Boy or Girl?

There really hasn’t ever been a question about whether we were going to find out the sex of the baby before it is born. I am a planner. I am a “know what the ground is like before I take a step,” hate surprises, kind of planner. And Ian… he can’t stand eating cake before opening presents on someone’s birthday. If there is an unopened package, Ian will not rest until the person of honor opens it. So, from the first day we found out we were expecting, we have been counting down the days until we find out exactly who our little person will be. Up until today, it has been just that- a countdown. I have just been so impatient and anxious, waiting until June 30th. Our appointment was supposed to be June 21, so I have been going crazy knowing that we had to wait a whole extra week. Today, something is a little different. It hit me that in less than 48 hours, our whole life is going to change again. We will start planning for a real person to join our family; no longer is this purely a mass of cells growing inside of me- it is a BABY, with little arms and legs, and a four-chambered beating heart. Finding out the gender of our first baby in less than two days has catapulted me into a reality of what is to come. We will pick out his or her name, we will decorate the nursery and we will be using real pronouns to refer to our newest addition. I believe that finding out the gender will only enable us to bond even more with our baby before it is born. Having said that, I completely respect couples who manage to survive the suspense and wait until the baby is born to find out. I can see that it would even further enhance the intense experience of giving birth and meeting your baby for the first time.