Ultrasound

Today was my ultrasound. Until the last minute, I was vacillating about whether to find out the gender or not. The children were a split vote, and Ben was rather ambivalent. Unfortunately, he had to teach today, so I was all alone. When they asked if I wanted to find out, I put off answering by saying how unsure I was. The technician continued the ultrasound. I finally requested one of the options Ben and I had discussed: I asked them to find out without telling me and write it in my file. That way, if I ever changed my mind before delivery, I could ask. The technician finished and gave me my DVD, saying the doctor would come in just a minute. He would do a couple last-minute things, including determine the gender.

The doctor came in and sat down. In a very business-like manner, he began using the machine. After just a minute or two, he told me that the baby was being uncooperative. So after all that worry, stress, anxiety, and so forth, it ended up being a moot point--the decision was made for me. So, boy or girl? It's anybody's guess. I don't have any feelings on the subject!

I'm happy with the outcome of the day, though. Now I didn't find out, but it's not that I didn't try. I couldn't have planned it better.

When to Be Surprised

We are approaching my mid-pregnancy ultrasound, and we are now faced with the big dilemma: Do we try and find out the gender or not? I know people who always do, people who never do, people who sometimes do, and people who don't get to whether they wanted to or not. My own philosophy was to find out until I had at least one boy and girl, at which point I wanted to be surprised. This is, therefore, the first time it has really been a big decision as to whether we find out. The problem is that I'm not sure I want to wait to find out even though we do have at least one of each gender.

So, pros and cons? Well, part of my problem is that aside from just waiting longer for the surprised, there isn't much benefit in waiting. Although I do have a friend who just had a baby that didn't cooperate on the ultrasound. She says that people seemed a lot more interested in her pregnancy because she didn't know the gender. She has two boys, and now she has a beautiful baby girl. Luckily, she has a sister with plenty of hand-me-downs, so getting her clothed hasn't been a problem.

The biggest advantage of finding out is planning. We will know which gender of baby clothes to keep slightly more accessible as we plan our storage. We will know how best to replace Sunny's toddler bed so Buster can use it. And although it wouldn't immediately impact bedroom arrangements, it would in the long run. It will also help with names. I think Ben kind of likes not discussing names all the time, though. Names are one of my passions, so he gets kind of sick of talking about them!

Of course, it could all be a moot point. As I said, my friend's baby didn't cooperate. Kandy was uncooperative, as well. The perinatologist took a look and said, "Well, I think that looks like a girl's bottom, but don't go painting the nursery pink." Our gut said she was a girl, so we told people 70% chance girl. We got lots of pink and some neutral, but no blue. Luckily, it worked out.

I'm not sure which I really want. I suppose that since I'm looking harder to justify finding out, maybe that is what I want most. I'm just not sure, though. Well, we still have about 3 weeks to decide.

How about you? Did you find out the gender of your babies ahead of time? Why or why not? Would you do it again?