Busy, busy
We've been busy, busy, busy around here and hardly a moment to even think about blogging. I just got back from my first appointment at the birth center. All is well but due to my "irresponsibility" in not knowing my due date and the spotting I experienced a few weeks ago, we have a sonogram scheduled in a few days. Of course, since given an option, Jesse chose the 3D/4D sonogram. He's been itching to get one of those done and this is the perfect excuse. I'm hopeful I might get some pictures and/or a video to post here. I'd like to show the world that my baby is a baby, not a - oh! I shudder to even say it! - "blob of tissue." At 19 weeks, my womb holds a real, living, moving, "breathing" (via oxygen from the umbilical cord) beautiful human being.
Oh and no, because I know you will ask, we are not going to find out what we are having. We made that very clear and are "sticking to our guns" on it. Contrary to most other moms, I like surprises, especially when it comes to whether my baby is a boy or a girl! Am I the only mom who likes to do things the "old-fashioned" way and not have everything known and planned about your birth and baby ahead of time? (No offense to anyone, by the way! I understand we're all different. And maybe I'm weird, I don't know. I just thought that having Kathrynne be laid on my tummy and have Jesse and I look down and both be completely surprised "She's a girl!" was one of the most cherished memories of my birth. It made all the work of labor and the months of being uncomfortable, and the weeks of anxious waiting so much more special to me. It was so incredible!)
On a similar topic (at least I sure hope I'm getting it right), did anyone catch this?
I'm off to watch Facing the Giants with my family for family date night. (We usually have "date mornings" on Saturday mornings, but since Jesse has a conflict we re-scheduled to tonight.) With the bitter cold and the piles of snow still on the ground, it's the perfect night for a blazing fireplace, warm jammies, some yummy food, and (from what I've been told by numerous friends) an excellent movie.
Hopefully, I'll get a chance to tell you about our many adventures and lessons learned this week in the near future...
Oh and no, because I know you will ask, we are not going to find out what we are having. We made that very clear and are "sticking to our guns" on it. Contrary to most other moms, I like surprises, especially when it comes to whether my baby is a boy or a girl! Am I the only mom who likes to do things the "old-fashioned" way and not have everything known and planned about your birth and baby ahead of time? (No offense to anyone, by the way! I understand we're all different. And maybe I'm weird, I don't know. I just thought that having Kathrynne be laid on my tummy and have Jesse and I look down and both be completely surprised "She's a girl!" was one of the most cherished memories of my birth. It made all the work of labor and the months of being uncomfortable, and the weeks of anxious waiting so much more special to me. It was so incredible!)
On a similar topic (at least I sure hope I'm getting it right), did anyone catch this?
I'm off to watch Facing the Giants with my family for family date night. (We usually have "date mornings" on Saturday mornings, but since Jesse has a conflict we re-scheduled to tonight.) With the bitter cold and the piles of snow still on the ground, it's the perfect night for a blazing fireplace, warm jammies, some yummy food, and (from what I've been told by numerous friends) an excellent movie.
Hopefully, I'll get a chance to tell you about our many adventures and lessons learned this week in the near future...
posted by Crystal Paine at 6:16 PM
36 Comments:
Facing the Giants is a fabulous movie. The whole thing was written/taped/produced about 45 min. from my hometown! The coach's wife's struggle was especially touching for me, which you'll understand after watching. (Don't want to spoil it for anyone!)
About "finding out", when I do get pregnant, I want to find out the gender. The way I look at it, there will be always be surprises (whose nose, eyes, mouth, etc. do they have? What is their personality?) Also, whether you find out before or after the baby comes, at that moment, it IS a surprise. :)
Johanna
You got it right! :) Hopefully I'll have time to post more on it tomorrow!
Nope your not the only one! I would much rather be surprised too.
Blessings,
Bethany
I would totally rather be surprised also. This is my 3rd (after 1 of each, and I'm in my 19 week or so too), and my friends are still giving me a hard time about it ... they want to plan what they're making as gifts. I figure at this point, I've got girl clothes and boy clothes and a boy room and a girl room, whatever the baby is, we'll be thrilled.
We found out with our 2nd and 3rd, but not our 1st and 4th. With our first we knew it was a boy, even though we didn't find out. With our 2nd, we found out and told everyone and it was all great. With our 3rd we found out but didn't tell anyone and it was miserable. With our 4th I really wanted a surprise. And as much as I tried to figure out what we were having throughout the whole pregnancy, I had no idea. When they laid her on my stomach and dh yelled out that it was a girl, we were both in complete shock. I remember vividly sitting up real fast and yelling "WHAT?!?" It is one of my favorite memories of her birth. I wouldn't trade it for anything and if we ever have another one we will not be finding out.
We aren't finding out either. :) Not even an u/s here unless there is a medical reason to get one, so EVERYTHING will be a huge surprise! I'm excited to see what God has in store for us.
I'm interested in hearing how facing the giants is, I've heard good things.
Hi Crystal, our family really enjoyed the story line and actors/actresses in Facing the Giants (although we did have to endure the music throughout). A few weeks later after hearing about Freewheel (produced a couple of years earlier by the same writer) we checked that one out of our library and had the mute button ready. So if you like Giants, we think you'd like Freewheel, too.
I too like to be surprised as to the baby's gender at the moment of birth. :) To me, it is so cool to get to ask if it's a boy or girl, and both times to have my hubby check and tell me the answer. So very special! I plan to be surprised with any future children we have, as well.
Do you have a "feeling" one way or the other? People always asked me that, and with the second one I sort of did have the feeling that she was a girl, but I really doubted it because we have a major family history of boys! My husband had the feeling for the final few weeks of my pregnancy, that it would be a girl. And she was! The first girl on his side of the family, in over 50 years. Pretty neat!
My brother got that movie this week and my whole family is raving about it! I can't wait to see it! We saw "Flywheel", which was also produced by that church, a while back, and enjoyed it. :)
About babies, you know we like all the surprises we can get! ;) Whether it's gender, birth date, or name, we make everyone wait! ;) (Although both times we've known the name ahead of time.) :)
My husband and I decided to wait to find out the sex of our baby,too! Because she was born a month early and they were worried about her health (she didn't cry right away), no one thought to tell us whether she was a boy or a girl! My husband had to go check! I had expected the whole, "It's a _______!" moment! Oh well! Maybe for our next one:)
We didn't find out with our first, and it was such a special moment to realize that God had granted me the desire of my heart (thought I didn't know it) and when my dh said "It's a girl!", I knew that that's exactly what I had been longing for all along, whether I knew it or not. He is so good!
And now with our second, we just had our 20 wk u/s a couple weeks ago and bypassed the opportunity to find out. We're eager for another surprise, and know that we will be equally thrilled no matter who this baby is!
I must also comment that in Canada, it is much less common to know the gender, although my American friends tell me that it is almost strange to not find out in the US.
And please, let us know if Facing the Giants is worth it. Just watching the trailer had both me and my dh near tears, as it hit home for us also.
Stephanie
My husband and I decided before we evern found out we were expecting our first baby to keep the sex of all children we should be blessed with a "surprise". I could not imagine doing it any other way :-)
Funny enough, I had a strong feeling for some reason that our little one born this past November was to be a boy. My husband was also sure this was to be the case, along with most of our family. Imagine our surprise when she was a girl! LOL. The midwife handed the baby to my husband right when she was born and he kept looking at her instead of telling me what we had. Finally our midwife steps in and says that we had a girl. I do not think either of us will ever live down our crazy confusion during those first few minutes!
I agree wholeheartedly about the gender, Crystal. I have waited both times, and it has always been awesome to find out at the birth. My hubby is the most passionate about waiting. Be careful though, sometimes, at that age, it is hard not to see the gender. Make sure you tell the ultrasound technician that you do not want to know. We told ours, but they still take pictures which could be "revealing". My baby crossed his/her legs, at my ultrasound on Tuesday. The doctor was upset, and even though hubby and I do not want to know the gender, my doctor wants to know, and so she scheduled me for an "in-depth" anatomy ultrasound. Why must she know? We are canceling that ultrasound.
Regarding Facing the Giants, it is my favorite movie, ever. It is amazingly inspiring. I am so glad that this movie was made for God's glory.
Crystal, on the subject of babies being babies in the womb, I had a regular old ultrasound when my baby was 8 weeks along (for dating purposes, I don't want any more ultrasounds!), and I can tell you, it was most definately a baby and looked it it. I've thought about framing it and hanging it up so it's in full view of some of our pro-choice aquaintances when they come over. :D
I think anyone who is honest and open-minded will recognize the humanity of infants in the womb, at the very least by the time the heart begins to beat. Those who don't think it's a baby are simply those who refuse to acknowledge that they are wrong about abortion. ;)
But I would surel ove to see a picture on your blog! Those newfangled ultrasounds are very cool.
I have never found out the gender with any of mine, and I think it's the best (for me!). I have seven children and only had u/s for two of them. Neither would cooperate about the gender part, and in the end I was glad. Baby #7 was especially exciting as I was *hoping* for another girl. She was born in the water. After she came out it was still dark in the room, and the two of us were in the water covered with a bath blanket. It seemed like a long time (really only minutes, I'm sure) before we thought to even check. My husband and I were thrilled with another girl!
For those who like to know the gender...I have always thought it was neat when people already knew the baby's name and could talk to him/her, pray specifically for by name, plan ahead, etc... Remember, what is *best* or preferable to some of us isn't the only way to go for everyone. And if I recall correctly, there were a few women in the Bible who found out the gender of their baby in advance!
For the record, I'm a regular lurker who wanted to weigh in on the gender thing! Haven't posted before, but I enjoy checking in from time-to-time. ~Julie
Remember the Giants is an amazing movie! I saw it on Premier night at our local theater, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house! :)
Good luck on your baby! I'm not married, so I can't say I've had to choose about knowing the gender, but I don't think I would want to know either.
In Him~ Kel
We are pregnant with out third and still are not finding out. I LOVE the big suprise at the end. And after a 31 hour second labor - it was extra nice. :) Our friends and family get really frustrated, but we do our best to humor them.
As the birth of our second daughter approached, I wondered how my husband felt about another girl. Well, when she was born he was supposed to tell everyone the baby's gender. The doula looked at him and asked "Well, Daddy, what is it?" He looked at them in confusion and said "It's a baby!" After the birth, he said that moment solidified in his heart that the baby's gender honestly did not matter to him. It only mattered that God gave his this baby - this miracle!. So, that is a huge reason why we are sticking to out guns on the surprise with the third baby. (Even though my best friend just tried to bribe me yesterday to send her the information secretly!)
Sorry to be so long - I guess I just relate to this being six weeks behind you.
Ann
Hmm. I don't think it is legal to tape the ultrasounds anymore. Because of law suits and stuff. I guess if something went wrong the parents could use the U/S tape as "proof" that something was wrong and the doctor missed something. I think it depends on the individual hospital or birthing center policy. Hospitals don't want to help themselves get sued. Can't blame them. We used to be able to tape the U/S at my birthing center, but I just found out that they don't allow it anymore.
As far as finding out the sex, I liked to be surprised twice. I like to call my baby by his name after I find out. I, also, can plan if the sex is different as far as clothes and decorations. I don't want to be at the store after I have given birth buying clothes. I call it practical. How do you know that it(the birth of Kathrynne) wouldn't have been as special if you had known??? Hmmm? ;-)
That is so cool that you can do the 3D U/S. We don't have that option at my birthing center.
I should warn you that my sister had an U/S the other day. She could see that it was a boy clearly before the U/S tech told her. Make sure you make it clear to the tech that you don't want to know the sex. I would imagine that it is even easier to see with the 3D. You might want to close your eyes when they are looking at the legs. My sister said that her boy had his legs spread wide open and it was obvious to the world. lol.
My husband and I are excited to find out the gender of our first baby in a couple weeks but I think either way can be great. With one of my brothers, my mom had a little trouble with the pregnancy so she wanted to find out his gender so that she could know as much as possible about him, just in case something happened. Then with my sister, they decided to not find out. We all thought she would be a girl and then at the birth when they said, "It's a girl!", we all started crying because it was so wonderful. Witnessing a birth is so incredible though, I'm sure I would have cried if they said "It's a boy!". I think maybe with future children I might not find out, just to mix it up.
Make sure EVERYONE at the dr's office knows you don't want to know the sex. We didn't want to know with #3 and told the dr and nurse, but then when the tech did the ultrasound she was certain and announced it before we even thought to tell her too!
I still prepared myself to be surprised though just in case. We didn't have an ultrasound at all with #1 so we had the surprise. With #2, we needed an ultrasound and they said girl. Surprise he was a BOY... after buying all that pink. They said the cord must have been covering the goods. That was really weird having a boy after being all prepared for a girl so we rather value the surprise factor all the more now!
We like surprises, too. It can be hard to not find out when you have the chance, but so far we haven't and probably won't if God blesses us with more kids. I have my own philosophy that it helps us to be better prepared when you *don't* know what you're having because then you have gender-neutral stuff, and if your next baby (or one down the line) is the opposite sex, you don't need a whole new newborn wardrobe. That's just the way I look at it. :-D
We do not have children yet, but when we do we will wait to find out. We are both very much looking forward to that special moment of birth.
As for Facing the Giants and Flywheel... both are fantastic movies. We watched Flywheel a while ago. When we saw that the same group had done another film we rushed to the theater to see it. And that is not something we normally do. After watching Facing the Giants in the theater we could not wait to watch it again. We will be buying it this week and watching it over and over.
Zan: Part of the package deal we are getting is a DVD of the 3D/4D movie they are taking of the baby. I'm not sure if I'll be able to convert it and upload it (I'm not too techie) but I'm hopeful. It's supposedly a pretty cool experience as they show the U/S up on a sort of theater screen.
We made it really clear about not wanting to know and they said they could just avoid even going "there" so it wouldn't be obvious. But I've seen enough pictures that I'm pretty good at figuring out. If it's obvious, oh well, it's not the end of the world. However, even if we do accidentally find out, we've decided not to tell anyone.
The main reason they are doing the U/S is to check out my placenta and hopefully to also get a more accurate due date - not that I'll stick with it by any means! :) I figure I'll be late again.
I'm gonna pitch in for the "finding out the sex during the pregnancy" camp. We so much enjoyed knowing our baby was a boy/girl because we would call our baby by his/her name during the remainder of the pregnancy. We felt like we already "knew" our little blessing!
Well, I don't have kids of my own, but my mom(and most other moms I know) never wanted to know the gender of the baby before birth.
I was an aupair for almost a year and the mother was pregnant when I got there and she told me she wanted a girl. They had a 4 year old boy and a 2 year old girl, and had gender decided personality I certainly would understand her! Sadly the boy was nice less than 5 percent of the time(I'm pretty sure he had a disorder, I have known many many children in my life, and never met one like him...). The girl on the other hand was a pure delight. She was very mischeavous but so so sweet and full of life and joy.
Anyway, so the mom wanted a girl and the dad hoped for a boy. They did find out the gender, and it was a boy... Can you imagine the mother's feelings? Once the boy was born of course she loved him very much (like she loves her oldest, no matter how hard he is to handle). What I think though is that if she had not found out beforehand, she would have been spared those first moments of disappointment. I cannot imagine that her first reaction, when finding out it's a boy right after the birth, would have been disappointment...
I don't know if I will want to find out myself, but I certainly won't if I find myself wishing for a specific gender
We're having our 3rd, and have never found out the gender; the surprise is what gets me through labor. :) We try to pick out boy and girl names; though strangely enough, both times we were only able to agree on a name for the gender that we got! (Girl on #1, boy on #2). We'll see if the pattern holds for this one!
I found out the gender of my first baby because I wanted to, but let me warn you of one thing. I could tell the gender on the screen before the nurse even told us, and we didn't even have 3-D imaging back then. So, if you want to keep it a surprise, be careful at how closely you watch the screen.
With my second, we kept it a surprise, although I knew in my heart it was a girl, and I did call her by her name while she was in my tummy. My shower was for a girl, I just had everyone give gift-receipts with the presents, just in case. It was amazing to look down and see that she was a girl. I had to look twice because it was almost unreal with all of the anticipation. Now some of you might think I would be dissappointed if it was a boy, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I would have been just as pleased, I just knew that it was a girl. ;)
Just a side-note, the mid-wife enjoyed keeping it a surprise too, although she didn't tell us until after the baby was born.
When I was pregnant, I wanted to find out what I was having. I was no less surprised when I was told during the ultrasound that I was having a girl! I could have slid right off the table! I figured if the ultrasound tech knew what I was having then I also wanted to know. Also, when I was talking to the receptionist at my Dr.'s office, she said that even if the parents request not to find out, if the tech can recognize the sex then she is obligated to note it on the chart, so basically everyone in the whole hospital computer system would have known except for me. I would think with the 4D ultrasounds they would have to stay completely away because those are so clear a person with cataracts could tell a baby's gender.
Anyway, to make a long story short I felt that finding out before helped me to bond with her before she was even born, like I had a little glimpse of what was to become. I am just glad that I live in an era in which parents have the option to find out the sex prior to birth. Sometimes, technology IS a benefit!
Good luck-
Kim in WI
by the way, how about a tummy picture?
I did not find out with my first three, they were all boys and it seems sort of silly now (as I really, really love having all boys) but i really wanted a girl my third one. I wished so bad I would have known just a bit before hand so I could have gotten over my disapointment before he was born instead of after, so when i was pregnant with my 4th a doctor my mom worked with offered to do a ultrasound on her lunch break for mom to make sure everything looked okay (I had home births) and I found out it was another boy. I was not even expecting that it could be a girl and got really excited about having 4 boys, so there is that side to it too, but after that if I have more, I don't thin I will find out! I hated people asking me and complete strangers wanting to know and giving me their opinions on it. However unless you obviously see it is a boy, there is a chance that it still can be one! my sister had an ultrasound, though it was a girl and I just had a feeling through her pregnancy it was wrong. Eric is a very nice little boy!
Oh, at most of the births I have been at, most of the time they are so excited to be finally done, it is a minute before they check. My mom never found out any of hers...all 11. It was great! She wanted to know once, but it was a Catholic hospital and the policy was not to do that at that time so people did not have abortions because of gender.
We were surprised with both of our girls as well. When someone tells me that they are having a boy or girl I am excited but it seems to fade quickly because the guessing game is over. When someone tells me that it's going to be a surprise I am guessing right up to the last minute and I make them add me to the call tree and beg to be called as soon as the baby is born, even if it's 3:00 AM. That excitement isn't there if I already know the babies sex. I hate to say that but it's the truth. If God wanted us to know the sex he would have put a window on our bellies. JMHO.
Your waiting will have EVERYONE dying to find out right until the last moment. BTW, Congratulations on your pregnancy!
My husband graciously let me have my wish and be surprised the first three times around (all boys), but he really wanted to know the fourth time and so we found out that our icing on the cake was a little girl. But I wasn't convinced until I saw her and the glory of all her beautiful hair! (The boys were all bald till their first birthdays.)
Oh, I am excited that you are getting a 3D/4D ultrasound. My Mom was able to do that with one of my sisters and it was truly amazing. Also, a friend of ours who is 6 mon along just had that kind of ultrasound a few weeks ago and the detail is incredible.....you can see her whole face, umbilical cord-everything. ;-)
Well, all that to say- you are going to love it!!
After reading all the lucky moms who got and are getting the 3D U/S, I cannot tell you how unfair that is!
Waa!
We loved to be surprised too!! Another special moment at birth. :)
Yep, I want to be surprised, too :) I think it's so much more fun that way, and everyone can guess if they "think" it's a boy or a girl.
Out of curiosity, can I ask why you and Jesse were so surprised that you had a girl? Were you guys hoping for a boy, or did you just have a gut "feeling" that it was a little guy? :)
3d/4d ultrasounds -- I wouldn't consider it all that unfair ZAN -- I had one of these with my last baby and didn't like it one bit. I told the lady that I could definitely tell when she switched from the 2d to the 3d/4d . There was a strange, uncomfortable heat sensation on my stomach wherever the doppler moved and settled. She said it was because I was just a small person and didn't have any "fat padding" to dull the ultrasound waves -- Whatever that meant???? I didn't feel comfortable with it thinking "Is this one of those things that in 50 years will be like X-Rays for pregnant woman".
One thing about it...the pictures are absolutely amazing especially when it is your baby!
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