Commonly Asked Questions #2

The second question we get asked most often after saying "We're having a baby!" is:

"Do you know the sex of the baby?"

Answer:  Nope.  We're not finding out! 

Even before I met Ryan, I always wanted to be surprised when my baby was born.  The whole "It's a girl!" or "It's a boy!" just seems like another exciting thing to find out after a long and tiresome delivery.  And, luckily, Ryan agreed with me!  When are you ever surprised about anything in life anymore?

Besides, everyone knows how much we love green!!  I love all things green.  Ryan loves green.  We hope to have another kid that may be of the other sex -- so all of our baby stuff was going to be green anyway!  The nursery/guest room was painted a bright green long before we knew about Baby Wynne!  And the nursery was definitely going to be decorated in ocean animals (which is pretty gender-neutral).  So ... it doesn't matter what sex the baby is. 

Interesting Responses:

The idea of finding out the baby's sex seems to be pretty polarizing.  People either love it or hate it.

Love it: We have heard a lot of "good for you" and "oh, that is so fun!" or "I wanted to do that but my wife/husband couldn't wait to find out".  I think most people are on board with it (especially if they already know my love of all things green).  It's just one more thing to look forward to. 
It also seems that people love this because they get to guess!  Everyone wants to guess the sex!  They look at my belly, ask me questions about heartburn and urination and the baby's heart rate, and stare for a while.  More than one person has already told me they want to wait until I am further along to really get a look at my big belly.  (Surely more blog posts on this later!)

Hate it:  There seem to be 2 different "hate it" camps. 
The first are people who found out themselves and think we would be happier if we found out too.  I try to assure them it's OK and we can have a baby without knowing its sex (as many billions of people have over the history of human life).
The other people just really, really want to know and it is killing them that we have the opportunity to find out and haven't.  The main leader of this camp for us is Ryan's sister Lori.  Even before we were pregnant, it came up in conversation that we don't want to know the sex until birth.  This was probably after some lots of wine and during Lori's adoption processes.  When you adopt from China (as Lori did), you get to see a photo of the kid and learn a bit about them.  Lori may have even threatened to call my doctor's office and ask so that she could know (but she promised she wouldn't tell us!).  I think Lori (and some other friends too) really just want to know more about the baby (like the sex and the name) so they feel like they know Baby Wynne even before he/she arrives.  For some friends and family, this is also related to the intense desire to buy pink and blue clothes and toys.  Don't worry all -- you can buy pink and blue things come January!  :)



Overall, I think Baby Wynne agrees with us on waiting to find out the sex.  As I said before, during the 20 week appointment (which is the magical time in which a penis or vulva are searched for via ultrasound), Baby Wynne kept his/her legs firmly crossed (so even Daddy couldn't get the little peak he wanted!)!