Team green, or not......

JulyMomma2U2

At first, I was SO adamant on being team green!  With DS, we found out the gender at our A/S.  It was great to *know* ahead of time, and really helped with planning and picking things out, etc (though, I still tried to stay gender neutral on almost all the big ticket items!). 

I proposed to DH that I think we should let it be a real surprise until the birth.. it would be a great way to keep everyone from OVER buying things for us (Ugh! DS had/has SO many clothes -- literally, I have 6 huge bins of stuff he's already outgrown in my basement!!).  and, it would be a great way for him to be involved as he'd be the one to share the gender with our families..

He is absolutely against not finding out!

I see his side, really, I do.  DS will be just a year old.  If new baby is a girl, there will be things we'd need.. I'd also want to wait and do the nursery after baby is born that way I can pick an appropriate theme.. originally, my argument was that new baby won't be in the nursery for a good 4-6 weeks anyway, so we'd have time.. but, as DH keeps pointing out.. things will be a lot more challenging wrangling a 1 year old and a new born.. 

The more I think about it.. the more I think he's right.. it's better to find out so we can be fully prepared... less scrambling.. plus, it could take me quite some time to master the ability to get out of the house with 2U2!!

What do you think?

martinimomma

We were team green with DS and it was tough because I am total "planner" type person. But we just decided that in this 24/7 everyone knows everything about every thing culture, it would be neat to have this one true surprise. So we shopped an registered neutral, and left the room the chocolate brown color it was, figuring we'd add color as needed. People kind of thought we were nuts.

I have to say, I'm not sure anything will compare to the rush we got when the doctor lifted G up and announced "it's a boy!" Wow. The look on DHs face and probably mine too. It was so amazing. I would not trade that for all the advance planning in the world.

That being said, in the interest of full disclosure, we are leaning toward finding out with this pregnancy. LOL. Much like you, we have some logistic and advance planning reasons, so we may just let the true surprise come earlier this time. :

Good luck whatever you decide.

orangegoggles

We found out with DS but we briefly played with the idea if team green. I'm really hoping that we can be team green with the next one as it will be our last. I do understand wanting to plan but besides clothes what do u really NEED to buy gender specific?

charmedgrl517

We were team green with DD and I loved it! I really want to be team green again for the next one but DH really wants to know. There really wasn't anything that bothered me about not knowing. I agree that in our culture we have to find out everything as soon as we can and I really wanted it to be a surprise and it was totally worth it!! The anticipation during labor was amazing!!!! Not only meeting LO but finding out boy or girl!! We did everything, room, bedding, etc gender neural so we could use things for the next one too anyway. Good luck with whatever you decide!

spincat9

For us, we are team green people.  The idea of knowing everything beforehand takes a little of the excitement out of it for us, and there was absolutely nothing like that moment when my husband told me we had had a girl.  So next time we plan to do the same thing and not find out beforehand.  We registered for all neutral stuff, which we will reuse for baby #2 if we are so blessed. 

Really what you are talking about preparing is paint, curtains and maybe a few room decorations?  The clothes will probably come as gifts when baby is born, especially if baby is a girl and people know you will need girly clothes.  If you paint the room a neutral color and just wait on the curtains (you could pick out beforehand a boy set and a girl set if that helps you feel prepared) and just order them when baby comes.  That way you get the surprise, but you aren't scrambling.  It doesn't take long to hang curtains and a couple decorations. 

But if you do find out, and it's another boy, now you have no prep to do and you have no surprise....

Either way I'm sure you will do what's best for your family.  I hope your pregnancy is going awesome!

crystalknpp

We found out with DS but DH and I kept it a secret from family and friends so that he could make the big announcement and so we didn't get a ton of pink or blue that we may not be able to use with baby 2. DH really wanted to be team green though so our compromise was if we found out the gender with our first baby then our next one would be a surprise.

zschick4ever

I loved being team green with our son, I was the one that got to tell my husband we had a boy. We would have been team green with our next if there wasnt already the surprise of being pg and then seeing twins on the u/s. My husband said that was surprise enough and he needed to know if one was a girl. I on the other hand didnt want to know, cause what if we found out one and not the other. That is exactly what happened too, our daughter did not want to show anything in any of the u/s we had.

JulyMomma2U2

That's been my argument, too.. just clothes that we'd need.. and, really, in the beginning with DS (since he too is a July baby) he wore nothing but a onesie and a receiving blanket!  So, I'd have "time" before I'd need more clothes.. and, like everyone said, family and friends will surely buy us enough stuff if LO #2 is a girl....

The nursery is the big thing.  I did a mural on all walls essentially in DS's room.  The "theme" was aquatic.   Though it could be gender neutral, it's definitely more boy-ish. I have a few ideas for themes I'd want to do for baby #2.  Regardless, I'm not going to be able to go all out like I did with DS's room, but I still want to make sure it's extra special, like DS's.

MIL bought us DS's nursery set, and has said she wants to do the same for LO#2.. she says she wants to buy a white/cream set if LO2 is a girl.. which means, we'd probably end up waiting to order.. I, personally, don't really want a whilte/cream set.. I love our dark cherry set that we have with DS.. looks very sharp and is a similar color scheme to the rest of the furniture in our home.  I figured I'd get another dark set, but if she's buying again, I sort of feel obligated to let her go with the cream/white if that's what she wants if LO is a girl..

It's funny because I was so mad at DH about not wanting it to be a surprise, and now after weeks of arguing with him over this.. I almost find myself leaning on the wanting to know, now, too.. only because I'm so worried about how difficult it's all going to be once we come home with baby #2.  Decisions, decisions!  My scan is March 8th, so I still have almost 3 weeks to ponder

FmrAFBrat

I wouldn't sweat it too much.  The only reason we really find out is to get family off our back.  They would drive us CRAZY otherwise.  FWIW even though we are team blue again-it looks like we won't be able to use a lot from DS, just due to the time of year. Sad because there was an entire size he skipped.

JulyMomma2U2

esd:

I will start by saying I am not a team green person. I am a big planner and like to know so I can have everything ready. I would agree with your husband. Especially with your first LO so young. You're going to be recovering from a c/s I think on top of taking care of your first LO. My second c/s went better at first but because I was so active at home I had some complications.

i thinks this is why I may agree to find out... Simply because I don't know what to expect with a RCS and a 1 year old and newborn needing me... I'm so worried about the RCS... And how I'm going to handle DS (who already weighs 20lbs at 7 months!!)...  

adoxyinherear

I am a crazy, crazy planner and absolutely loved being team green. If we have more children, I want to be team green again. I think it just comes down to whether or not you feel you need to know the baby's sex to make plans. I never did, because so much of what we liked we felt could go either way. It was so much fun not knowing, and while I know birth is pretty magical and a tremendous surprise either way, finding out that our baby was a girl immediately after she was born was seriously the coolest ever.

jobiann

We wanted to know boy or girl with our first but the u/s couldn't tell us for certain and we decided against a 3D u/s.

With our next, if we have another, we will find out. I want to be prepared for number two. Most of our gear is neutral and a lot of our NB size clothing is neutral...but I'd still like to know before LO arrives.

Only you and your H can decide...GL!