22 weeks with Olivia: How we all found out

OK so I’m not saying I hate gender reveal parties. (I’m lying, I kind of do.)

First, we are revealing the baby’s sex, not gender. Difference. It must be the medical background in me. And calling them sex-reveal parties sounds like a kinky good time. In fact, maybe I should have had one and invited everyone I knew for my sex-reveal. Would you guys have come?

Second, they’re impersonal. Don’t get me wrong, I know a lot of people have them. Please don’t unfriend or unfollow me. That’s the beauty of America. By all means, have a party. I just always knew when I find out the sex of my baby, I wanted to do it in private. I didn’t want a crowd of people cheering and clapping as the pink or blue is shown and I am trying not to blubber.

So Chris and I talked a few weeks before we had our anatomy scan and I gave him a choice: Did he want to be the one to find out first or did he want me to tell him? Or should we do the ONE, TWO, THREE! thing and find out together? He decided that he wanted to be the one who told me. So I gave him that. He sat back as I found out every pregnancy test result I did for the last six years first. I wanted him to have this honor.

How I found out

If you haven’t read about the anatomy scan results, you can read it here. The tech gave us the secret envelope as we were leaving and Chris dropped me off at home so I could shower and basically distract myself. He then drove off to this clothing boutique. He told me later that he pulled up next to the store, opened the envelope, saw the ultrasound picture, and took a deep breath. Ok, he thought, before getting out of the car and entering the store. His task was to choose an outfit that the baby would come home from the hospital in.

Meanwhile, I was back at home, straightening my hair and reflecting on the fact that within the hour my life was going to change and by now my husband knew if we had a boy or girl. I may have had a baby inside me, but I was about to become a mom to a son or daughter and that was huge. I had a friend ask if I was going crazy waiting. I told her I wasn’t. For once in this infertility journey, I wasn’t waiting on news that would be good or bad. This waiting around was only going to reveal great news. And I was never going to get this moment back. So I put on makeup and made the bed and waited for Chris to come home.

When he arrived, he placed this on the table.

So we took some pictures with it before opening it.

Chris was really excited and gloating because he already knew what color was in there. And Toby just kept wanting to sniff the box, wondering what was going on.

So we sat on the our bed and I had the present in front of me and was sweating bullets. I didn’t think I would be that nervous. I ripped off the wrapping paper and drew in a huge breath as I removed the box top. There was white tissue paper taped together and in one tear, I pulled the sides back…

…and saw a pink outfit.

And you guys, I lost it.

“AHHHH! It’s a girl!” I shrieked. I put my hands over my face and just burst into sobs. Then I threw my arms around Chris who was tearing up at this point and I just kept crying. “It’s a girl! I can’t believe it’s a girl!”

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I would have been so happy if it turned out it was a boy. But there is just something so warming to know that the whole time, my intuition was correct. My body may suck at creating babies but at least I know my mother’s intuition is there.

The rest of the day was surreal. I just kept repeating, “We have a little girl. I have a daughter.” And then I would cry and the cycle would repeat itself. It was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to find out. Chris could not have picked a better going-home outfit.

How my family found out

The following Saturday morning, my parents and sister came over before we all went out for the day at an outdoor art fair. So the plan was that Chris and I were giving them all auntie, grandpa and grandma presents and then we had the baby outfit in a bag and we’d show them that at the end and that was how they would find out. We got on Skype with my other sister who is out of state.

I got my one sister a drink cup that says, “I’m the crazy aunt everyone warns you about.” 

My dad loves to fish, so I got him this fishing mug that said, “Grandpa: a reel keeper.”

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I got my other sister a mug that says, “World’s Okayest Aunt” (in case you can’t read it in the picture).

Then I handed my mom a box for her grandma present. So they’re all sitting there, with my one sister on the computer in front of them, and I am watching my mom open it and for a few seconds they’re all staring at it all, “Aww, that’s cute!” and completely not registering the fact that it’s pink with an ultrasound picture in it.

And this next picture is blurry because bless my husband trying to snap pictures, but my mom wasn’t getting it, and then I cheered, “You’re going to have a granddaughter!” and my mom jerks her head up at me. “What?? What??!!” she says, her eyes wide and her whole face looking completely shocked, and Chris didn’t have time to switch modes on the camera, but I still had to include this picture:

This next one was the picture I used to make my Facebook announcement. Though it’s blurry as well, it made me cry when I first saw it. My mom is showing the frame to my sister on the computer and the emotion captured in here from all three of them is priceless.

It was, as when I found out, perfect.

My mom even surprised me with a little gift which is hard to see in this picture, but is a necklace that says “Due in December.” It has the blue birthstone for December and is absolutely adorable.

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I have a little girl. And my husband has a daughter, and my sisters have a niece and my parents have a granddaughter.

It’s been a good week, you guys.