What are the (Gender) Odds?
Boy or Girl?
So James and I have successfully completed our natural childbirth class, and I am happy to report that I still plan on attempting the feat of childbirth sans medication.
Interestingly enough, one of the most memorable things about the class occurred when we were all re-introducing ourselves at the beginning of the second session. This time our instructor, Sandy asked everyone to also reveal the sex of their babies-to-be.
First of all, James and I might just be the last couple on Earth who wants the sex of their baby to remain a surprise. Okay, okay – I exaggerate, but it honestly seems like surprise-seekers like us are few and far between when it comes to the baby gender game these days. Of the six other couples taking the class, we are the only ones who aren’t aware of our baby’s flavor.
Sandy actually ended up commending James and me at the end of class for wanting to keep Baby Lump’s sex unknown. She verbalized my exact thought process: There are very few true surprises in life, so you might as well take advantage of them when they come along.
The thing is, the lack of gender surprise among the couples isn’t even the most shocking part. The most shocking part is that of all six couples, not one of them is expecting a boy. That’s right – all six couples are having girls. What are the chances? (Math geeks, break out your calculators). Now, I’m pretty sure this doesn’t say squat about the odds of me having one gender over the other, but I am extremely interested to see whether Baby Lump conforms to the trend set in my childbirth class. Interesting, huh? Does this make anyone second-guess their birth stat projections?
Baby Lump’s Week 32 Development:
Measurement/Weight: Baby Lump weighs about 5 lbs. and measures between 17 and 18 inches in length.
Other Highlights: At about this time, Baby Lump is running out of space and settling into the tucked, head-down fetal position. He/she is also experiencing alternating periods of deep sleeping and being actively awake, much like a newborn does.
Oven Timer: 32 weeks, 3 days
Nope. It only makes the chances of it being a boy THAT MUCH MORE likely. And me that much more right.
Well… if Lump decides to conform, it would be his/her best interest to conform now in the womb and not in middle school when everyone sees Twilight III and starts dressing like Vampires… (okay, so last night’s South Park is still fresh on my mind hahahaha)
I still believe it’s going to be a boy. Because Lump is going to be different from the crowd, he (or she) will stand as his or her own baby self.
um, i took intro stats like, 5 years ago or so.. and i never went to class… and when i did go to class, i did sudoku… but i promise, i will work diligently next week at work to figure out what this does for your baby’s chances of being boy / girl. i mean, you saw what i did with the betting pool… i don’t even know what quantiles are, but we had them… i won’t do it now though, it has to be done at work.. so at least there’s spreadsheets and calculations going on.. it feels like work.
Hey, my girlfriend and I are having a baby at about the same time you are, give or take a few days. She has been reading your blog and I take a look every once in a while. I just want to comment on the “keeping baby’s sex a surprise” debate.
We know that we are having a girl. The main reason that we decided to find out was that I am from New York, she is from Chile and the baby is going to be born in Chile. We were in New York until almost the 7th month and are now in Chile. My friends and family were able to give us clothes and gifts that we could bring down in luggage and that we knew for sure would be for the right sex.
Regardless of our reasons, I don’t get the argument about waiting so that it will be a surprise. It was still a surprise when we were told at the ultrasound, just an earlier one. Its a surprise no matter when you find out, because you didn’t know and had no way of really knowing what it would be beforehand.
There are plenty of other surprises in store when the baby is born: What will she look like? What will her mannerisms be? How am I going to handle this when the time comes?!? We just decided to spread out our surprises over a few months rather than getting them all at once.
Hi Will,
First of all, congratulations on your soon-to-be baby girl! And thanks for reading the blog! I’m glad you and your girlfriend are enjoying it.
You make some great points about the surprise debate. Of course, I don’t think either way is the right way. As goes with the choice about medication during delivery, it all depends on the individual couple. I have a friend who is going to be doing the exact opposite of me – finding out the sex ASAP and opting for the most medicated pain relief during delivery as available. As they say – “to each his own!”
Congrats again!
Pamela