We know it's wrong to laugh, but surely a little chuckle can be forgiven after reading about the woes of Sarah Sharples – a mum-to-be who didn't realise the cardinal rule of newborns: they will always, always surprise you!
Unfortunately poor (considerably poorer, in fact) Sarah put her trust in the doctors who told her at her 20-week scan that she was expecting a baby girl. Yep, a girl. No question. One hundred per cent.
And so excited was the first-time mum-to-be that she went girl crazy – and spent an astonishing £3,000 on every baby bit-and-bob you can imagine – all coloured PINK!
Sarah, 25, who lives in Blyth, Northumberland, with husband Lee, filled her house with £500 of pink clothes, £1,000 of pink nursery furniture, and a £900 pink pram, as well as the essential bottles, bath and bibs.
They even decorated the pink nursery with stencils of their supposed daughter's chosen name, Lily-Mae.
But when Sarah went into early labour at 36 weeks, both she and Lee, 37, were surprised to meet their beautiful little baby... BOY. Called Joseph. Oo-er!
Now the subject of whether girls should be dressed in pink and boys in blue is fiercely debated in parenting circles, including right here on Parentdish.
But Sarah is a traditional mum and, anyway, it's each to their own, surely? But she may well be wishing she'd chosen a more neutral colour scheme than the one she went for.
Recalling her SON'S birth, Sarah said: "I couldn't understand it when the midwife said it was a boy. All our scans had confirmed it was a girl and I had everything prepared in pink.
"It was my first baby and so we had to buy all the essentials. I wanted everything to be perfect for her so that she would want for nothing.
"Being prepared was my main concern, and seeing as I knew I was having a girl I didn't see the harm in buying everything in pink."
When Sarah went into labour four weeks early, she felt secure in the knowledge that everything was ready for their new arrival. But when the midwife went to hand the newborn to her she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Sarah said: "The midwife said to Lee that there was something we needed to see "I instantly started panicking thinking what could possibly be wrong. She then said she wanted to congratulate us on the birth of our son.
"We looked at each other and couldn't believe that Lily-Mae was actually a boy.
"We decided to name him Joseph as we didn't think he would appreciate the name Lily-Mae."
Sarah and Lee then had to start the mammoth task of trying to get back the staggering £3,000 they had spent so that they could get Joseph everything he would need.
Lee said: "There was so much to change and friends and family have been so helpful.
"The supermarket let us exchange everything. But we still have a lot of pink things that we can't return and so we're just keeping them and hoping, at some stage, we have a girl.
"The nursery is now redecorated with a Monsters Inc. theme, so we think Joseph will prefer that to a pink room."