Keeping Baby's Gender a Surprise

So my husband and I are expecting for the second time around. We have a 3-year-old son and have decided to keep this one a Surprise, just like we did with our first. I had initially left it up to my husband this time around to find out the gender of the baby, but he decided not to find out. So that was fine by me.

What kills me is the ignorance of some people, once you have told them that you are keeping it a surprise. Some people act as if there is something wrong with us. Like how could we possibly shop for the baby? Or why wouldn't we want to know? Or say again? etc... But the answers to these questions are really quite simple and all it takes is a little common sense to figure out the answer. I hate to come down hard on some people, but you have to put yourself in the parent's position when you turn and look at them sideways and roll your eyes. Or when you tell them, you should wait to have the shower, until after the baby is born so people can shop appropriately. Are you serious? What do you think a registry is for? I mean why is it stressful or annoying to anyone who is not having the child what we decide to do?

Anyways keeping it a surprise, is really very simple to do. I have written down a few tips as to how it can be done while keeping your sanity.

1. First and foremost, I think you and your partner should agree on keeping it a surprise. It would be very hard for one to know without the other finding out somehow.
2. Ask the nurses and the doctors to make a note on your chart and in the computer that you do not want to know the gender. So there are no slipups.
3. When shopping for a theme for the room, choose something neutral. For example:

a. Winnie the Pooh

b. Baby Looney Toons

c. Jungle Babies

d. Alphabets

e. Baby Einstein

f. African Dreams

4. When shopping for clothes, keep it neutral: whites, yellows, greens, oranges,

Creams, tans,

5. When painting the rooms, pick something that matches the theme

6. Pick out one or two names male and female or unisex.

And that is basically it. I think after being pregnant for almost ten months, something should be a surprise. You know you are having a baby, but there is nothing like finding out the sex of the baby when it comes out. It is such an exhilarating and exciting feeling to hear the doctor say it's a ? I can tell you that our families were a little annoyed when we didn't find out the first time around but understood this time, once they saw how we were able to do everything as far as shopping and planning for the baby normally. My son's theme was Winnie the Pooh and we painted his room green. The name was either going to be Dasir or Dasia. This time around the theme is jungle babies and we painted the room yellow and the name is going to be either Dasia or Desai. It can be a lot of fun not knowing the sex. Having people constantly guess or bet on it. But a baby is a baby, not matter if it's a boy or girl. So who cares about finding out ahead of time if the baby is going to be loved unconditionally.