Everyone likes a good surprise.
Unless you are part of the small percentage of people who truly enjoy a good surprise, this may come as a shock to you.
That's right... we aren't finding out whether the baby is a boy or a girl until birth. Call us old-fashioned. We just thought that would be fun! And we aren't telling name choices either... That may have some of you way too worked up.
The boy/girl thing is more because we want to be surprised. I would be frugal in the nursery anyway and do a gender-neutral theme that can be reused for future children, so as far as the nursery goes, it's better I don't know whether the baby is a boy or girl. Makes me be more creative!
The name thing is basically because we don't want a bunch of opinions. Our families have a lot of opinions! And they are normally good! But we just wanted to make our decision on this without outside influence. Plus what if we decided to name a girl Kate but she looks more like a Heather? (Those are not our names... just saying!) We are giving ourselves options.
Why am I doing a whole blog post on this? Silly I know. But every time we tell people our decision to keep things a surprise, 90% of the time the women will say, "I'm too type A not to find out." Ha. Apparently they forgot they were talking to me. My friends joked and called me "Monica" in high school - yes, from Friends. So it's definitely not about being type A or B. It's really just personal preference. For us, we figure, either way the baby is a gift, so we will be thrilled no matter what we have!
That said, I have learned that there is no right or wrong in pregnancy, so I am all for people finding out the gender and telling the name. Some people tell other they are pregnant at 4 weeks. Others wait until 13 or 14. Some find out what they are having. Others let it be a surprise. Some tell them name. Others keep it a secret. Everyone has their own thoughts on the subject, and I love that!
What about you? Will you or did you find out?
We aren't finding out.
That's right... we aren't finding out whether the baby is a boy or a girl until birth. Call us old-fashioned. We just thought that would be fun! And we aren't telling name choices either... That may have some of you way too worked up.
The boy/girl thing is more because we want to be surprised. I would be frugal in the nursery anyway and do a gender-neutral theme that can be reused for future children, so as far as the nursery goes, it's better I don't know whether the baby is a boy or girl. Makes me be more creative!
The name thing is basically because we don't want a bunch of opinions. Our families have a lot of opinions! And they are normally good! But we just wanted to make our decision on this without outside influence. Plus what if we decided to name a girl Kate but she looks more like a Heather? (Those are not our names... just saying!) We are giving ourselves options.
Why am I doing a whole blog post on this? Silly I know. But every time we tell people our decision to keep things a surprise, 90% of the time the women will say, "I'm too type A not to find out." Ha. Apparently they forgot they were talking to me. My friends joked and called me "Monica" in high school - yes, from Friends. So it's definitely not about being type A or B. It's really just personal preference. For us, we figure, either way the baby is a gift, so we will be thrilled no matter what we have!
That said, I have learned that there is no right or wrong in pregnancy, so I am all for people finding out the gender and telling the name. Some people tell other they are pregnant at 4 weeks. Others wait until 13 or 14. Some find out what they are having. Others let it be a surprise. Some tell them name. Others keep it a secret. Everyone has their own thoughts on the subject, and I love that!
What about you? Will you or did you find out?
Ha! I love that you made a whole post on this...now when people ask "why not" just tell them to read the post. I'm almost positive we will find out...I'm just too impatient not to know. My friend is pregnant and due in Feb. They have considered not finding out and being frugal is one of the reasons...she thinks they will buy more of the necessities and others will too for the showers if they don't know what it is. That way you aren't tempted to buy all the gender-specific "cutesy" stuff.
ReplyDeleteLove your bump pictures too! Way cute!
I would find out if I could but I think that God could be teaching me a lesson with taking that option away! FYI- the whole name list thing did not work out as planned- we had 2 names in common between the 2 lists. I am thinking about doing a baby name suggestion game with friends and family. They can suggest a name and if we use it, they get a prize. Makes everyone feel part of it without them pushing their opinions on you. Hope you are having a great week!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with the no name telling thing. We did the same thing...didn't want other people's opinions!! Plus we weren't sure. We had the top few decided on, but we wanted to see him first.
ReplyDeletelove your outlook Ashleigh. You will be so surprised and will love it. We found out for both but it's just because I'm such a huge planner and love knowing. If God blesses us with another though, I think we'll make it a surprise :)
ReplyDeleteI love all of your comments! And Cait, while frugality wasn't our reason for not finding out, I will say it's a good plus!! It helps me to stick with the whole surprise idea for sure! ;)
ReplyDeleteAlways thought I wanted to be surprised too.....but then I got pregnant. LOL We did not tell anyone the name until after she was born. We named her after my mom and knew it was best to wait since it had been so recent since mom passed away.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem....I never got to tell anyone her name. My sister told the entire family via phone. Not what I had intended. Oh well. :-)