Friday, June 10, 2005
Gender Identification
I should be writing about my graduation yesterday, but my mind has already shifted to other matters.
As I write this, it’s about 11:45 in the morning. At 1:30 today, we have our appointment to go in for a diagnostic ultrasound on our baby. This procedure is really intended to do an anatomical survey, and make sure the baby has ten fingers, ten toes, two kidneys, one spine, etc. These are very important things for a baby to have. But, of course, as they’re taking a close look at all the organs, they can also tell if the baby has one of a certain other organ or not. Finding out the gender is a pleasant side effect, and of course it’s the only one we really care about. (I guess that’s because we think there’s a really, really good chance that the kid will have lungs, but only a 50% chance for that other organ.)
It's funny that of the people we've polled for predictions, almost everyone has predicted their own gender for our baby. The exceptions to that trend tend to be people like Shelly's sister, who simply flipped a coin and it came out boy.
Shelly has stated publicly that she would like to have a little girl. Therefore, she officially predicts that it will be a boy, because “that’s just my luck.” I have told her that if it’s a boy, I’ll tell him that his mother didn’t want him. Ha ha.
As for me, I have no prediction or preference. Honestly. My only hope is that before we’re done having kids, we have at least one of each (not that I think the family I grew up in was somehow less than acceptable). There are certainly more girl names that both Shelly and I like, so it would help out in that department to have girls. But there are enough okay boy names out there that we can come up with something. More than making predictions, I’m just excited to find out. When the official verdict is announced, I’m sure that my mind will be flooded with dreams and visions of either ballet lessons, dollies, and interrogations of male suitors, or toy trucks, Boy Scouts, and sports. Of course, our boy may not be interested in sports (I wasn’t so much), and our girl may not be interested in ballet (although what five-year-old can resist a tutu?). No matter what the gender, there are certain things I’m looking forward to. Heart-to-heart talks, watching while he/she is sleeping, piano lessons, goofing around, and just creating my own family.
It really was not a question for us whether or not we would find out. I don’t agree with the argument that some make that it’s better to be surprised on the day of delivery. I’ll be surprised this afternoon. And when you get right down to it, it’s not that much of a surprise anyway. It’s either a boy or a girl. Neither answer will be really shocking. It’s more informative than surprising—it’s just something that I will find out that I don’t know now. And knowledge is power. We can focus better on names, think of decorations and accessories, and, as I mentioned earlier, start dreaming more specific dreams about this child. There will be enough to worry about at the time of birth.
As I write this, it’s about 11:45 in the morning. At 1:30 today, we have our appointment to go in for a diagnostic ultrasound on our baby. This procedure is really intended to do an anatomical survey, and make sure the baby has ten fingers, ten toes, two kidneys, one spine, etc. These are very important things for a baby to have. But, of course, as they’re taking a close look at all the organs, they can also tell if the baby has one of a certain other organ or not. Finding out the gender is a pleasant side effect, and of course it’s the only one we really care about. (I guess that’s because we think there’s a really, really good chance that the kid will have lungs, but only a 50% chance for that other organ.)
It's funny that of the people we've polled for predictions, almost everyone has predicted their own gender for our baby. The exceptions to that trend tend to be people like Shelly's sister, who simply flipped a coin and it came out boy.
Shelly has stated publicly that she would like to have a little girl. Therefore, she officially predicts that it will be a boy, because “that’s just my luck.” I have told her that if it’s a boy, I’ll tell him that his mother didn’t want him. Ha ha.
As for me, I have no prediction or preference. Honestly. My only hope is that before we’re done having kids, we have at least one of each (not that I think the family I grew up in was somehow less than acceptable). There are certainly more girl names that both Shelly and I like, so it would help out in that department to have girls. But there are enough okay boy names out there that we can come up with something. More than making predictions, I’m just excited to find out. When the official verdict is announced, I’m sure that my mind will be flooded with dreams and visions of either ballet lessons, dollies, and interrogations of male suitors, or toy trucks, Boy Scouts, and sports. Of course, our boy may not be interested in sports (I wasn’t so much), and our girl may not be interested in ballet (although what five-year-old can resist a tutu?). No matter what the gender, there are certain things I’m looking forward to. Heart-to-heart talks, watching while he/she is sleeping, piano lessons, goofing around, and just creating my own family.
It really was not a question for us whether or not we would find out. I don’t agree with the argument that some make that it’s better to be surprised on the day of delivery. I’ll be surprised this afternoon. And when you get right down to it, it’s not that much of a surprise anyway. It’s either a boy or a girl. Neither answer will be really shocking. It’s more informative than surprising—it’s just something that I will find out that I don’t know now. And knowledge is power. We can focus better on names, think of decorations and accessories, and, as I mentioned earlier, start dreaming more specific dreams about this child. There will be enough to worry about at the time of birth.
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