It's a boy.

I'm a list maker.  Several months ago, I made some lists like these:

A. Reasons Not to Have Another Child	B. Reasons To Have Another Child
I am about to exceed the ideal maternity age range. Three is the maximum number of children that fit in the backseat of a compact car, so we would need to buy a bigger vehicle. We used up the last of our cryobank supplies with Child #3. We have a perfectly good brood of children already and another one would mean diverting more of our limited time, attention and resources from the original three.	We want another child. Maybe my daughter would get a sister.

In the beginning, Option B was a long shot.  List A was twice as long as List B. Moreover,  Item A:1 was particularly compelling to me, since I had always intended to avoid the risks of bearing children after age 35 by simply not doing that.

But then Item A:3 was surprisingly easily resolved and crossed off the list.  Now List A was up by only one.  And while Item A:2 was a valid logistical concern, it seemed a bit too superficial to take very seriously, resulting in a virtual tie.

Taking a closer look at List B, Item B:1 was absolutely necessary if we were to go with Option B, but in another way, it also seemed superficial, especially when considered in light of Item A:4. 

Item B:2 is what finally swayed me toward Option B.  I have two sisters myself and I really like having sisters.  There are many advantages to sisterhood.  I wanted that for my daughter.

Of course, I knew that even if I had another baby, I could outnumber my daughter even more by producing yet another boy instead of a girl.  In fact, this would be the most likely outcome, since 51% of American babies are boys.

The fact that obtaining a more even gender mix in my family was the most logical reason for having another child, coupled with my own personal preference for having a second girl instead of a third boy, seemed to guarantee to me that this last child would certainly turn out to be a boy.

So I wasn't surprised when I looked at my baby in the ultrasound and saw that extra appendage.

But I was disappointed.

I'll get over it.