Accidentally Team Green

It's been 6 months and I'm finally figuring out my feelings about being accidentally Team Green with my last pregnancy.

With all three of my pregnancies, I chose to find out the sex of the baby at the mid-pregnancy ultrasound.  I knew ultrasounds weren't 100% effective in predicting gender, so I was cautious about believing it completely.  I mean, we've all heard the stories about ultrasounds being wrong.  But it's one of those things that you don't think will actually happen to you.  And then it happened to my sister when she had her second baby.  She was told that she was having a girl, but ended up with a boy instead.  Hmmmm.  Well, it happened to my sister...what are the odds that it'll happen twice in the same family, right?

Pretty good, apparently.

When I was told that my third baby was a boy, it just felt...wrong.  But, I'd seen the evidence on the ultrasound picture so I convinced myself that it was a boy.  I'd been secretly hoping for a girl so I was disappointed at first, but I quickly threw myself into shopping for blue sleepers and onesies.  I sewed some cute new things for my baby boy.  I made a baby boy themed Etsy Finds blog post.  I fell in love with my son who was growing inside me.  I got to know him through his kicks and elbow jabs.  I saw him once again on an ultrasound screen a few days before giving birth when the ultrasound technician once again, assured me that it was a boy.

When SHE was born, I was thrilled!  Shocked, but thrilled.  I was excited to have another sweet little girl and looked forward to dressing her in her big sister's hand-me-downs.  I wrote a blog post about how I'd had a feeling all along.

   
But at the same time, something inside of me was sad.  It wasn't until talking to my sister, the one who'd also had an incorrect ultrasound prediction, that I figured out why.  She told me that, although she had originally been hoping for a boy before being told she was having a girl, she still felt sad that that little girl she'd gotten to know for 4 1/2 month didn't exist anymore.

I didn't realize how much it bothered me until I recently came across a stack of tiny blue onesies that I'd picked out specially for the new baby while still pregnant.  I teared up while unfolding them to look at the designs on the front of the onesies and realized that I was mourning a loss.  Not a tangible loss because the son I thought I was having never existed, but still a loss.  

I'd fallen in love with my son, my baby boy.  I'd named him, picked out clothes for him, talked about him, planned for him, imagined him growing up with his older siblings.  And now he was gone, vanished into thin air.  Technically, he never existed.  I mean, obviously it was always my sweet baby girl growing inside me, but still...

Am I glad things turned out the way they did?  Definitely!  Would I choose to find out the baby's gender again if I got pregnant?  Yes, although I would think of it as more of a suggestion than a fact.

I like the way Jenni from Jenni from the Blog described her feelings on being Team Green.    

Did you find out your babies' genders before they were born? Why or why not?


Thanks so much for visiting Supermommy!...Or Not.  I'd love for you to like me on facebook" and follow me on Twitter!

31 Days-Trust Your Gut

This 31 Days post is going to be a little different.  Don't worry.  We will be back to our regular posts tomorrow.

With my first baby, the ultrasound predicted a girl.

I didn't believe it.  I had heard of ultrasounds predicting girls and then turning out to be boys too many times and since I was secretly hoping for a girl, I didn't want to get my hopes up, only to get a surprise in the delivery room.

The ultrasound was right and it was a girl.

With my second baby, the ultrasound predicted a boy.

I believed it.  I'd always heard that if an ultrasound said it was a boy, it would be right.  Besides, I'd seen the proof myself on the ultrasound screen.

The ultrasound was right and it was a boy.

With my third baby, the ultrasound predicted a boy.

Something didn't feel right, but I'd seen the ultrasound and it sure looked like a boy.  I was completely shocked after the ultrasound because I had been so sure the baby was a girl.  There were 4 reasons why I thought that:
1. Princess had told me it was a girl.  She's never been wrong.
2. My sister had told me I was having a girl.  She's never been wrong.
3. The pregnancy was just like my pregnancy with Princess and nothing like the one with Little Man.
4. I just had a feeling.

Every time, I started having doubts (maybe it was a girl...maybe the ultrasound was wrong...), I would pull out the ultrasound pictures and reassure myself that it was a boy. 

This is looking directly up at the baby's bottom.  Do you see why I thought it was a boy?!?

Yet, during the rest of my pregnancy, I had a feeling, a voice in the back of my mind, that there was going to be a big surprise at the end of the whole thing.  I tried to drown it out by stocking up on all blue baby things, but somehow, it just never felt right.  My mom told me after Star was born, that she never felt that a boy was right either.

Even still, I had talked myself into believing the ultrasound so well that when I had a baby girl, it was a complete shock.

I'm glad things turned out the way they did though.  I would've loved to have another sweet little boy, but I wasn't looking forward to the family dynamics of one big sister with two little brothers to pick on her.  I grew up with two younger brothers, but at least I had an older sister to team up with.  Although, Hubby is now lamenting the fact that there's no hope for Little Man since he's sandwiched between two girls (he likes to copy his big sister in everything she does, which includes wearing girly dress-up clothes and jewelry, and playing with dolls).  I think Little Man will turn out just fine and will be a great daddy someday :)

And to wrap this post up, how about a picture of Grandma (my mama!) holding the 2012 grandbaby edition?

Want to see a complete list of the posts in the 31 Days to Simplify Your Life series?  Click here.

   

Thanks so much for visiting Supermommy!...Or Not.  Please take a moment to "like" me on facebook"!
 

Are We Done Yet?

This past month has been...well, overkill on the medical front.  It started with my regular prenatal appointment.  A few days later, I took Little Man in for a high fever.  Then, a few days after that, I had my 6 month checkup with my asthma and allergy specialist.  I thought 3 times in a week was a lot.  Little did I know that we were just getting started.

The week after that, I had my ultrasound (yay!) followed shortly thereafter by a 6 month checkup with Princess's asthma and allergy specialist.  Another week and Little Man had his 2 year well-child checkup.  Our general practitioner found a heart murmur and decided to refer him to a pediatrician who had more experience with heart murmurs.  The pediatrician did an EKG and x-ray (which Little Man was NOT happy about especially since I wasn't allowed in the room with him) and referred Little Man to a pediatric cardiologist.  Although the heart murmur was a little different than what most kids with heart murmurs have and usually grow out of, the cardiologist determined that it was nothing to be concerned about and that he too, will outgrow it in due time.

Between the three checkups for Little Man and his sweet little heart, I had another prenatal appointment and a middle-of-the-night 911 call for a severe asthma attack.

Let's review:
In the past 31 days, the three of us (thankfully, Hubby has done his part and stayed healthy) have tallyed up nine doctor visits and one 911 call.  Yup.  I think we're ready to be done for a while.

While visiting the "big city" for all these doctor visits, I did manage to squeeze in some shopping.  And by squeeze, I mean all-day shopping trips.

Here's a cute onesie I found for Little Man.  Being a musical family, I pretty much swoon over any children's clothing that is music-related.        

Carters Boys Newborn-9 Months Brown Guitar Bodysuit

 Being a huge Oreo fan, I snatched these up as soon as I saw them.  They didn't disappoint!

100th Birthday Golden Oreo Fudge Cremes With Confetti Birthday Cake Creme - 2/11.3oz Pks

*Disclaimer: The above links are affiliate links. Your purchase using those links help support Supermommy Or Not.

20 Weeks and Ultrasound!

I'm going to do this post a little differently than I normally do.

I can't believe I'm at 20 weeks already!  Technically, I'm halfway done with the pregnancy already, although if this one is like the older two, it'll be more like 41 or 42 weeks by the time he or she arrives.

I had my ultrasound yesterday.  The baby is healthy and growing at exactly the right rate.  This is the first time that my due date hasn't been changed when I had an ultrasound.  The baby weighs around 10 ounces and is about 10 inches long from head to toes.

And oh yeah, we might have found out if it's a boy or a girl.  Anyone want to know? 

Do you remember how Princess has been telling us this whole time that it's a baby sister?  And that she's refused to even consider the possibility of getting another brother?

Well, she was inconsolable when we told her what the baby is.

She told me this morning that she will be giving the baby away.

She was wrong about it being a girl.

I'll admit I was surprised.  Princess has accurately predicted the genders of 6 out of 6 babies so far.  She even told us that her cousin was going to be a boy after an ultrasound predicted a girl.  She was right.  But not this time.

 Update: Princess was right, after all!

Surprise!

Yesterday was my due date. I'm still here. I'm pretty much expecting to have to be induced, but hopefully I'll be surprised.

Speaking of surprises...my sister had her baby. I don't remember if I mentioned this, but she was due to have a baby girl April 10th while I was due to have my baby boy yesterday. We figured that was perfect. We'd swap baby clothes and neither of us would have to buy much more than a few bibs and pacifiers. We'd gotten all the baby clothes out of storage, and each of us had filled our baby's dresser drawers with gender appropriate clothes. Or so we thought. On Friday, at 13 days overdue, my sister had to be induced. I have to be honest, her hubby is a bit of a joker so when he called me at 8 pm that night and announced "It's a boy!" I insisted on speaking with my sister before I could actually believe that she had given birth to a 9 pound 14 ounce baby BOY. My first thought was...well, I'm not actually sure because I was so positive she was having a girl that I was in shock. My second thought was "Oh shoot." Prior to finding out what the genders of our babies were, my sister and I had agreed that she got first dib on the boys clothes if we both had boys and vice versa. So, 4 days before my due date, I found myself packing up all the clothes and baby boy stuff and giving it back to my sister. She was nice enough to return the newborn size clothing to me since her bouncing baby boy was already too big for them, but other than that, all I had were a few pieces of miscellaneous clothing I'd picked up because I thought they were cute. To a woman who's 9 months pregnant, it was devastating because let's face it, when you're pregnant everything is worse than it needs to be. I must have complained about it to enough people though, because less than a week later, I now have everything I need plus offers for more.

Unsolicited Advice:
Don't ever assume an ultrasound will be 100 percent correct in predicting the gender of your baby!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, all!
We had a relaxing, enjoyable day. Although I enjoy hosting Thanksgiving, the size of my house prohibits me from doing so. Instead, we went to my sister, Elizabeth's large house to celebrate. At one point during the day, I realized how relaxing it is to go somewhere else for holidays. I didn't have to clean my house, get up early to put the turkey in, find enough dishes and places at the table for everyone, or deal with the mess when everybody leaves.

I have some news to share. On Tuesday, Hubby and I went for my first ultrasound at 18 weeks gestation. It was really neat to see my baby for the first time. We asked the ultrasound technician if it was a boy or a girl and she asked us what we thought it was. I told her that Princess had assured me it was a boy. As the tech moved the wand to verify, we could very obviously see that Princess was correct! I made sure the tech printed us a picture of the "proof" to embarrass the poor boy with when he gets older.

To be honest though, I was hoping for a girl. I had several reasons for this, the top one being that Hubby thinks that with one of each, we're done having kids. Ummmm, I'm not done yet. I'm not ready for this to be my last pregnancy, my last baby, my youngest child. I also was hoping for a girl because I was kind of looking forward to getting Princess's baby clothes back out and dressing the two alike for special occasions. Having a sister close in age to me, I wanted to give that experience (good and bad) to Princess. I'm really not sure what to do with a boy. Having a boy means buying new clothes, bibs, and accessories. It means a whole new set of toys (and I've already run out of space!) and it means I'm going to be mother to a son. I'm all girl. I'm all about the frills, baby dolls, abundance of pink, and everything else that means girls. A boy is strange territory to me. When my mother found out what I was having, she thought about it a while and then confessed that she really can't see me with a boy. In about 5 months though, that's what's going to happen. But I know that I will learn as I go along just as I did with Princess and the minute they lay my baby boy in my arms, I will fall so madly in love with him that I can't imagine not having him there.

When Hubby and I found out that we're having a boy, we celebrated by buying a blue minivan. We got a fairly decent price on a Honda Odyssey and so came home with ultrasound pictures and a new vehicle. I know that we don't technically need a minivan yet since we'll only have two kids, but my sister and I go a lot of places together. With two carseats in the back of the car, it gets too crowded to buy a lot of groceries (we live 45 minutes from the nearest "big" city so we stock up when we go.) Since she and I are both expecting baby #2 in April, a minivan was a must. Also, because Hubby and I take so many LONG trips (6+ hours one way), a dvd system in the vehicle is a huge plus for us.

Anyways, it's 9 pm and it's been a long day. Signing off.