Pink or Blue?

I have always been determined not to find out the gender of my babies until they are born.  Life is lacking sweet surprises and Taylor and I LOVE the suspense. When expecting Seth, I used to joke that it would help me get through labor!  But if I'm completely honest, that was mostly due to Mr. Epidural, my best friend that I plan on reuniting with in late March (a post for another time).

My sister-in-law, Susannah, paved the way for Taylor.  For each birth, we would eagerly clog the maternity ward hallway making bets as we waited impatiently for the answer of our nine month old question.  My brother-in-law, getting way into it,  would make us line up on either side of the corridor based on if we thought it was a boy or a girl and video taped us to catch our reactions when he revealed the baby's name, and let's be serious, to keep us honest - ha!  When their third daughter, Caroline, was born, he relinquished this duty of announcing the gender to their 4 year old who accidentally told us she had a brother instead of a sister.  Classic!

Taylor loved the excitement of seeing everyone show up for our nieces births and was wholeheartedly on board with me to wait to find out.

Waiting to find out if it would be Seth or Emma...

You'd think this was the winning side of the hallway, but it wasn't...

Those who guessed boy

With Seth (aka Nudger), we mostly encountered shock when people would ask us what we were having, and we admitted we didn't know.


People still do that?!

They'd ask incredulously, and then would proceed to give their expert opinion on what I was having according to this superstition or that old wives tale.  I would have random people walk by me, point at my basketball belly and say, "boy," and just keep walking.  It was so bizarre.  Other people just got plain annoyed with us and couldn't understand why we wouldn't find out.

Seth, my little basketball

Here in Britain, people are naturally more understated.  No one ventures a guess at all, and only the Americans are curious about what we "think" it is.

But we've decided with Little Bits, much against our ideology, that we will find out at our 20 week ultrasound if he is a he or she. Practicality has won out.  We figured since we won't have a hospital ward packed out with our eagerly awaiting friends (socialized medicine and the Atlantic Ocean make this impossible), we might as well find out now when we can celebrate with them in person over the Christmas holidays. And if it's a girl, we'll be able to stock up on free (thanks Susannah) and more affordable (thanks to the abysmal exchange rate) clothes while we're in the States.

As the ultrasound draws closer (THIS Wednesday!), I find it hard to stop thinking about it. Which is God's best plan for our family? Will Seth have a little brother or sister?   Will they get along and be best friends, or will it be a refining relationship (hopefully a lot of the first and some of the second).  People sometimes ask me what I "want" it to be, and I honestly don't know.  I want whoever is in there.  I believe this baby is a person known by God already, fashioned in His image, how could I not want that?  I can't wait to see how this baby enhances and changes our little family of three.  I know it will be chaos at times - one of my friends describes having a baby as hard, but a baby and a toddler as Crazytown - but I am looking forward to this new life God has graciously granted us.

Bring on the Crazytown!

"Little Bits" for a little longer

Come back Wednesday for the big reveal!