Boy, Girl, or Golden?

During my first pregnancy, I decided I didn't want to know the baby's sex until delivery. My husband went along with this plan, although I think he was a bit reluctant. When people asked me what the baby was, I used to say that if it was a Golden Retriever I was sending it back.

Once again, I have been facing the gender questions. Despite not having a due date, let alone the opportunity to know the sex, people are terribly interested in my preference about having a boy or girl. This time around, I feel like saying I'd prefer the Golden Retriever. They are cheaper, don't require breastfeeding, potty train earlier, and learn to sleep through the night sooner.
Really, I know 'Retriever' is not an option. But neither do I have a choice in whether I have a boy to roughhouse with my son or a girl to play dress up with a sister to whom she would be very close in age. At this point, I'm just hoping we aren't expecting both!

No matter which, some of the changes in our family will be the same. We will need to purchase a bigger home. Space in ours is already at a premium, even without another roomful of toys and baby equipment! Boy or girl, someone still has to give up "their" seat in the mini-van. And, honestly, what mother would put down in pen and ink her preference anyway--knowing someday her computer-literate child just might find an old blog and wonder if Mom really wanted a ______ instead.

Poor child, if you are reading this, Mommy would've been very satisfied with a puppy. A cute, cuddly Golden I could have named Rocky or Goldilocks and had no one tell me they didn't like the name. At least, I would have preferred that until I knew you existed. Since that discovery, it has taken me some time to wrap my mind and life around the changes that are coming. But, boy or girl, we would never be complete without you now.