To Know or Not to Know – Baby Gender

For years it’s been all the rage to know the sex of your baby before he/she is born.  Seems lately, though, that the pendulum is swinging the other way – to not know and be totally surprised, shocked or whatever.

My childbearing years occurred during the swing from not knowing (we didn’t have a choice) to being able to find out the, somewhat iffy (they didn’t really guarantee anything back in the dark ages),  sex of my youngest child.  My ultrasounds were recorded on VHS tapes, OK? :).  I made the decision to not know the gender of my unborn child.

Why?  I love surprises!  I just do.

To Know or Not to Know – Baby Gender 

My pregnancy with my youngest child was, well, complicated.  Entering into the last trimester, I began to swell like there was no tomorrow.  I had to swap my size 7-1/2-8 shoes for my friend’s 10’s!  It wasn’t pretty and at first I blamed it on the hot, humid, southern summer and my insatiable appetite.

I was finally admitted to the hospital and an amniocentesis was done to see if the baby’s lungs were developed enough to go ahead and get that child out of me.  They weren’t.

Before having the amniocentesis, my obstetrician told me that the procedure would also reveal the definite sex of the child and asked again if I wanted to know.  I stuck to my guns and my answer was an astounding, “No!”

During the procedure, the tech person asked again if I wanted to know.  I said, “No, thanks” about the same time my husband said, “Yes.”  What???  At the conclusion, the tech and my husband walked out of the door and into the hallway and the hubs found out the sex of our unborn child with a solemn promise that he couldn’t tell me because I didn’t want to know.

I stuck to my guns . . . most of the time.  Sometimes, late at night while lying in bed I would have a change of heart and beg/plead my husband to give me a hint.  His lips were sealed.  At other times, I would call him around lunch time at work and demand to know.  He never once broke his promise to amnio guy.

On the day of my scheduled C-Section, as I bid my mom and kids goodbye, the hubs whispered to my mom that there was no need to have all of those cute little newborn boy things ready for baby’s arrival.

A few days after my baby girl was born, I had seizures for the first time (and only time) in my life and woke up in ICU.  The diagnosis was eclampsia. It must have been bad, because when I awakened in ICU, my brother was sitting beside my bed crying.  He never cries.  Thanks, Tim.

Obviously, I survived.  Now Gloria Gaynor is in my head singing I will Survive. At first I was afraid, I was petrified . . . I have a song for everything!

Times sure have changed since 1988!  There are now drugstore gender prediction kits that I hear are somewhat unpredictable.

Did you find out the sex of your child before he/she was born?  Why or why not?  I want deets.  I want the story.  I want it all.