My Thoughts on Being Team Green

It's been a little more than a month since Olive was born and I've had some time to process my thoughts about being "team green" and not knowing her gender before she was born. Here's my take on the experience:

1. Being TEAM GREEN was fun

Even though it was hard, both Drew and I enjoyed not knowing the gender of our baby. It was fun to hear people's guesses, to look up old wives tales, and to dream and wonder for an extra 20+ weeks what our baby would be.

But, I think a big part of why being team green was fun for me in the end was because I had the gender that I thought I was going to. Let me explain. Many moms have a "mother's intuition" and often times have a strong feeling about what gender their baby is. In fact, mother's intuition is claimed to be right more than 70% of the time!

I had a pretty strong feeling that this baby was going to be a girl. My pregnancy was {so} different from when I was pregnant with Isaiah and also Olive was a totally different baby in the womb. My whole experience was different this time around. The night before I went in for my induction I asked Drew to cast his final vote on what the baby would be. He said boy. =) But I said girl and I was almost positive I would be right!!

Love this little face!

Although I tried hard not to, since I thought the baby would be a girl, I tended to think more often of our lives with a baby girl in our family instead of a baby boy. Thus, I wasn't disappointed when we had a girl because I had already sort of been thinking it was going to be a girl. However, if someone thinks strongly that their baby is a certain gender (or is hoping strongly for a certain gender) and then the baby ends up being the opposite gender, being team green could be a disappointing experience on birth day.

I will also add, though, that even though I thought my baby would be a girl I still felt a little disappointment when I realized that she wasn't a boy. I had washed all of Isaiah's old baby clothes and put them in the nursery dresser drawers. And I was a little sad when we came home from the hospital and packed those up and I realized that I may never use them again. I was overjoyed that I had a daughter yet somehow missing the son I could have had. Does that make sense?

Olive loves bath time! (But hates getting lotioned up!)

2. Being TEAM GREEN is not for everyone

Like I mentioned in this post, I would not consider being team green for my first baby and unless I had atleast one of each gender already. For some people that's not a big deal. But for me, I only felt comfortable being team green because I had both hand-me-down boy and girl stuff on hand, and because I was not hoping for a certain gender like I would have been had I not already had one of each.

But everyone is different and you have to consider your emotions and personality before you decide if team green is right for you. And remember, it could be hard to deal with any "disappointment" if your baby is not the gender you had hoped for or thought he/she would be... especially when you are flooded with all those after birth hormones that make your emotions go wacko!! It may be better to allow yourself a little time and work through your feelings at the 20 week mark rather than wait until baby is born.

My sweet matching girls!

3. Being TEAM GREEN was worth the wait

The moment Olive was born and I saw that she was a girl was {indescribable}!! (You can read her birth story here). She was born face up, so right when the doctor held her up she was facing me and I could see what she was. No one had to tell me! It was amazing to hold her on my chest and finally know what my baby was. I kept saying, "It's a girl! It's a girl! Oh my goodness, it's a girl! You're a girl! I knew you were a girl! I knew it!" 

It was definitely a high that was worth the 9 month wait! And it took me forever to get over the fact that she was a girl. Even though I had a strong suspicion that she was going to be a girl I still couldn't believe it! Lol! It is a great memory that was worth the wait to make!

4. I would consider being TEAM GREEN again but not sure if we would be

If we have another baby I would consider being team green again. I liked the surprise and the anticipation. And I liked the amazing feeling of finding out her gender on the day she was born. But it was also hard! I would have liked to have known if Olive was a boy or a girl so I could be a little more prepared. And I also liked finding out Isaiah's gender before he was born so we could start calling him a "he" and start thinking about our life with him in "gender specific" ways.

Kisses for baby sister!

The bottom line is that there are pros and cons to being team green. There are exciting things about it and disappointing things. (Just as there are no matter when you find out your baby's gender!) Some people are team green for every single pregnancy and some people would never even consider it (and some people are forced into it by an uncooperative baby on ultrasound day!). {But} the reality is that whenever you find out your baby's gender (whether at 20 weeks or 40 weeks) it will be a fun and wonderful surprise! One that is worth the wait!!!