Boy? or Girl?

Is it a girl? Is it a boy?

  To find out or not to find out.....

  When people find out that we are expecting one of the first questions to follow is "Are you going to find out what you are having?" to which we answer, "We will know in January."  We get a variety of answers.  The answers are very generational.  People our age are often annoyed that we would want to wait or at least can't believe that we would wait to find out.  People my parents or grandparents age are so excited that we aren't finding out, because they didn't get to find out when they were expecting.

    I think that seeing our baby for the first time and hearing if it is a boy or a girl is the most exciting part of this whole experience. I can't wait to feel those emotions; it will definitely be worth the wait!

  I thought it would be fun to look into all the old wives tales to see if they are true :-)

- Acne: A girl will "steal your beauty" and a boy will give you beautiful skin.
  Prediction: Girl

-  Ring Swing: put a ring on string and hang it over your belly if it swings in a circle it's a boy, back and forth means it's a girl.
Prediction: Girl

-Heart Rate: They say if the baby's heart rate is over 140 is a girl and under 140 is a boy.  Our 12 week appointment the heart rate was 150 and our 12 week ultrasound was 144 for the heart rate. Our 20 week appointment had the heart rate at 150.
Prediction: Girl

-Cravings: Sweet means girl, salty means boy.
Prediction: Girl (although I have always been one for sweets over salty)

-Chinese Gender Chart: you type in your age, conception month, birthday, etc. and it computes if for you.
Prediction: Girl

-Mayan prediction: Your age at conception and the year of conception. I was 25 when we conceived (right before my 26th birthday) and it is 2013.  They are both odd numbers.
Prediction: Girl

-Morning Sickness: If you have morning sickness it means girl, smooth sailing means boy.  I did have a few weeks of morning sickness.
Prediction: Girl

-Daddy: Doug thinks it's going to be a boy.
-Mommy: I started out thinking of our baby only as a boy, but have started to picture it as a girl lately. I still can't make a decision for what I think it is.
-Grandma Arlone: Girl
-Grandpa Mark: Boy
-Grandma De: Boy
-Grandpa Kevin: Boy
-Aunt Sherrie: Boy-she calls the baby "Skeeter Bug" (which will be it's nickname girl or boy)

Obviously most of the old wives tales say girl, but we will see :-)

How far along: 20 weeks HALFWAY! How did it go so fast already! I have so much to do!

Maternity clothes? Yes. I can still wear a lot of old shirts, but not pants!
Sleep: I am getting more and more used to sleeping on my side and thank God (and Doug for buying it) for my U-pillow, which takes up the entire bed, but is amazing.  I wake up a lot of mornings with extremely sore hips and legs and I don't really sleep a whole lot, because I still go to the bathroom a minimum of three times a night!  If I can keep up the bathroom schedule in exchange for feedings for the newborn it might be a good schedule :-)
Best moment this week: I felt the baby move!! I wasn't sure if I was feeling it and then last Friday I felt it for sure. By Sunday I could feel him/her running laps in my tummy. It is such an amazing feeling!  I now just want Doug to be able to feel it. Another great thing about this week was our 20 week ultrasound. I just love seeing him/her.
Miss Anything? Not being sore-I'm sore when I wake up, after work, all the time (and I have a feeling it's not going to get any better for the next 20 weeks)
Movement: Yes finally!
Food cravings: Nothing really
Anything making you queasy or sick:  I still can't eat a plain chicken breast! GAG!

Gender: Not so sure now-I keep going back and forth. 
Labor Signs: no

Symptoms: All kinds of them now :-)
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Feeling like I should get busy with some more baby things!
Looking forward to:  Our childbirth classes start in two weeks and I am definitely excited about those! I am hoping to learn a lot about natural childbirth!

During our ultrasound we were able to see all of the important parts of our baby.  We were able to see his toes and fingers.  His mouth was open and he had fluid in his stomach (which proves he can swallow).  We were able to see blood pumping through his heart and kidneys.  His spine looks good.  

At my 20 week appointment which was 2 days after our ultrasound my midwife explained that the baby is again measuring big. They have debated about changing our due date from January 11th to the 2nd. I am kind of nervous about the change! 

LOVE

I don't claim to be a religious guru or a deeply political person.  Often times when conversation turns to political issues I just stay out of it.  When questioned about my faith I will definitely answer and defend my views, but I don't claim to know every scripture or go to church as much as I would like (or should). This isn't about being republican or democrat. This isn't about being religious or atheist.  This is about LOVE!

Because I usually do not care about issues one way or the other most of the time, I am not very out spoken about many issues. In fact, if talking to the right person I can usually be persuaded to agree with another view.  But this issue has been weighing heavy on my heart for a long time.  I am embarrassed, disappointed, and mostly sad.  Sad for our community, nation, and future.

I don't understand why people can't treat everyone fairly.  No matter what your "religious beliefs" are, can't we just love everyone.  This issue was brought back to the forefront of my mind last night as I listened to a story on the news about a venue saying no to a same-sex couple for their wedding.  The owner would not let them get married at her venue because of her "religious beliefs." That's a bunch of crap! Doesn't God say to LOVE. Above all else is LOVE!  Don't judge others!  How is their so-called "sin" any different than judging someone or not loving?!  I am not asking for everyone to agree with same-sex marriage; I fully believe that people have a right to make that decision on their own, but LOVE everyone, no matter what your view is.

Some people make the argument that she has a right to refuse service to these people and maybe legally she does, but doesn't it kind of remind you of the stories about segregation.  Someone probably once said it's my "religious belief" that blacks shouldn't be allowed into restaurants, certain schools, on the bus, etc.  Or what about women's rights.  I am sure at some point some man said it's our "religious belief" that women should answer to their husbands, and therefore do not need the right to vote, own land, etc.  It is embarrassing to think that we live in a time where more "segregation" and judging is going on. We are going to look back on this and be amazed that people ever thought this way.

I am not writing this to offend anyone or anyone's beliefs, because we live in a world where you get to choose how you feel.  But we also live in a world where same-sex couples (or anyone different from you) gets to choose how they feel too!  I am writing this to get it off my chest; I have been mad about this, sad about this, and disappointed about this issue and when words start running through my head, I just need to write them down.  I am writing this so that maybe one person would think today about how they can LOVE others and stop judging them.

As I sit here shaking and my cheeks moist from my emotion I wonder...
How would our world be different if we just LOVED?!  As I get ready to bring a new life into this world I hope that he/she can LOVE unconditionally. I hope that he/she is LOVED unconditionally no matter what life choices he/she makes.  I worry about bringing a new little one into a world that is so broken and hurtful, but I know that if we teach LOVE then nothing else matters!