"A boy?"

I was tempted with this pregnancy to wait until the birth to find out the gender.  I've heard it's just a really special surprise, and parents who wait never seem to regret waiting.   Plus, we already have baby stuff, much of it gender neutral, so there wasn't the pressure to know in advance for the purpose of purchasing gear.  So I'd have been game for waiting, just to see what it's like.
But Sean was pretty set on finding out ahead of time.  Plus, we have trouble picking out names so it definitely helps to cut our choices in half.  In the end, we went ahead and found out.

Turns out it's a good thing we did.

After living in Astoria for a while, we would have known anyway.  Women up here are VERY vocal about letting you know what gender your unborn child is.  A grand total of TWO have actually asked me if I'm having a boy OR girl.  EVERYONE else-- and it has to be at least 25 perfect strangers by now-- has framed the question, "You're having a boy?" ... and it barely sounds like a question.  It's a rare day that passes when I am not told by some friendly woman that I'm having a boy.  One made a point of telling me she's actually psychic and has never been wrong; the others don't offer any clues about how they know.

At first I wondered if they were just guessing a boy because they would see Josephine with me and assume I would be wanting a boy next-- sort of wishful suggesting, or something.  Then, because so many of my informers were middle-aged or older Mediterranean and Asian women, I wondered about cultural differences and whether it was an old-fashioned assumption that every family ought to have a boy, so perhaps it was the way they asked in their culture-- naming the traditionally "preferred" gender.

But by now, I've had informers of all sorts of cultural backgrounds, and I've reached a level of near exasperation with how they ALL seem to know.  I have found myself looking down at my stomach after someone says it, as though I'm searching for some sign that obviously betrays the gender.  And I've started returning their question with my own: "How does EVERYONE know????"  But that is only met with chuckles or something entirely unhelpful like, "I have x-ray vision."

So, all I can figure is that the reason they know is something rather unflattering, and they're just too kind to tell me.  Something like, "It's your whale-sized appearance.  The fact that it appears you're carrying unborn children in each thigh.  Everyone knows that's a dead give away-- definitely a boy."

:-/

I've tried searching for old-wives' tales to see if I can find out what they're looking at.  I found things about footballs and basketballs and high vs. low.  I probably do look like I'm carrying low and long, but  that's only because I have a long torso.  I suppose I didn't look much different with Josephine, I just wasn't surrounded by all these vocal old women when I was in Austin with that pregnancy.  In fact, with her, I don't remember anyone guessing one way or the other.  But here in Astoria, you can tell the women almost see it as a personal challenge to be right about the gender.  The question/statement "A boy?" seems less about me than them, as though they take great pride in accumulating experience at guessing and at being right.  They all look very satisfied with themselves when I affirm their statement.  You can tell they've been analyzing pregnant bodies all their lives, have acquired endless anecdotal evidence as to how different genders appear in utero, and have reached a point of developing a sixth sense regarding a woman's gestational appearance.  A sixth sense that demands to be vocalized and affirmed so it can continue to develop.

It certainly seems to be every woman's favorite game up here.  And I admit, it's fairly amusing BECAUSE I already knew the gender.  I suppose I'd be highly annoyed if I were trying to wait to find out, and everyone under the sun was telling me it's a boy.

Speaking of old wives' tales, I have my own theories about this one having a full head of hair.  Isn't that supposed to be proportionate to heartburn?  Josephine gave me a little, wee bit of heartburn.  She had some hair when she was born, though it all fell out, and she remained follically-challenged for nearly two years.  This little guy, though, might come out part chimp.

In fact, at the growth scan I went in for on Tuesday, the ultrasound technician did say she saw hair on his head-- little spikes.  :-)  All else checked out fine in that visit.  He's still about 58th percentile from their weight and size estimates... they're saying he's about 5 pounds now.  (They also admit their estimate carries a 20% margin of error, so they could be off by a pound in either direction).  But at his 20 week scan, the tech also measured him at about 60th percentile, so it sounds like he's carrying on along the same trajectory.

I'm 34 weeks now.  According to babycenter, his lungs are strong by now, and babies born after this point tend to not have any difficulties, really, so that is comforting.  I'll be heading back to Texas in a week and a half.  Sean will be arriving a couple weeks before the due date; so Junior has instructions to hold out until then.  He's already a strong little booger, though.  Won't be surprised if he debuts early... perhaps even sharing a birthday with my sister on July 19...

Anyway, here's a belly photo at 34 weeks.  I'm standing next to my three favorite possessions in NY: window fan, AC unit, and our bed.  (But you can't see the bed-- it didn't end up in the frame.  Just picture a square.  A very comfortable square.)

See???  CLEARLY it's a boy.  So obvious.