We had our mid-pregnancy anatomy ultrasound scan yesterday morning for baby #4.  And it turns out we’re having a:

Raccoon-Frog-Footy Baby!

We took all the kids with us for the scan (as we have for every other ultrasound scan I’ve ever had) and as the doctor did the exam and the baby moved around (a lot!), that is what the kids decided.  Honeybun thought the face (when facing straight on) looked like a racoon.  I thought the legs at one point looked like a frog.  And Sugarplum thought it had a lot of feet.  (Doodle kept his thoughts to himself though he was very patient and excitedly pointed and said “bay-ba!” a few times.)

What we didn’t find out was the gender.  We never have before and we don’t have plans to this time either (I thought about writing a post about why we choose not to find out, but I did that when we were expecting Doodle and not much has changed so you might as well just read my original “The Mystery Baby”.)

I just finished watching Jill Duggar’s gender reveal episode (which is kind of weird timing since she already had the baby…) and I know it’s becoming a really popular thing.  But I don’t really get it.  I guess I see the appeal in having a reason to celebrate each pregnancy rather than just the first but I really, truly don’t get to obsession with needing to know the gender ahead of time.

I guess it all comes back to our culture’s current state of needing instant gratification.  Of needing to be able to plan every second of our lives.  Of having a deep seeded desire to know what is going to happen at all times.  Of feeling uneasy about the unknown.

And while I can’t say I don’t feel these feelings in life as well, I can say that I don’t stress over knowing what gender my baby is going to be.  Not for one second have I wanted to know or have I felt anxious about not knowing (I was anxious about the idea of having a boy with Doodle but not the not knowing).  I have never thought that knowing ahead of my baby’s arrival would solve any of my concerns, worries or anxious feelings.

I love the excitement of not knowing.  I love the few moments when our baby is born and the only people who know anything about him/her are the people in that room.  I love that I get to fall in love with my whole baby the second I see them for the first time because before that moment, I know nothing about them.  It really is love at first sight.

So for now I am more than content in knowing simply that I have a perfectly healthy baby growing inside me (with a normal size head and no placenta previa!)