When we were pregnant with Sarah, Tom and I really had no desire to learn the gender of our baby before she was born. It was part of the wonder and surprise for us...plus I am super cheap and wanted to make sure we got a bunch of gender neutral items we could use in case our second baby was the opposite gender!
This time around, though, we rethought our plans. After a lot of discussion, we decided that it would be better to know the gender of Thing 2 so that we could help better prepare Sarah for the arrival of a baby brother or sister. And, as luck would have it, all the genetic testing that had been recommended due to my age also revealed the gender of our Little Bit!
On Halloween, the genetic counselor called to give me my results. Things looked good from the genetic end (1/10,000 chance of any genetic disorders), but the gender reveal became somewhat problematic. First, I definitely didn't want her just to tell me over the phone what we were having - I really wanted Tom and Sarah to be involved so we could all find out together! Second, we had hoped to have close friends and family over so we could reveal the gender to everyone (including us!) at the same time. Someone blurting it out to me on the phone was NOT going to work, but I had a plan - I asked her to write the gender on a piece of paper, stick it in an envelope and leave it at the front desk. Well...that didn't work because the front desk of the genetic counselor's office also happens to be the front desk of the Labor and Delivery Unit at Shawnee Mission Hospital...
So, we problem-solved. The counselor called me back and left a voicemail revealing the gender. I sat on that voicemail ALL NIGHT. (It was horrible! I have never wanted to cheat so bad at anything ever!!!) The next day, I had the best secret-keeper I know - our school social worker - listen to the message, write down the gender, seal it in an envelope and delete the voicemail. Then I took the envelope to family friend and cake-maker, Karen Peterson. Karen made us a cake with directions to add a layer of either pink or blue frosting in the middle and then cover it all up with white frosting so we wouldn't know the gender until we cut into the cake!
And so, on Sunday afternoon, we found out what we were having! I'm happy to say...
YEA!!!! Sarah has been right all along. Ironically, though, she insisted on wearing blue "like Daddy" on Sunday (Daddy thought it was a boy). Notice who is wearing pink in these pictures!
I am so excited to have another little girl in our family, and I am thrilled that Sarah will know the love of a sister. Now, if we can just decide on another girl's name...
