conuly | *jawdrops*

Current Mood: annoyed

Maybe it's just me...

Will It Be a Boy or a Girl? You Could Check the Receipt
By LINDA SASLOW

When Rochelle Ludwig became pregnant last year, she and her husband, David, debated whether to find out the sex of their baby early. Knowing that a routine sonogram at 20 weeks would most likely provide that information, they ultimately resisted the urge to look.

Laura and Lloyd Rosenbaum also thought it was important to be surprised. "When we thought about the excitement when the baby is born and you hear, 'It's a girl!' or 'It's a boy!' - we didn't want to give up that moment," she said.

But the Ludwigs and Rosenbaums wanted someone to know, behind the counter at the baby store.

Maybe it is another example of big city neuroticism. Or maybe it is the ultimate in practicality. But the Ludwigs and the Rosenbaums are among a growing number of Manhattan parents-to-be who do not learn the sex of their baby early, but still want the nursery decorated when baby arrives. So they choose two sets of furniture, clothing and bedding, then ask the store owners to call their obstetrician to find out whether to submit the order in pink or blue.

"It's a New York mentality," said Dr. Ricky Friedman, an obstetrician on the Upper East Side. "With the new technology at our disposal, just about anyone who wants to know the sex of their baby can. But for about half of our patients, who want to be surprised, they still want to be fully prepared, and everything still has to be planned perfectly."

Susan Johnson, co-owner of Blue Bench, in TriBeCa, has kept the secret for a dozen customers. But the service is starting to get more attention in places like New York magazine.

"The first time a customer asked me to call her doctor, I was so nervous and afraid that I'd blow the surprise," she said. "After we had spent hours together picking out two sets of furniture, bedding and curtains, once I knew what she was having, I told her not to call me again during her pregnancy."

Keeping the secret is especially hard for store owners when family members come snooping around.

"There have been several occasions," said Pat Meyerson, co-owner of La Layette, on the Upper East Side, "when a sister or mother-in-law has called and asked us to share the secret, but we never tell. Once we know the sex of the baby, we write it down on a sheet of paper and put it away - so we can try to forget that we know."

Ms. Johnson said one pregnant customer asked her to share the secret only with her mother.

"She wanted to have the nursery painted, carpeted and decorated in time for the baby, but didn't want to know herself," she said. "So every day when she went to work, her mom came to her apartment and worked on the room, then padlocked the door before leaving. For months, she lived with a padlocked nursery."

Not knowing can be excruciating, the expectant parents say.

After the Rosenbaums' sonogram, the technician wrote the sex of their baby on a slip of paper, folded it into a sealed envelope and handed it to them. "We made it for one block, then ripped up the envelope and threw the pieces into a garbage pail," Ms. Rosenbaum said.

But a month later, she returned for another sonogram, "and this time brought it to my doctor's office, so the stores could know." (It was a boy.)

Some parents look for clues, said Pamela Scurry, owner of Wicker Garden, on the Upper East Side. One customer, she said, had ordered two sets of layettes, but came back with her mother to choose alternatives when some items were unavailable.

"When the saleswoman spent a lot of time with them choosing a new pink blanket, they were smiling at each other, certain we knew it was a girl," Ms. Scurry said. When they chose an outfit for a bris, the circumcision ceremony, in case it was a boy, "and the saleswoman spent even longer helping them, they looked at each other again, now convinced that it was a boy. They were so busy trying to figure it out, without really wanting to know." (It was a girl.)

Temptation sat in Ms. Ludwig's home for weeks. After she had ordered two sets of bedding and two gliders, one with pink fabric, the other with blue, she told the store to ship the order to the home of her husband's family. But three weeks before her due date, the glider was mistakenly shipped to her apartment.

"For three long weeks, it sat in our nursery, in a huge box marked 'Do not open,' " Ms. Ludwig said. "It was torture." (The glider came in blue.)

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From:

kibbles.livejournal.com

What a moron - I got classic Pooh and that was gender neutral. Lots of baby stuff is.

I will say something -- my cousin opted not to know, and she chose Beatrix Potter, which is gender neutral. Sadly, they didnt have everything she wanted, it was discontinued, and her next choices were not gender neutral.

So, she burst into tears in the store, whipped out her cellphone, and called her doctor.

But see, that's pregnancy hormones talking, as opposed to the pre-planned insanity mentioned in your article.

From:

beetlebomb.livejournal.com

You can't go wrong with Winnie the Pooh! Even as an adult I tend to have lots of Tigger stuff around the house as he's my favorite!
Other gender-neutral themes would include the circus and Noah's Ark.

*jawdrops*

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