That being said, it seems only fitting that we follow this surprise baby's lead... and leave him or her as a surprise as well! Yes - you read that right. Danny and I have decided to leave baby #5's gender up to the imagination until the wonderful day he or she is born.
You might be screaming in your head, "Why? What are you thinking? I HAVE to know!!" Some feedback I've gotten so far has ranged from not being able to set up a proper nursery to not being able to connect with the child. All well-meaning comments by friends and family and yet... it hasn't changed our decision to leave baby's gender as a surprise.
Let me try to explain myself...
1. We have 4 beautiful munchkins already and at least one of each gender. We have more than enough gender specific items to go around. I plan to wash 2-3 weeks worth of clothes for both genders to have them ready to go, and of course I will bring a gender specific outfit for each to the hospital to come home in.
2. This is our last. For sure. Although I am sure some will take bets that we will end up having another, this really is our last baby. And we've always wanted to wait to find out - so what better time than now? Rather - no other time than now?
3. I want to make this pregnancy special, just how all the others had a special element to them. Our first pregnancy was magical all in itself, our second was our first boy, our third was our rainbow baby (baby after a loss), and our fourth we did fun things we'd never done before, like a gender reveal and a sip and see. I feel like we've done it all... except this.
4. As if a baby at the end of it all isn't enough, waiting to hear the doctor announce, "It's a BOY!" or "It's a GIRL!" will make pushing all the more exciting! The wait throughout the pregnancy will be fun - filled with old wives' tales, fun gender prediction tests, and tons of pools! (I hope you win some money!)
5. The biggest reason I have chosen to wait to find out the gender of this sweet little bambino is to avoid gender disappointment. When I found Griffin was a boy, I cried in denial for a week. I was so sure he was a girl - that the ultrasound was done too early and the tech was seeing the umbilical cord. I read article after article about women who had been told they were having a boy to find out weeks or months later they indeed were having a girl. It was awful... spending a week mourning the loss of a child that never existed. and I refuse... REFUSE... to do that again. Gender disappointment is REAL, even if people don't want to talk about it. People always said to me, "Why are you upset? A healthy baby is all that matters!" And OF COURSE they were right. That doesn't mean I wasn't still upset. Waiting until the birth of our sweet baby will leave no room for gender disappointment. When I see his or her chubby cherub cheeks and big blue eyes, there will be room for no other feeling than LOVE.
Waiting to find out the gender of our baby seems to be rare today. Please don't misunderstand - this doesn't make us any better or stronger of a parent than anyone else. This is simply our decision... and we couldn't be happier!
Let the speculation BEGIN!
