Baby Boy or Baby Girl?

Giovanni and I decided that we wanted to know the gender of our baby before the birth, but we didn’t like the idea of finding out in a sterile room with a technician we just met, during the 19^th week ultrasound. We asked the technician if she could check and see the gender while we looked away, then print a photo from the ultrasound with the exciting news and place it in a sealed envelope for us to open later. She agreed and also brought in another tech to verify the gender before she printed the photo. Giovanni and I were so excited to open our envelope and find out if we were having a baby boy or baby girl.

I am getting bigger and bigger! Here I am at Week 25.

We wanted to find a special way to celebrate and open the envelope and we knew we wanted to capture the moment on video or in photos so that we could share with family and friends. Our family being so far away, we felt it was a great way to include everyone and it would generate a precious memento for us to look back on. It took us some time to work out the details and set up what we wanted to do, and that envelope was just staring at us from the kitchen counter every day! Everyone was asking “Do you know if it is a boy or girl?” and we were anxious to find out.

We arranged to have the moment we discovered the gender videotaped and set the special day for November 11, almost two months since we had left the ultrasound with the news sealed up inside the envelope.

My ideas for the filming of the video.

To prepare for the video of us opening the envelope, we went to Michael’s to buy supplies to create our own little letter building blocks. I wanted to spell out BOY and GIRL. We spent the evening beforehand painting blocks in pink and blue to use as props.

The finished product!

They turned out just how I pictured them. So cute!

We also went out and bought adorable matching pink and blue cuddly sleepers and little pink and blue stuffed animal rattles to use in the video. We would keep the set that matched the gender at the end. It was so much fun! The anticipation was fabulous and we really enjoyed preparing for the big unveiling.

This was a hard picture to take of my belly!

We also decorated the envelope containing the ultrasound photos with question marks and wrote special scripture verses on it to declare over our little one. It was a wonderful experience to prepare for the moment we discovered what we are having, and it has been difficult to keep it a secret these past days while the video is getting its final touches.

The famous envelope!

My parents will be arriving tomorrow evening to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We thought that it would be the perfect time to start revealing the news, beginning with them. We have the opportunity to share the moment in person and they will be the first ones to watch the video and find out the gender of their first grandbaby.

We will share the news with our friends and family starting this weekend and hopefully also post the video up online. Everyone has their votes in on whether we are decorating the nursery in pink or if it will be in blue!

So what do you think? Will it be a Baby Boy or Baby Girl?