XX or XY?

I remember having a conversation once with The Boy about the Shettles method, which says there is a difference between boy and girl sperm. While male sperm tends to swim faster, female sperm (an oxymoron, sort of) is more durable, and this Shettles character argues that you can semi-plan the sex of your child by conceiving closer to your ovulation date for boys and further away from it for girls. At least I think that's how it works -- someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The Boy is a bit on the macho side (it's endearing... usually) and very African in that First-Must-Be-A-Male thing, so he said what any normal guy would say in response to this: "All my sperm are fast swimmers. I've got super sperm." In other words: he's got far more boy-bearing tendencies than girls do. Of course he does.

I don't think he's ever lived that statement down. I make fun of him for it constantly (in jest) and amongst my friends from time to time (in earnest). I see him saying it in a superhero outfit, fist in the air, "Super Sperm Man" and so forth.

So the sex of this baby was a bit of a cliffhanger for me in a goofy sort of way. I didn't have a preference either way, but I knew what The Boy thought of his own childbearing abilities. A sick part of me wanted to prove him wrong just to see how he reacted; I know deep down he wouldn't care but would he actually revise his Super Sperm statements?

However, from day one, I thought it was a boy. Well, probably more like from day 60, when I saw the little alien-like life form wiggling around in my belly for the first time. I would catch myself calling it a "he." I had a girl name all picked out, but no boy names, so it just seemed logical that things would fall towards the more complicated route.

At the ultrasound, the doctor asked if I wanted to know the sex of the baby and I unhesitatingly said yes. "It looks like you're having a little girl..." he said to me, motioning to a meaningless blob on the screen. "Really?" I said, a bit surprised. I wasn't disappointed in the fact that it was a girl so much as I was just confused that I had been so wrong! "That's what it looks like," he affirmed, and continued clicking away on his machine while I absorbed the news.

And then, of course, I thought of The Boy and his super swimmers and had to stifle a chuckle.

So that was it. A girl! Over 80% of people who made an official declaration before I found out appeared to have been right, I guess I'm (we're) an easy case to read. Amazing. Almost everybody was right but me...

We went on with the ultrasound and the doctor showed me the head (looking good), the eyes (creepy!) and then he measured the femur and the nose and an odd assortment of things I didn't think were high on the priority list. It took about 20 minutes but it felt like five -- I love catching glimpses of itty bitty hands and feet and all the moving they can do.

Towards the end, he said, "Let me just go back to check the gender again, because from the position we were looking at things, I just want to be sure." We had looked at the baby from below, staring up at two little butt cheeks and a crotch.

Click. Click.

"Whoa! Good thing I checked!" he exclaimed, and pointed to a very definite penis. "C'est un petit zizi!" I don't know who was more amused, the doctor or myself. We spent the rest of our appointment giggling and then he said, "Well, I had you thinking the wrong thing for 20 minutes or so, but that's better than almost 20 more weeks, right?"

So apparently the little guy had just had all his junk on top, the sneaky devil.

Congrats to Emily, Aimee, Misplaced and Crimson. You make up four of the five people TOTAL who thought I was having a boy. I think at least 25 others guessed girl... even the doctor was fooled!

I am so, so excited that I can't help myself. In a weird way, knowing the sex has given the baby a human dimension he didn't have before. Now I can refer to him as a he and not as an "it" (step one, right?) and I can imagine him more clearly. I also have little conversations with him sometimes, even just in my head (but also out loud a fair amount, I'll admit). And I can start shopping for clothes, because even though I am not necessarily looking to dress the little guy up entirely in blue, I find that French stores (and American ones, too, probably) still like to divide children's clothing sections by gender. At least I know which side of the shop to daydream in now.

So the next step, of course, is a name. Oh my God, that is one mighty, mighty task.

Also, here's me at 22 weeks -- two weeks ago. I've got to get the most recent pics up because the last two weeks have seen a major growth spurt. So that's me when I'm clearly pregnant when my belly is exposed, but otherwise passable with a sweater on. Not so much the case anymore.

Name suggestions are welcome! My two requests: 1) Not a super duper common name and 2) a name that works in both French and English. Ok. Have at it.

Also: There is a conflict now. Which Boy are we talking about when we say The Boy? I think I might just have to call them both by their real names eventually.