I\u2019m now far enough along in my pregnancy that most people can easily tell.\u00a0 I\u2019m amazed by the questions I get asked by strangers and most amazed that the number one question people ask is \u201cIs it a boy or a girl?\u201d\u00a0 Hubby and I are very \u201cold-fashioned\u201d.\u00a0 We have chosen to not find out the sex of our children (any of them) prior to their arriving in our world.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a few reasons for our choice:<\/p>\n
1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why do I need to know?\u00a0 With Honeybun\u00a0we knew we\u2019d have more so we got everything neutral anyways (no need to overspend twice) and with Sugarplum\u00a0it was too early to find out before we moved to Dublin so we had to pack all the baby stuff to come with us anyways.\u00a0 With #3 it\u2019s just normal to not know and I can\u2019t think of a single reason I NEED to know.<\/p>\n
2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t like to share names.\u00a0 We have never told people our chosen baby names before the birth.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want my beloved name to get the response \u201cthat\u2019s my dog\u2019s name\u201d or \u201cremember your uncle\u2019s crazy ex-girlfriend named that?\u201d\u00a0 My theory is once it\u2019s on a real, live baby, no one is going to share their opinions (plus to be totally honest, I think it\u2019s kind of creepy to refer to an unborn child by name.\u00a0 Just my opinion, can\u2019t explain it).\u00a0 Not knowing the sex is the easiest way to avoid sharing names, I simply say \u201cWe haven\u2019t decided yet since we don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a boy or a girl.\u201d\u00a0 (And for those wondering, we do NOT actually have any names picked out for #3 yet).<\/p>\n
3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s something to look forward to.\u00a0 If I\u2019m going to go through the tiring process of a natural labor and delivery, I need a little motivation.\u00a0 Plus there is nothing more exciting than holding your baby for the first time and learning everything about them in that moment.\u00a0 Knowing the sex, for me, would cause me to over-process who the baby will be but not knowing leaves everything up to my dreams and imagination until s\/he looks into my eyes for the first time.<\/p>\n
4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s more exciting for everyone else.\u00a0 Sure, everyone wants to know that the baby is arrived and healthy but when I see a friend had a baby and I already knew the sex and name, I have a \u201cok, I\u2019m glad everyone is doing well\u201d reaction.\u00a0 When a new baby arrives that previously did not have a sex and\/or name, I\u2019m much more excited, and I don\u2019t get that same excitement when finding out information about friends\u2019 babies before the birth.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a need-to-knower, I\u2019m not a judger.\u00a0 To each her own.\u00a0 Just as I don\u2019t judge those who make different parenting or birthing choices, how you prepare for your baby is your business, not mine. Though I do expect the same respect for my choices.<\/p>\n
When asked if it\u2019s a boy\/girl (I rarely get asked \u201cdo you know what it is?\u201d) I get a lot of mixed responses from people when I say we don’t know.\u00a0 Here are some of my regulars:<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can you not know?\u00a0 I would go crazy not knowing!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWow.\u00a0 I had to know so I could plan and get everything ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s really neat.\u201d<\/p>\n
“When are you going to find out?”<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never found out either, it\u2019s exciting to wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n
And my all-time favorite response:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean you DON’T KNOW?\u201d\u00a0 Asked by a truly bewildered waitress at a restaurant when I was pregnant with Sugarplum.\u00a0 Apparently it had never occurred to her before that parents have a choice in whether or not they find out the sex ahead of the birth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m now far enough along in my pregnancy that most people can easily tell.\u00a0 I\u2019m amazed by the questions I get asked by strangers and most amazed that the number one question people ask is \u201cIs it a boy or a girl?\u201d\u00a0 Hubby and I are very \u201cold-fashioned\u201d.\u00a0 We have chosen to not find out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baby-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":623,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270\/revisions\/623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}