Tater Baby: He or She?

Let's be honest, since this whole baby thing, Tay and I are freaking out and slightly panicked.
Every time we hear the heartbeat, we look at each other telepathically, "Yep, that's our alien baby."

He wants to buy brand new, high end baby gear while I'm screaming yard sales and consignment shops!

(Before you uptight do-gooders have a fit, some items will be new and perfect. If you would feel better having EVERYTHING being new, we will happily accept donations :)

I'm in love with a $70 brand new crib from Ikea while Tater thinks it's too cheap to be any good.
I think a $100 5 foot plush giraffe is 'must have' for the nursery, while Tater thinks its excessive. 
See can obviously see our predicament :)

But the one thing we agree on (other than our ever expanding love for Tater Baby) is the fact that the gender should remain a surprise until D-Day (HOPEFULLY!). For several reasons:

Have you ever heard of gender disappointment?
You know this baby growing inside of you is a girl. You have a name all picked out, and you are thrilled. And then comes the ultrasound. Instead of being excited about learning you will have a boy, you are grieving the loss of a girl that you never had. After all the hard work on D-Day, I doubt you will be disappointed - only relieved to know it's over and you have a beautiful bouncing baby!

No pink!
I'm not a fan of pink. I'm a pale skinned freckled red-head. Pink and I are enemies; have been since birth. If Tater Baby happens to be a girl and we tell the world that, I assume that a plethora of pink onesies would come raining down on us. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but I'm 98% sure that I would burn them or possibly dye them a more acceptable color. Pink onesie givers, you have been warned.

Hand Me Downs
If you do not know the gender, then most of the items you receive at baby showers will be neutral. Which means if you decide to go through this craziness again, you can use a lot of the same items again; as well as clothing, as long as the poop/vomit stains aren't too distracting.

Added Motivation
After 9+ months of carrying Tater Baby and dreaming what he/she will look like (red hair or no red hair); not knowing the gender is a little extra motivation in the delivery room. Not knowing may give you that extra ounce of energy needed on the final push.

No One Can Hate Your Baby Name
The minute you tell people "it' a _______," the obvious next question will be, "do you have any names picked out?" You could easily tell them, if it's a boy we'll name him this, or if it's a girl, we'll name her this...or you could just say no. Like those after school drug specials from the 90s - just say no. When a couple tells you their baby name, believe it or not, they are not asking for you approval, they just want to tell someone. So if you take the route of, "oh that's an odd name" just be prepared to be slapped. And remember, if you are the one doing the naming, for some reason telling people it's a family name covers all manners of naming sins - JimBilly Atticus Huckleberry sounds horrible, but if it includes family names, it seems as if you are given a pass.

Old News
If you found at 17-22 weeks that baby was a boy and you proudly announced that JimBilly Atticus Huckleberry would be arriving in June; everyone would be excited. That day. After that, you would be old news....and people would definitely be talking about your baby naming skills :)

They aren't always right
That's right. You've "known" that this was a girl since week 17. You immediately starting buying bows, and matching outfits, and anything with sparkles. BUT, on D-Day, Junior wasn't what you expected, she turned out to be a he. All those bows and sparkles...will you still dress junior in that?

There's no medical need for an ultrasound
If you are having a healthy pregnancy (and we are so far - thank the Lord!) there technically is no need for an ultrasound. Also, a lot of insurance companies (like mine) actually don't pay for ultrasounds - yep. First pregnancy, all you want is an ultrasound at every visit, but for us to do that we would have to shell out $200 every visit. So...eat this month or see the baby? I'm going to vote eat, sorry Tater Baby, we'll see you plenty when you arrive :)

Gender Neutral Nursery
That you spent months creating and perfecting. And dreaming over. Yeah, it can be used again and again and again...all because you didn't find out. Boom - effective cost savings! 

It ticks people off
Seriously. People automatically want to know what you're having. I'm included in that. Any time one of my friends has been pregnant, we are always eagerly waiting to find out the sex. I don't want to purposely tick people off, but for some reason, people honestly think you don't find out the sex just to spite them. Not the case. Ever since I've met and married my Tay, I always told him that I don't want to know the sex. I can understand how certain people may be upset, but again, this may be the only time we get to do this, and we'd like to do things our way. So family members, please stop complaining. K? Thanks!

It's will be a great surprise!
Well, you've got a 50/50 shot of getting it right, but can you image the surprise? Think about how bad family and friends wanted to know what you were having...now multiply that times infinity. The waiting room will be packed with family members and friends eagerly awaiting the big announcement.

So, for right now, our plan is to NOT know the gender. Then again, I'm only 12.5 weeks along, so we have plenty of time to change our minds or go crazy NOT knowing and beg to find out!