Girl...I feel ya on the Oreo's...wish I had some (that statement would make Judy laugh and smile)!

Hope the ultrasound shows a perfectly healthy little Mill's baby!!! Can't help you on the surprise thing. We found out with both and although I would, in theory, love to wait if another Kramer comes bouncing along (weird mental picture there) I don't think I could...but I have heard that it is AMAZING to wait and find out at delivery!

As for Aiden and poop...(again, weird mental pic), Em had issues with that during potty training too. We had to eventually use a stool softener, but she was only 2, so it would be WAY more traumatic for her now at 3. Over Christmas, she got sick and her diet was way off and she went like 4 days with no poop and the doc had us give her some drink which did finally work...it was traumatic too, but bettter than the booty bullet!! The prob is that if they go too long, they can start getting sick...I speak from experience..just TRUST ME on this one! We have to be pretty cautious with E's diet b/c of it...Good Luck Ashely, I know it's no fun!

uhhh...proofreading duz wurk...sorry ASHLEY!

Ha! Thanks Karen. I am nervous about tomorrow for some reason. I appreciate the prayers for a healthy mills baby! I think that no matter how many you have, you never stop worrying...at least thats the case with me! on potty training, ugh. I may call the doc this week. he saves it up until bedtime when we actually DO put a pull up on him to get him through the night and then he goes and goes and goes...gross. parenting is just gross.

So, I obviously have NO potty training advice... However, if you don't want to know MAKE SURE YOU TELL THE TECH. That way they can turn the screen away from you when they take the femur measurements. Otherwise you'll "accidently" find out and the dilemma will be taken of by not you!

Turn those oreo's into some yummy oreo balls! You know I wanted you to find out real bad but now you've sold me on the whole not finding out bit, be strong - you'll be glad and you will bond just as much as you would if you found out the sex.

We found out every time... I've never had the patience to wait. For me, the ultrasound was a fun way to find out too. As for potty training... Try "Potty Jail." It's what my pediatrician recommends and it does work. Figure out when he's going everyday and tell him he can't leave the bathroom. You can even put a dvd player in there and let him watch movies until he goes. He will eventually do it and see it's better than having it on him.... Lucy would climb to the top of her closet and sneak a pull up on herself and go in that for some reason, but never ever wet/mess her panties. I tried not to make a big deal about it, but it is so frustrating when you know they are perfectly capable of doing it. Good luck today!
Hey, you could always have the tech write the sex on a card and seal it in an envelope and do something more fun with it, then just having her blurt it out. Like later go to dinner with your families or something and have a "big reveal." Just a thought.

HOLLY you are tempting me! EVIL WOMAN!!!! thats a wonderful idea!!! potty jail AND envelope...but I will be strong. I have to.

I couldn't stand not knowing, but, of course, I don't even have one...might feel differently on the third. :)
But I love the envelope/reveal idea and the Oreo balls. My stepmother makes those every time we're home, and I can't leave them alone!

You are definitely NOT Aunt Petunia, just for the record.

I have no advice about poop. Ew.

And for what it's worth, I have friends that did the "surprise" with their 2nd child and they swore they would never find out again. (They plan to have a big family.) It was one of the coolest experiences in their life.

But hey, if you're going to find out (which would be completely acceptable!), I like the envelope idea. Make a big dramatic thing out of it. Yessss.

I admire your willpower. There is no way that I couldn't find out. I am just not that strong! As for not bonding with your baby....complete hooey. That's like people saying if you lick a slug your tongue will go numb. Whatever.

Poop? Yeah, we had trouble with that too. Aiden took about 6-8 months after peeing in the potty to get that figured out. We basically went through a lot of underwear. Have patience, it will happen. Meanwhile, I would stock up on tighty-whities and bleach!

We so wanted for Jack to be a surprise. However, we had an extremely difficult and emotional pregnancy and I gave in and found out what we were having. I have lots of friends that waited and they loved every minute of it. I am just too much of a planner. Plus, I think that I knew deep down inside what he was, but didn't want to really tell everyone for fear that he would come out a girl. Then everyone would think that I was disappointed that he was a girl and not a boy like I had thought. :)

I always had a hard time getting Joshua to go poop. This sounds bad, but I would put a pull-up on him and wait for his "pooping squat" and then rush him to the potty and place him on it. I had to really watch for his clues and then work at really getting him to go. I don't think that he was ever terrified of it, but that is what helped me. Other friends have just waited their kids out. I also heard of a mother that would place her child in a cold shower if they pooped in their underwear. Sounds a little harsh, but every child responds to different things.

Hey-Ultrasound update: Baby looks great! I stayed strong! So I guess I'll just hold on tight from here on out! ;)

Sunny-I remember hearing how scary everything was for you. I would have totally found out, too, if i were in your shoes. sheesh that would be scary. What a blessing he is a perfectly healthy boy!

If I wait aiden out, he will be seven before he ever pops a squat. ;) I think hes totally constapating himself in the meantime...womp womp

Cold shower = torture; please don't do that. And say no to laxatives unless he actually needs them to poop. I know kids that have been worse off in the potty training business by having laxatives used on them when they didn't really need them (like WAY worse off, as in almost turning 5 and not going). I say just give it time, he'll do it eventually.

I also think you should totally keep it a surprise. Hard, yes, but just think how cool it will be when the baby comes out and they say "It's a.....!" Also, like you said before, it's definitely a fun design challenge.

OH MY GOSH I'M STILL THINKING ABOUT HOW I DIDN'T FIND OUT TODAY! UGH. I can't focus on it or I'll call the dr. and be like, omgah what is it!!!??? yes, Kara, must focus on the future...

Wow, I have no experience with any of this. Sorry I can't give advice! :-)

I do think it's funny that Karen said "booty bullet".

I read your post one day too late. We didn't find out with either of the boys and it's amazing! Of course I don't know what it would be like to know. But it is soooo exciting when that baby is born and the doctor tells you what it is. It's a feeling that I can't explain; intense excitement, love, peace. It truly is meeting your baby for the first time. We actually forgot to look or ask for about a minute when Nolan was born we were just so excited he was here. And then we got to be excited again because he was a boy, of course we would have been excited too if he was a girl.

As far as not bonding with the baby, that's bull! Just because you don't know what it is doesn't mean that feeling it's kicks, hiccups, wiggles and such makes them any less amazing or precious to you.

Truthfully the only hard thing about not knowing is trying to decorate the nursery and buy clothes. There is very little cute, non-gender specifics things available. The GAP has some adorable knitted outfits for infants in white or cream that make great outfits for coming home from the hospital.

You can also try and give the baby a nickname. We called Ty, Squirt and Nolan, Peanut. We still call Ty, Squirt and we call Nolan, Nolan-nut. It's so cute too how Tyler talked about his peanut when I was pregnant.

Continue to stay strong and commit to enjoy the ride. Plus, it's awesome how much not knowing annoys so many other people. It's so funny to me how other people, even those you barely know, get so emotional because you chose not to find out.

Sorry I am a little late reading this! I never seem to catch up with your blog until it feels too late to post.

So about the baby thing. We didn't find out with Will or Gracie and it was difficult not knowing. I love to make plans so this was a real challenge for me. We even had them write on an ultrasound picture what Will was and seal it in an envelope... not a good idea. Corey ended up having to hide it at church somewhere because he knew I could not be trusted with it laying around the house. Yes, I was the child that would hunt for my Christmas presents all over the house because I could not stand the suspense... wait, I think I still do that! Anyways, when both babies were born it was the most magical, special thing to hear the doctor say, "It's a ....". I can't explain to you the sheer excitement and joy that we felt in those moments. It is something that I will always treasure. I even thought Will was going to be a girl and Gracie was going to be a boy! So much for mother's intuition! It didn't matter what I had thought before, everything just went away and we celebrated the child that was just born. Crazy, I know, but one of the best things we have ever done.

Now, on to poop! We really struggled with Will making "brown" (which is what he decided to call it, we still laugh about that name). I was even so desperate one night that I found myself praying (to myself) while he sat on the potty that he would just go!!! We called his pediatrician desperate after a week or so of him not going. They calmly said that it is just a waiting game. That it will come and that putting pressure is one of the worst things we could do for him. They told us to remind him to try every now and then but nothing else. He said that every time he went it would get a little better until one day it would be no problem at all. We had a few accidents that first month but we just encouraged him about using the potty and eventually (after a month or so) it is no problem. Hang in there. It seems like this part will never get better but even this too shall pass!

Okay, I'm late reading. Ugh. Well, you didn't cave and I am impressed! I would not have that will power. Just think, it will make you push that much harder in a few months :). Sorry about the poop. Surely Emerson will be a better potty-trainer ;).

Well I would devote some time to urging you to change your mind and give that poor genderless baby in your uterus an identity, but I already know that you "stayed strong" so there's no point. Honestly, I really have no problem with you not finding out the gender of your baby. It's ME not finding out the gender of your baby that bugs!

I am late - BLAH! I am so impressed that you did not find out!! I thought about it for like a few minutes since we have one of each, but that went away quick!! It will be so exciting when you have the little sweetie!!!!