Team Green: Letting go of my fear of the unknown

Prior to my own pregnancy, I was openly vocal about how I thought my friends that didn’t find out the gender of their babies were straight-up crazy.  I swore I could never do that. Citing the fact that I’m “too much of a planner” and stating that I would go nuts if I had to wait nine long months before knowing the sex of my child.

Team Green 2And then one day, after a nerve-wracking 3-minute wait, I explained to my husband that even though you have to squint really hard to see the second line… we were pregnant!  It was a moment I’ll never forget. One filled with smiles and hugs.  Fueled by feelings of excitement, hesitation, anticipation, love and certainly a fear of the unknown.

We were still standing in the bathroom, staring intently at our positive pregnancy test, when I asked Kurt if he would want to find out if our baby is a boy or a girl. He thought for a second and confidently responded that he didn’t need to know. And then, much to my surprise, I heard myself say this:

“Ok, I think I can do that.”

We embraced the unknown and surprisingly it felt right. We haven’t wavered in our decision since that day. In fact, the more I truly thought about it the more I liked the idea of not knowing the gender. Now we’ve even found ourselves advocating to our newly expecting friends to join us on “team green”, and here’s a few reasons why:

It’s amazingly practical.
This is especially true for the first child in a family. You’ll be forced to buy gender neutral baby gear which is more likely to be reused in the future, whether you plan to have additional children of your own or if it’s for the sake of re-sale or handing down items when you’re finished, neutral is nice.  Gender neutral baby showers have even been known to result in more practical gifts (so I’m told).  Not knowing the sex means that you’re less likely to be bombarded with a stream of baby outfits and more likely to be gifted the gear off your registry.  Let’s face it, we don’t all have the same style and even though neon pink may be your cousin’s favorite color, your grandma can’t get enough ruffles and your best friend can’t pass up any baby item adorned with a monkey… it doesn’t mean you want to dress your kid in it. Plus, if you’re a shopaholic like me, you can’t impulse buy every adorable newborn outfit before you knoTeam Green 1w the actual size of your newborn. For us, this decision is literally keeping money in the bank.

Neutral colors are on trend.
Contrary to popular belief, there are more gender neutral colors than just yellow and green. I’m a big fan of the trendy greys.  And how about red and orange or the teal and mint that you see everywhere? I’ve rounded up a nice assortment of starter clothes for our little one — onesies and layettes complete with fun patterns (bring on the stripes!), witty statements and an array of fun colors that I think will be easily adaptable to a little guy or girl.

It’s a compelling mystery.
Although I’ve heard many people make similar comments, I won’t go so far as to say that this is one of the last great surprises in life.  I can see how learning the sex mid-pregnancy would be a fun surprise, too.  However, I full-heartedly believe this route offers an even more dramatic build that you just can’t replace. Kurt and I have spent many nights discussing the “what if’s” of both genders and those are conversations that I’ve come to cherish. I’m also not opposed to the idea that this unknown piece of life-changing information will help me through labor and delivery.  It’s safe to say it will be thrilling either way, but I am SO excited for Kurt to have his moment sharing the big announcement after our baby’s birth.

I’ve decided there is something liberating about embracing the unknowns that come along with pregnancy. At this point, there are so many things that are out of our control as mothers that it only seems appropriate to say goodbye to the fear of the unknown and just enjoy the ride. The whole nauseous, swollen, hormone-fueled, amazing ride that it may be.

Are you a “team green” fan?  Share your reasons why or why not.

Jessi
Jessi is a creative, organized and enthusiastic girl mom with a soft spot for country music and all that it entails. She's a single mom to two sassy little girls (born in 2014 & 2018). She's putting down roots in West Branch, Iowa, just a few miles from her hometown of West Liberty. Jessi works in fundraising, event coordination and community development and enjoys hiking, crafts, bargain hunting, party planning, and taking in the simple joys of life. She is admittedly addicted to funny memes, is passionate about philanthropy, and is completely smitten by the adventure of motherhood.

1 COMMENT

  1. I am 110% on Team Green! For some of the same reasons you listed, but many more as well. As my sister put it, “There’s very little left in life that you can’t Google.” I am always a big proponent of not finding out, and I can tell you with certainty that it was most definitely part of what motivated me to get through the very painful last few hours of giving birth. There’s no better motivation!

    I wrote about it on my blog too:
    http://www.peanutmom.com/2014/like-a-kid-at-christmas.php

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