"Is it a boy or a girl?" seems to be the most popular question among expectant mothers, but you know what? Sometimes we decide to wait it out and receive the greatest surprise of our lives in the delivery room. Let me tell you - I was SURPRISED! I had expected all along that I was carrying a girl. Historically, all the guys my husband worked with had girls so we jokingly assumed it was the Naval equipment they worked on that consistently resulted in females across the board. Therefore, we assumed we were having a girl. I even framed the first ultrasound photo in a pink frame. I was that sure.

I'm a big fan of fun so I thought it would be a good idea to let both of us have a say in the naming of our unborn child. My heart was set on a girl's name already so I told my husband that he could choose the boy's name. Keep in mind that I didn't stress out about that boy's name because I knew deep down that I would be giving birth to a baby girl. At the appointment where we could find out the baby's gender, I opted not to find out. Like I said, I'm a big fan of fun so I wanted to wait and make it the best surprise ever, even though I already knew I'd be hearing, "It's a girl!" when they pulled that baby out.

Naturally, pregnancy and childbirth went exactly as planned and... Just kidding! That's not the way this story went at all! Instead, I found out that I had a breech baby all curled up inside of me and I would need to schedule a c-section. With that date in mind, I worked my final day at my job and prepared to enjoy my last weekend selfishly taking care of myself. But my adorably breech baby had other plans in mind. That beautiful child inside of me was more eager to meet its mama than I was even mentally prepared for.

As I laid on the operating table, anxiously awaiting the moment my life would forever be different from what I'd previously known, the anesthesiologist asked if we had names in mind. It was his kind way of drawing my attention away from the fact that I was scared to death to have this major surgery performed on myself. In a daze, I looked up at the light above my face and saw confirmation that my baby girl's name would in fact be Stella, as the light smiled down at me wearing the name Stellar. I shared that little detail with him as my husband shared his own name choice, in case the baby was a boy, which we both knew wasn't the case.

"It's a boy?!" I heard shouted in sudden surprise from my husband, almost as if it were a question he needed confirmation on. And that's when that little girl I assumed I was carrying inside of me instantly turned into Joseph Thomas, a family name my husband bestowed upon our son. All fear I had of raising a person the opposite gender of me vanished after meeting my son. I had no desire for a girl any longer. I was completely in love with this perfect little boy that had chosen me as his mama. Stella Lynn never was, but it was a fun way to decide on our child's name without exhaustive arguments, allowing both of us to come up with our own name based on the baby's surprise gender. I highly encourage anyone else to give themselves the surprise of a lifetime and wait to find out their baby's identity as well. It certainly keeps the baby shower from being all pink or blue stuff, that's for sure!