Something that comes with the territory when you have 2 boys (or 2 girls, I imagine) is an especially intense interest in the gender of baby #3. Along with that interest comes lots of questions from both friends and strangers usually fired in rapid sequence such as...
- Do you think it is a boy or a girl?
- What does Troy think?
- Has this pregnancy been different?
- What in the world are you going to do if you have 3 boys?
- Oh my gosh would you just die if you found out you were having a girl?
- When do you find out the gender? Can't you find out earlier than that?
- Why don't you take one of those intelligender tests from Walgreen's?
- If you have a girl are you done having babies?
- If you have a boy will you have more babies?
As well as some very confident proclamations:
"You are so having all boys!!" (only said by moms of girls)
"This baby is a girl, I just know it. She is going to have two big protective brothers and Troy is going to melt."
etc..etc..
So, to humor you (and myself) here are my answers:
- I think it is a boy or a girl. If you twisted my arm and really pressed me for a guess I'd guess "boy." I'm honestly working really, really hard at just keeping an open mind. I do NOT sit in the unknown very well and I like to think my all powerful maternal instincts will lead me definitively in the right direction regarding the gender of my babies (and your babies, too). This combo usually causes me to draw a very firm conclusion about the gender of our child by around 6 weeks gestation. That process is fine when I'm right but, as I'm sure my loyal blog readers recall, my powerful maternal instinct has only been right 50% of the time. So this go round I'm protecting my heart and my ego from any firm guesses. That is not to say I'm successfully blocking out all wondering about the gender of this little one, I assure you the gender question runs through my mind every hour, I'm just not allowing myself to nurture thoughts of three story bunk beds or bishop dresses if you know what I mean : )
- Troy thinks it is a girl "because a girl would be most disruptive to the family and so it just makes sense we would have one." It is also worth mentioning that Troy wore a pink shirt to Jack's ultrasound and was equally sure Charlie was a girl.
- This pregnancy is different than both of my pregnancies so that doesn't really tell us anything. Embryo Jack and Embryo Charlie were strikingly different little creatures with the same gender so I don't buy into that thing. (at least not anymore)
- If I have 3 boys I will delight in my little brood and think of all the fun things that come along with a band of brothers. I think I will also invest in something really girly and get regular pedicures just to assert my femininity a little. Honestly, there is something about this baby being so close to Charlie's age that makes the whole boy thing sound pretty fun.
- I would not die if we found out we were having a girl. I probably would cry. I would also firmly request, beg, and/or throw money at anyone who would show me a 4D shot of her bottom because I think I'd be pretty hard to convince. Troy keeps asking me how much money I'm going to spend at Tiny Town if we find out this baby is a girl and I keep telling him he needs to worry more about how many ultrasounds I'm going to require us to pay for before I really believe there is a pink wearing type in my belly.
- There is a 5 week span in which we can find out the gender. Not exactly sure what route we will take...would it be fun to find out the gender early? YES. would it be awful if they were wrong? YES.
- I think the intelligender tests are about as accurate as my maternal instincts have been so no since in wasting 30 bucks.
- I certainly hope not.
- I certainly hope so.
In a perfect world I think everyone would get to experience the joy of raising both boys and girls. Far more importantly, in a perfect world all of the TRUE heartache that can accompany trying to have children would be wiped away. The preference of gender feels so minor, petty, and even selfish when I think of my many dear friends who have struggled to have children at all. If we never have a daughter I will certainly always wish that we did, I think I'd feel the same way if we never had a son. However, all of those feelings are nothing compared to thetremendous thankfulness we feel that the privilege of having children has been given to us so freely and easily. We know we aren't deserving of any of our precious children. There is nothing in our lives for which we are more grateful. Any child of either gender will bless us beyond measure and within seconds of meeting them we will want them to be exactly who they are forever.
Of course I still think the guessing game is really fun so I've put a poll to the right. : ) I'd love for you to play even though your guesses are on the list with my instincts and the intelligendertest.