Gender Stereotypes

I can now feel the baby moving a lot.  It happens randomly but I think it’s definitely stronger and I can now feel it without my hand on my stomach.  It still feels kind of weird and foreign but it’s cool at the same time.  It’s like a vibration or like a little bubble.  Usually it’ll happen while I’m laying on the couch watching TV.  I don’t notice it as much if I’m sitting or walking around.  Joe keeps putting his hand on my belly to try and feel it but he says he can’t feel anything even when it does move.  Maybe I can feel it more since it’s actually inside of me.  I hope he gets to feel our baby kick soon.

 My friend came over for a visit.  It was really nice having company and I was really happy to see her.  We talked mostly about life stuff but she asked to see the baby gear I got so far.  I showed her the turtle decorations I got for the nursery.  I mentioned again how I thought that getting all gender neutral things actually leaves you better prepared for the baby since you’ll be able to reuse stuff.  I mentioned, if I knew it was a girl and I got a pink pack n play with flowers on it would I just throw it out and buy a new one if I had a boy next.  She brought up an interesting point.  She simply said, why not just put the boy in the pink one?  She’s against gender stereotypes and I actually do think she makes a really good point.  Just because your baby is a certain gender doesn’t mean it has to be confined to only having specific types of toys and colored clothing.  I want to do the baby’s nursery in turtles which is all green and blue stuff.  I realized that maybe it looks more geared toward a boy and wondered if I should rethink it, but I like it.  And now I realize it doesn’t really matter so much.  Gender identity for a newborn doesn’t really matter so much.  My baby will just be figuring out life.  Once he or she comes to realize who they are as an individual and what they like, they’ll let me know what their interests are.