The moment we found out we were pregnant (I’ll tell this story one day!) we wanted to share the news with our loved ones. We couldn’t wait! We only waited a week to tell our parents & siblings. We discussed when we should start telling our families the exciting news over dinner one night. Right in the middle of dinner we jumped up, grabbed our things & headed over to their houses unannounced. We walked right in and blurted out the news. “Hi! WE’RE PREGNANT!” We couldn’t keep it in any longer! We just couldn’t!!! I was hoping to do something cute & sentimental but didn’t have the patience in me to do so. We were about 5 weeks along when we told them.
Then we shared the news with our dear friends and extended family about a month later. To be honest sharing the news made it feel more real & exciting. I could also finally talk to people about it! The first trimester can feel very isolating. It totally sucks. I needed my mom to talk to <3 We also agreed that no matter what happens we would want the love & support from them. However, we didn’t tell our nephews, ages 8 & 11, until later. I believe we were 14 weeks when we told them. We had them over to make dumplings & played a game of hangman which is how we shared the news to them. They had to guess a sentence which said, “You are going to be a big cousin!” They were shocked at first but then a few moments later they couldn’t stop talking about their baby cousin.
At our first midwife appointment we talked about getting the Qnatal and Qherit test which is a blood test where you can find out the sex of your baby by week 10 of your pregnancy. The test also screens for certain genetic conditions. We were lucky that our insurance covered the costs of these tests otherwise it would have been an expensive test. Apparently insurance companies are covering these tests because of covid (unsure the reasons why?) If you are high risk (carrying twins for example) this test is normally covered by insurance.
I went to get my blood drawn and a week later we found out if we were having a boy or a girl.
The moment we found out we were pregnant we had a feeling that the baby was a boy. I suddenly started to really like the color blue & the color pink started to turn me off. Ha! Coming from someone whose whole brand is dusty pink I thought it was strange!
I also suddenly felt myself getting excited to do all the boy mom things. Between you & I, I was hoping for a girl these last few years. In fact I dreamt of a family with 3 girls. No reason at all other than the fact that Angelo would be the sweetest girl dad. So I found it a bit strange for me to suddenly envision myself with a baby boy & not so much a baby girl. Of course, at the end of the day, it does not matter what we have or who they become as long as the baby is healthy. <3
The original plan was to find out the sex of the baby the same time our loved ones did but it made things complicalted & that meant that we would have to wait a few days longer for us to find out. We wanted to know ASAP!
So we decided to find out just the two of us at home over the phone & then we’ll surprise everyone that evening over a zoom call.
And that’s exactly what we did. I was in the middle of writing emails when Angelo came into my office after a work call & we called the doctor. The poor receptionist we were talking to had to hear us talk through if we wanted to find out now or have it be a secret. We went from; “If you can email it to this person, we want to do a gender reveal…” to “But we can know right now! Let’s just find out now! Just the two of us!” She double checked and I’ll never forget the sound of her kind voice when she said, “You’re having a baby boy.” Oh! Here come the tears as I type <3 We instantly hugged one another & couldn’t stop saying, “A boy! We’re having a baby boy!”
I was moving around all over the place with excitement & shock. I danced my way to our bedroom where Layla (our pup) was napping and squeezed her so tightly and told her that she was having a baby brother! And then I followed with, “Awe, I wanted a girl, but it’s okay! It’s okay! I’m so happy! A BOY! A baby boy.”
Angelo, you can imagine how happy he is about a boy. I tear up thinking of the relationship him & baby P will have. All of our guy friends are SO excited to add a little dude to the group. And our nephews! They are SO excited and told us all the things they’re going to teach him like tying his shoes & playing soccer. It’s the sweetest thing.
That evening we put together a gender reveal zoom call with close friends & family. What we ended up doing was buying 3 blue balloons & tied them up to Layla (our pup) and had her in the other room. Once everyone was on the call we opened the door & Layla walked into the room such a happy girl with 3 blue balloons attached to her. Someone on the zoom call said, “What the f***”. Hahaha! Everyone thought we were having a girl! Everyone other than my father-in-law and my sister. So it was a shock for most people!
My friend put it perfectly she said, “It’s like, the sex doesn’t matter but just learning every new detail make that little person much more real” and it’s so true!
Covid or no covid I don’t think we would have done it any differently other than having our parents and siblings together at the same home. We never planned on having a big gender reveal party. The zoom call was perfect though, everyone found out at the same time <3
We cannot wait to meet you Baby P! I am currently 17 weeks & I started to feel him move. What a crazy, beautiful experience. <3
xoxo,
V
