More with the pink and blue . . .

Dan and I attended our first birthing class two weeks ago at a local hospital. We were, as always, a few minutes late. When we arrived all the other couples were seated in a semi circle staring at us. At the front of the room there was a sign in sheet and name tags. There were two markers available to write your name on your tag. You guessed it! A blue marker, and a pink marker, so that everybody in the room could be made aware of your baby's gender. Seriously?!? Why would this matter? And what about people like Dan and I who have no idea what the baby's gender is going to be? As it turns out, we were the only couple in the room who didn't know the gender. I ended up writing both of our names in blue, because it was the marker closest to me. But then Dan (and this is why I love him) told me that he was upset because he had wanted to write his name in pink so that we could have a little bit of fun gender bending.

Alas, due to a set of unforseen circumstances we ended up finding out our baby's gender (it is kind of hard not to, when you are subjected to a 3-D ultra sound that lasts 2 1/2 hours - you can see everything!) We are having a girl! So as it turns out we get the last laugh! Our name tags are blue, but our baby is "pink."

We have been to two classes so far, and they have been pretty interesting. In the first class we were each asked to discuss our expectations/anxieties/hopes for our birth. It was truly amazing to me how many women in the room stated that they hoped that their doctor would just let them have a C-section and get it over with! Only one other woman in the room was hoping for a natural childbirth. She was the only one who didn't want to have an epidural. We were, of course, the only home birth couple in the room which resulted in people looking at us like we were crazy! Which reminds me, Nancy (the midwife) gave me a great comeback for people who respond "oh, you are sooo brave" when we say we are having the baby at home. She told me to ask them if they are planning to have an epidural, and then say "oh, YOU are so brave, I could never have that giant needle shoved down my spine!"

In our second class we had a nutritionist come and visit with us. Nancy has had me on a very strict diet from day one - and it is not an option. If you don't follow the diet, she won't deliver your baby! I have never eaten so well and balanced in my life. But it turns out, I was the only mom to be in the room who had given diet much thought. The rest of the women had heard nothing about it from their doctors - they didn't even know how much water they were supposed to be drinking in a day! Geesh.

Anyways, you all know my hatred for the pink and blue game. This does not mean that I am opposed to dressing my daughter in pink. On the contrary, I like the color pink. and I think my baby girl is going to look quite adorable wearing a pink dress now and again. But I think she will be equally adorable wearing a pair of blue overalls, or brown onesies, or any other "boy" item. So, look forward to lots of pictures of my baby dressed in a wide variety of colors/styles!