Gender Predictions!

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I'm 20 weeks along which where I live means, we can officially (try to) find out the gender of our third little babe! It's actually been a BIG decision for us, deciding whether we should find out or not. A little backstory, I LOVE surprises. Like, I am obsessed. I remember accidentally finding one of my Christmas presents as a child and being absolutely devastated. I threw it back in the bag and cried for so long. I apologized to my parents over and over again for stumbling across the gift (it was one of my "big" gifts that year). Even if Zach is planning a gift or surprise date or something, I will go out of my way to avoid getting any hints. I'm also not a planner. I am about some things. I like my home organized. I like lists and like party planning. But for a baby, I've just never felt like I needed to know the gender in order to be prepared. I completely know that some people do, and it really is such a personal choice but not only do I love the surprise, I really do feel as prepared as someone can be for a baby, even when I don't know the gender.So, you can probably guess that both Dex and Elle's genders were revealed to us in the delivery room. I bring a going home outfit for a boy and a girl and some other neutral (grey, white or cream NOT yellow or green like everyone always assumes when I tell them we don't know the gender) pieces. Usually the same day they are born, my mom and sister have already run to Baby Gap and bought out half the newborn section, washed everything and filled the closet because they are so excited.Both times, the surprise was pretty magical. With Dex I swore from the beginning he was a boy. I blogged my whole pregnancy on my old blog, and it's so funny for me to look back and see how sure I was. I literally didn't even have a solid plan for a girl name because I was THAT sure. His birth was an emergency c-section, and after the most stressful labour and surgery, seeing his little boy parts held up over the curtain and hearing my husband say "It's a boy. It's Dexter" was literally the best second of my life. Elle's birth was a little less eventful (thankfully!) and she was born via successful vbac after about 3 pushes. I had no idea what I thought she was going to be. They asked me right before I pushed and I said boy, but I was still 50/50. They had nicu on standby because of some heart rate issues when I was pushing, and she didn't make any noise or cry for a while after she came out. When everyone was shuffling around and I could tell she wasn't crying, it stressed me out so much that I didn't even think of her gender. The nicu took her, and I heard a couple people mention girl and then my husband yell/ask "It's a girl???" in the most excited voice ever. I still had so much adrenaline rushing through me and nurses sticking me and just waiting for my baby to cry that it was mostly just over my head. They brought her back to me and put her pink hat on and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had a GIRL!!This time around, though, we have decided to find out after our ultrasound. Okay like 95% decided. A part of me still thinks I'll chicken out and say "NO don't tell me!" and just forget about the whole thing. The main reason we want to find out this time is just to try something different. I think it would be so cool to connect and bond in that way with the baby while pregnant. I've never been able to say "my daughter" or "my son" while expecting. It's always just "the baby" or occasionally "it". We also thought it would be cool to tell Dex, who is so interested in my belly and the baby, what is to come. Lastly, we might have some room rearranging to do depending on the gender, so we might get a head start on that. All that to say - I am so nervous/scared/excited to find out!My friend Marissa did a little gender prediction post on her blog and I loved reading it so thought I would do the same here. These are obviously all old wives tales and even Marissa's post, the majority said girl and it was a boy but I love this stuff so I'm into it.Right off the bat. I have no solid guesses. At times I've felt girl for sure and other times boy. Zach has had two dreams since I've been pregnant and it's been a girl both times and my dad had this really crazy dream of all his grandchildren grown up and this baby (being his 5th) was a girl. Lately (as I hit publish) I am feeling boy. Like a lot. I don't know why, we've just been feeling so natural and peaceful that it would be a boy but seriously, who knows!

Chinese gender calendar

:

it says

GIRL

but was opposite/wrong for both my other pregnancies.

Carrying high (girl) or low (boy):

I think low, but it might be too early to tell.  

BOY?

Baby's heart rate (over 140bpm is a girl, under 140bpm is a boy):

140 right on! Sneaky little thing. TIE

Skin changes (they say boys make your skin better and girls make your skin worse-think acne):

My skin went CRAZY with breakouts at the beginning and being so dry but it's evened out a bit now. Also this one was opposite for me the other two times. My skin was a nightmare with Dex and the best it has ever looked with Elle. TIE

Nausea (nausea usually means its a girl, no nausea means it's a boy):

The most nauseous of all my pregnancies.

GIRL

Cravings- sweets (girl) or salty (boy):

I crave everything these days but probably more sweet/cold things.

GIRL

Cravings- fruit (girl) or meats and cheese (boy):

Fruit - gimme all the watermelon and frozen grapes!

GIRL

Headaches- yes (boy) or no (girl):

Yes headaches.

BOY

Leg hair (less hair means girl, more hair means boy):

I haven't noticed any change so I'm not sure on this one BUT - I do see some new little fuzz on my belly - so that's awesome.

BOY

Does your husband have more brothers or sister:

More sisters.

GIRL

Feet warmer (girl) and colder (boy):

What even is this one? If my AC is on they are cold, if I'm outside, hot.

Has dad gained weight (boy) or none at all (girl):

No he hasn't. But he never has in the past either. He's a runner with the metabolism of an 11 year old so I don't trust this one at all.

Chest has not grown (girl) or it has grown (boy):

it has like tripled but after nursing 2 babies I was starting from absolute zero, like what is smaller than a AA?

BOY

Urine- bright (boy) or dull (girl):

dull-ish?  

GIRL

Sleep-if you sleep mostly on your left side it's a boy, on your right side it's a girl:

Both, I flip flop all night. TIE

So from these we have 6

GIRL

and 4

BOY

and a bunch of BS in between haha.

We will definitely see next week, and I can't wait to share the gender with you guys! What do you guys think it is? Did you find out before the birth or wait until baby was born to find out the gender?

Thanks for reading!

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