I think it is best to get exactly what you ask for (despite what may seem obvious).
[not for the CA to think they know more about what I need and change my request (in any way)]
Q1. How much trouble is it to add "example.com" to the "*.example.com" request (if/when needed)?
Q2. What would happen when someone requests more than 50 wildcard entries on a single cert?
[there would be no room to include more than 50 more base domains into it]