Did your baby’s looks surprise you?

1709 Views 31 Replies 29 Participants Last post by marieangela, Apr 11, 2006

Oka-san

Discussion Starter · Apr 10, 2006

This topic has been on my mind ever since my baby surprised me when she was born. What did all of you think of your babies' appearance when you saw them for the first time? Did they look the way you expected them to, or were you surprised by the way they looked?

I was very surprised by the way my DD looked when she was born. There was nothing wrong with her at all; in fact she came out absolutely beautiful. But it was such a strange feeling -- she just didn't look like the baby I was expecting to see. It took me practically an entire day to get used to her!

In retrospect, I've figured out why it happened -- DH is Japanese (I'm Caucasian), and all throughout the pregnancy, when I had imagined my baby, I'd been imagining a baby that also looked very Japanese. Somehow, almost subconsciously, I had expected her to look just like him. So when I saw this little girl who was obviously part Caucasian, with her broad sweet face, light brown hair, and great big eyes, who didn't really look like me or DH, but instead just like herself, it really took me by surprise.

Of course now I think she's the most gorgeous person I've ever laid eyes on, but sometimes I think back to that first day after she was born, and how it took me 24 hours to internalize that this was the way my baby actually looked, and how I kept having to adjust my mind to reality rather than expectations.

Did this happen to anyone else?

1 - 20 of 32 Posts

Arwensmommy

· #2 · Apr 10, 2006

In a way, yes... I expected her to be wrinkly, bright red and crying with this little scrunched up face. Instead she was pink, not crying at all (that's a long story) and she had her eyes wide open. I was amazed at how absolutely stunning she was. They always say that newborns are nothing much to look at, but she was gorgeous from day one. For some reason I always pictured her looking like me and she does, but she is so much cuter than I ever was!

winonamom2be

· #3 · Apr 10, 2006

nak - sorry

yes, i was quite surprised. dd had WAY more hair than i ever imagined!! And because she was so early she still had ALL the lanugo - she was as fuzzy as a kitten. she was also WAY more beautiful than i expected - i thought she would be all wrinkled and purple and coneheaded but my labor was so short and her trip down the birth canal so fast and she was so small that she didn't look wrinkled or purple and her head was perfectly round like a little tiny grapefruit.

i was pleasantly surprised by her looks, really. i was imagining a much uglier baby. not sure why, me and dd are pretty average-looking, no remarkable or unusual features. she is, of course, WAY more beautiful than either of us though.

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zinemama

· #4 · Apr 10, 2006

My babies were not particularly attractive - my second one looked pretty froggy, to tell the truth. Not that this surprised me, exactly, since I hadn't formed any clear idea of what they would look like. (By 3 months, both were head-turningly adorable).

What did surprise me was how very much they look like me and my family. They're 3 and 6 now, and except for his height, my kids share none of their fathers looks. They represent the complete triumph of my genes (heh, heh!)

Of course, anything can happen in adolescence...

elmh23

· #5 · Apr 10, 2006

I was surprised that she looked EXACTLY like me when I was a newborn, down to the same stork bite! It was freaky. The only difference is she obviously has her daddy's ears, which I honestly was hopeing she wouldn't get. Of course she's adorable and they fit her, but at first I was a little disappointed about the ears.

More than anything I was shocked she was a girl. I 100% thought she was a boy. Guess I was wrong!

chiro_kristin

· #6 · Apr 10, 2006

OP, I had the same surprise as you... my dh is Korean. DS came out with my blond hair!! And we both have brown eyes, but ds has grey eyes (at almost 8 months, I don't think they'll change). His eyes are his dad's but more open. He's always been cute as a button, but I definitely thought he would look a lot more Asian!

wombatclay

· #7 · Apr 10, 2006

I was surprised, in part because I was expecting a smooshy little red cone-head baby but due to an unplanned c/s (looong story) I was presented with a smooth, round headed, pink gerber baby. Not an unhappy surprise, just not what I was expecting!

dogmama

· #8 · Apr 10, 2006

This is an interesting thread. My experience was sort of the opposite- I was amazed by how strongly I recognized my babies. I had expected them to look foreign somehow. But one look, and I'd known their faces all my life.

KayasMama04

· #9 · Apr 10, 2006

I was really surprised...I didn't really have a picture just that when they handed me all 8lbs 9oz of her im like this isn't mine shes supposed to be smaller. I didn't expect her to have hair either that was shocking and she wasn't as cute as id hoped lol (she had layers of extra skin lol)...Now she is the cutest kid and a nice mixture of dh and I.

angela&avery

· #10 · Apr 10, 2006

oh absolutely!!! When my ds was born, he was not the dark curly haired kid I had imagined. I thought if it was a boy it would have the dark curls like my husband has. My son, oth, is very fair skinned, with brown hair with a tint of red to it!! Red!! My and my husbands hair is very dark brown almost black.. so he is so odd to us..lol...

then with my dd I didnt know what to think, but I thought maybe I would just have another baby like ds...... Nope, she came out with black curly hair!! Turned out it was only curly when wet, and very straight when dry. A whole head full!! I hate to say it, but she was funny looking with all that hair!! And, it was all the same length, and very very short, so I used to call her my little monkey baby...lol

It really took me a good day or so to get used to how she looked, i just didnt expect all that hair..lol....

Starr

· #11 · Apr 10, 2006

For us it was yes and no. We adopted so we had an idea of what Guatemalan babies looked like. But when we saw Olivia at 4 days old she was not very cute. She was bright red, face all scrunched up, mass of thick curly black hair... We accepted her none the less and now I can't imagine ever turning her down. She is just gorgeous and if I knew how to post a pic I would.

angela&avery

· #12 · Apr 10, 2006

oh absolutely!!! When my ds was born, he was not the dark curly haired kid I had imagined. I thought if it was a boy it would have the dark curls like my husband has. My son, oth, is very fair skinned, with brown hair with a tint of red to it!! Red!! My and my husbands hair is very dark brown almost black.. so he is so odd to us..lol...

then with my dd I didnt know what to think, but I thought maybe I would just have another baby like ds...... Nope, she came out with black curly hair!! Turned out it was only curly when wet, and very straight when dry. A whole head full!! I hate to say it, but she was funny looking with all that hair!! And, it was all the same length, and very very short, so I used to call her my little monkey baby...lol

It really took me a good day or so to get used to how she looked, i just didnt expect all that hair..lol.... I used to just look at her and giggle...

broodymama

· #13 · Apr 11, 2006

Yes, I was surprised by how much DS looks like a little clone of DH! My DH is half-Korean and when our DS was born he looked VERY Asian, even more than DH. One of DH's comments in the first couple days was "wow, he looks more Asian than I do!"

mothragirl

· #14 · Apr 11, 2006

nak
alice looked nothing like i imagined. she was so tiny, under 6 lbs. her head was round and she was so pretty. she looks just like an alice now

DBF and i both have blond hair and blue eyes but in all my dreams she had brown hair/eyes. they are blond and blue.

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KC in KS

· #15 · Apr 11, 2006

Not her looks per se, but her being. My first words to her - which I repeated quite a few times in those first few days - were "Well, hello there. Where did you come from?"

Considering I'd just pushed her out without meds, I knew very well where she'd come from.

But the fact that there was a brand new person in the world now - totally shocked me in a way I wasn't at all prepared for.

Now, at 18 months, her physical looks surprise me daily. She's just a *pretty* girl, in a way that I never was. I don't know where she got the looks!

KC

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boobybunny

· #16 · Apr 11, 2006

I was struck at how much my youngest looked like his older (half) siblings.

My oldest son looked just like the gerber baby, and everyone commented on it. Those who knew my former spouse were amazed at how adorable my son was. Lots of "omg, he needs to be a model" comments. (still do, he has great full red lips, nice high cheeks, blonde unruly hair, and BRIGHT blue eyes with the longest black lashes you have seen) He is currently going for the "ralph lauren surfer look" (his words, not mine)

So I thought my daughter would look a lot like her older brother, and in some ways they do, but she was in no way as beautiful as he was. (he had the blonde curls and LONG BLACK eyelashes) As she has gotten older, she is very pretty, with green eyes and hair that has every shade of red, from dark auburn to a white blonde. (NATURALLY, I ENVY HER)

My youngest I expected to have green eyes, and daddy's DARK curly hair. Nope, he looks just like his sister, with grey eyes and not so red hair. And his curls are very much like his older brother's. He also has his brother's very full lips, and flirty ways.

They all look so much a like, with small variances that you would swear they are all "full" siblings.

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savannah smiles

· #17 · Apr 11, 2006

I was surprised with both of mine. With my first, I assumed she'd look like me and instead she came out looking like neither me nor my dh with a full head of dark hair and an almost Asian appearance. With my second dd, I thought she'd come out looking just like her sister and she looks nothing like her, lol!

spiritmomma

· #18 · Apr 11, 2006

I recall that first eye contact like it was yesterday. Well, it was only four and half months ago... But I hope I get to keep that memory in perfect clarity for the rest of my days.

She was a she! I knew it, I knew it! But she didn't look like I thought she would. It was the strangest feeling of I know you, but I hardly recognize you, but I know you are the perfect baby for me I thanked her for being here, and for choosing me!

sigh I just love that baby!

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blissful_maia

· #19 · Apr 11, 2006

I'm just subbing cause it's neat to hear about this. My midwifery professor says that all moms on some level mourn the imaginary baby they were carrying, and it's neat to thing about.

Also, being pg, whenever I imagine my next baby, I imagine little baby Ayla as if this one will be her twin, when really they will look totally different.

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la mamita

· #20 · Apr 11, 2006

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