girls weren’t great.

Being the older brother to three sisters, I’m very familiar with having a house full of women and while I certainly wasn’t dreading the idea of being the only man in a house of four women, I was secretly hoping for a boy, despite the unfavorable odds.

Since we chose not to find out the sex of our kids before they were born, there was a good amount of anticipation on my part as we went through all the steps leading up to the surgery.

At one point the doctor and I were “scrubbing up’ and she was joking with me about having another girl. As I recall the last thing she said was “well, there’s always a chance you might get a boy” and the she chuckled and walked away.

Thankfully things went well, and when our little one finally appeared the doctor invited me to stand up and peek over the screen as she declared “it’s a boy!”

I hate to say I actually started laughing! I believe I said something to the effect of “good one doc,” thoroughly convinced she was continuing to have fun at my expense.

But sure enough, as I looked closer, it was a boy!

I almost fell over! All the joking, all the thoughts of a life filled with Disney princesses, dresses, and boyfriends and somehow I had a son!

What a crazy morning! I don’t think the reality of the situation settled in until later that night when I want home to be with the girls. Suddenly my future was filled with Disney princesses AND football!

I’ve never stopped counting my blessings since the day my first daughter was born 20 years ago. I am beyond grateful that I have three happy, healthy and good humans to call my kids.

I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have had a third girl. Of course I would have loved her and cherished her, but in all honestly, having a son has turned out to be a wonderful journey.