Hellobee Boards

For Lala we opted to not be team green because I needed some help with bonding and picturing the little one I was carrying. It was also really nice in planning and purchasing. With Maisie, there was an indication that she could be a girl, but there was only one US and it was a maybe... so we played on team green. It was very fun to look at her after birth and say, "She's a girl!"

I found out the gender because I like knowing and planning and it helped me visualize this little baby inside of me. The idea of being team green is appealing but if I could go back and re-decide, I'd still want to find out.

We plan on being team green. Why?
-Our nursery decor will be gender neutral anyway
-We really don't want pink and blue stuff and clothes, we prefer neutrals
-We aren't circumcising a boy, so no need to plan that
-We have name lists for both genders and plan on waiting till we meet the baby to choose a name anyway
- We find that team green parents receive far more useful gifts at baby showers, like gear, instead of clothes.

Here's an option though - find out, but don't tell anyone you know.

Oh I forgot to mention... at least in my case, once we decided not to find out, it really wasn't all that hard. It was a decision we made and that was that!

And yes, unless you are doing a bris or some other ceremonial type circumcision, at least in our case, there was no planning necessary... they explained the pros and cons in the hospital and offered to do it right then and there if we wanted.

The first we found out because I wanted to, next time we'll go team green for dh.

Pros: gender neutral stuff in case you have a second
The fun surprise

Cons: for lo we got lots of cute personalized stuff as gifts, wouldn't have done so if we were team green
can't plan out everything, like name.
People will be annoying asking and making comments

I loved being Team Green with both my pregnancies; for me, I never cared to find out, but my husband did struggle a bit with our first. I was about 7 months along when he told me he wanted to find out. I told him to "suck it up because we're almost done." We were both way more committed to being Team Green with #2, though; it was easier because we were both motivated to relive the "big reveal" we experienced the first go around.

For me, the pros to being Team Green were:
- I didn't have any expectations, so I couldn't be disappointed. I felt like, if they had told me the sex during pregnancy and they were wrong, I might have experienced some gender disappointment.
- It was a lot of fun. Being Team Green builds up a lot of excitement around the birth, not just for my husband and me, but for our friends, family, coworkers, etc.. We had a lot of fun guessing/talking about what sex the baby might be during pregnancy.
- We truly did not care about the sex for either child. We wanted one of each, but we plan on having three kids, so the sex of the first two didn't matter. Now we have one girl and one boy, so the sex of the third won't matter, either.
- Practically, pretty much everything we bought/received as gifts for DD we could reuse for DS. It was fun to celebrate both of their births by going on a shopping spree, though. Kinda the best of both worlds: practical gifts during pregnancy and fun, gender-specific gifts/purchases after the baby comes.
- Birth is incredible on it's own, but finding out the sex right after birthing my babies added another dimesion for me, I think. I think part of it was just the build up; another part of it was that everything is amplified by the excitement of birth, just because your hormones and emotions are already running high. Birth in itself was amazing, but then hearing the big announcement put it over the top, for me.

I really wanted to be Team Green, because I wanted DH to announce the sex to me as soon as the baby was born, but he has already said he wants to find out ASAP. I'd still like him to be the one to tell me, though!

I'm extremely type A so there was no question about whether we would find out. I also want to start bonding with the baby in a way that I can call it by its name and use the specific gender pronoun.

DH orginially was wanting to be team Green, but has agreed to find out with me as he knows its importantto me to be as prepared as possible.

@hellobeeboston: I doubt that people who are team green feel like they're less bonded with their child. Men do seem to be out of the loop a bit during pregnancy just because they're not experiencing the physical side.

Does your husband feel like he'd bond better with the baby because he can refer to it as he/she? You can do that anyway without knowing! Does he want to daydream about things he'll do with the child? He can imagine playing softball with his little girl or dressing up his little boy for the ballet!

@Minnie_Girl: Good point on the gender/sex statement. However, some people are ok with gender biases. Honestly, I would have a hard time dressing my son in pale yellow. Wrong? Maybe. Does it bother me? Nope.

Good thing we are lucky enough to have the choice - wait and find out or find out early. Best of luck!

For us we wanted that moment, after LO was born, where the dr or dh said "it's a ...". I don't see how being team green stops you planning anything. People say that all the time, "i had to know so I could plan", I always wonder, plan what?

Not many people here find out so I am used to the build up of anticipation of whether it's a boy or girl. I'll be honest that when the sex and name are known beforehand the birth is a bit of an anticlimax - you already know all the info. That's just me though.

For us it's similar to a first look at a wedding. Some people like it because of the practicalities. I wouldn't have traded that moment when dh first saw me as I walked towards him to marry him for anything.