sex vs gender

The other night I was out with 2 co-workers and they were asking about how the pregnancy was going. I mentioned we had hoped to have an ultrasound "to find out the gender of the baby" then quickly corrected myself to say "the sex of the baby." They both looked at me, sort of dumbfounded that I would replace "gender" with "sex" saying "they mean the same thing."

I am not well versed on the subject, but to me, the word "sex" refers to genitalia; and as I understand it "gender" is a social construct that polarizes "male" (or masculine) and "female" (or feminine).

Now, I'm not trying to get too semantically deep.  A lot of time I want to be a manly man that is masculine. But a lot of times I feel insecure or whatever because I'm not so much. I'm sensitive, and I cry, and I can sew, and don't know half the rules of football, and hate baseball, and so on and so forth...

Anyways, for our baby I'm aiming to stress gender-neutrality to a certain degree. I don't have a problem with having a boy that gets obsessed with football or a girl that likes pink, or vice versa.

I've not done much to research any prevailing thought or philosophies or insights or the like, but feel pretty confident that what I think makes sense...

Thoughts?

Wool, Gender...

I've had good intentions to write a post that included a photo of the first present I bought for our expected buddy: two pairs of merino wool baby booties, colored orange and green--as gender neutral as I could get...

I'm obsessed with wool and it's inherent ability to keep animals (including human animals) warm and dry... Anyway, they are kinda cute, and despite all the reviews that complained about them being too small, I bought them anyway. They were on sale too...
--
All is well around here. C hasn't been burdened by nausea so much, but did learn that peanut butter granola for breakfast will make her puke her brains out a few hours later... wooops.

Not much else to report. Trying to get an ultra sound scheduled before Thanksgiving, at which point we hope to find out the sex of the baby. I haven't put a lot of thought into it beyond being anxious to know and to start narrowing down baby names, or at least rule a few out. It seems pretty hip these days to not find out and be super gender neutral about stuff, but I don't see any harm in knowing. I don't plan on forcing football on a boy, or Barbie Dolls on a girl. No matter what I plan on impressing our child with punk rock, skateboards, bikes, and gardening... I do have some slight concerns about a future baby shower and receiving gifts that are all pink or all blue...
--
Oh, and C was looking on a Chinese Gender Calendar or something, and determined that, based on the month of conception, our baby will be a girl... weird...

Sleep

C's stomach has generally been feeling better during the day, but sleep has been rough on her and her back is really starting to suffer. Not sure if it mostly the fault of our mattress, or if it is purely the result of her growing belly. Anyways, we are seriously considering getting a new mattress--about which I know nothing...

I actually slept really well last night, and felt more awake this morning than I have in a while. It was probably because I had made coffee last night and set the delay brew for 6:45 this morning...

Speaking of coffee, I've been selfishly enjoying my caffeinated brew daily, while C has managed to keep away from it usually. We both know it's not very good for the baby, but understand that small amounts of caffeine wont hurt (apparently it's okay to drink wine???), but might boost C's spirits/mood/feelings/patience/energy at times.
--
I'll mention I've been having a lot of premonitions that the baby is a girl...