Derrick wanted a son, so I'm happy for him. I really didn't have a preference. I love the girl names we had picked out, but I'm happy with a little guy.
A couple of months ago, while in the line at the city dump, I asked Derrick what he wanted to do in regards to this kid: did he want to find out what we are having? He said, "Yeah, I want to do one of those videos..." Huh? Oh, a gender reveal party, gotcha. He said he wanted to find out, and then surprise our family, but I said I'd rather be surprised than surprise others. So we decided to ask my sister-in-law, Aliesha if she would help us with the surprise. She readily agreed and we chose the date of Saturday, July 29 for the party because it was the week of my birthday (and a good excuse to get people together) and I would be 20 weeks along.
So! We got an ultrasound done the second week of July, which was an okay experience. She pushed really hard, which hurt a bit. The technician seemed quite capable, but was very quick, it was a very in-and-out situation. She hurriedly pointed out the face, spine and leg and then said it was time to close our eyes and wiggled the wand around my abdomen for a second before telling us we were all done, and it was time to wipe off the goo.
At one point there was a titch of movement and Derrick asked if that was the baby moving, the technician said yes, but it really looked like she'd pushed it just a bit with the wand, it didn't look like real movement. That was a bit worrisome. It just looked like a picture. Stillness. Ugh.
And my baby's face looked like an alien, hahahaha.
I asked the technician if she was SURE she could tell what it was, because I didn't want to do a reveal if there was a big chance it'd change. (I didn't care one way or the other, I just didn't want a bait-and-switch situation.) She brushed off my concerns with a quick, "Yeah, I'm sure."
Ughhhhh... stress, worry, the usual.
My anxieties won out and I scheduled an ultrasound at an independent shop on the morning of Pioneer Day, less than 20 hours before I turned 33.
Such a different experience. (I absolutely always have the "Such a difference" line from Return To Me pop in my head when I think something similar. "I got sick on Swiss water once." Hahaha)
It really was a better experience, though. Firstly, THE BABY WAS SO WIGGLY! Yayyyyyy!
She pointed out that it's hand was up by it's face, and it's mouth was moving. We asked if he was sucking his thumb, and she said he probably was. Awwww. At one point his arm was up by his head, almost waving. My heart melted at the sight of that little kid. My kid. Our kid. Ugh, so cute, that tiny arm.
She didn't push hard with the wand and the picture was so much clearer and I could actually tell what was happening. It calmed anxieties I didn't even realize I'd had.
She had us close our eyes and got the money shots, and said she was completely certain the sex of our baby. She told us she would not say one way or the other if she weren't certain. Yay!
And the baby's face looked more like a skeleton than an alien! Yay!
On the way to Aliesha's, to drop off the second sealed envelope before I got a chance to give in and rip it open, haha, Derrick started planting horrible thoughts in my mind, haha. "What if it says something different than the first one? What if one says one thing and the other one says the other?" Ugggggh. Finally I realized we'd go by the newer, clearer one. But just to be safe, we'd have Aliesha open the envelope while we were there, so I'd know for sure they didn't say two different things. Hahahaha
(Worrying about everything all the time is SO MUCH FUN, lemme tell ya.)
We decided on Super Mario Bros theme, because I'd seen a cute picture of a Super Mario Bros nursery, and wanted to do that for our nursery.
We debated over and over how to do the reveal. Little figures popping up out of a warp pipe? A light up ? box? A piñata?
We finally decided on punching up on a ? box that I would paint. So I worked on that box, colored pixelated coins, painted Princess Peach crowns, painted a ? block for a photo backdrop, made clouds and a warp pipe for the photo back drop, and other little crafts. Derrick painted Koopa Troopa shells and little warp pipes he'd cut out of thin foam.
Derrick and Emma helped me cut out the coins, which took FOREVER.
Alexa's cousin helped by mowing the backyard and sweeping the grass off the back patio, Alexa helped decorate with Sophia and Emma. And miss 'Quattie Elizabeth decorated the front walkway in sidewalk chalk.
Derrick did made the sandwiches and other food prep, I made the batter and Emma cooked the cupcakes and Sophia helped frost them, I made the various ingredients for the peach cobbler trifle (two puddings and a crumble) and Deborah helped layer them, and Jared cut up strawberries.
Aliesha did the preparations on the reveal box, which was AWESOME, and Clarke put together the music, including fun songs for when we found out it was a little guy.
I really need SO MANY HANDS for my big projects like this. I'm very appreciative for everyone jumping in and helping out.
It got super overwhelming.
Between super high anxiety, stress to get it all perfect, tons of noise, people asking me tons of questions, having to greet guests while still prepping things, etc... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh.
People (ok, like three siblings) kept pushing to do the reveal, by yelling things like "LET'S DO THIS!" while I was trying to greet guests and show them around the new place at their request. Not helpful one bit. Frankly, super annoying.
I was starving, and by the time I actually was able to put something on a plate and sit down I was bombarded with people demanding it was time. Can I please breathe for a second? Maybe one minute?
When we did the actual reveal, I was so incredibly flustered. I was trying to figure out with Derrick if we were doing a recording, or going live on Facebook? Aliesha had told us to feel for the pole, and we had to hit it just right, or the reveal wouldn't work as intended. Clarke had told us we had to wait for the end of the music he'd prepared before punching it.
We quickly went live, handed off my phone, tried to shush the people yelling "DO IT!" while we waited for the music, felt for the pole, and suddenly it was time to punch it!
I was trying so hard to just be in the moment. That's something I struggle with. My brain is a constant barrage of thoughts, often competing. I tried to be there, not listening to everyone yell, not worrying about the video of me going out to 600+ people, not worrying about what reaction I SHOULD have... but I failed at all that.
He punched, I flailingly punched as a reaction to his punch. Green came out. My mind went somewhere... Green? How do I react? What should I do? What is Derrick doing? Am I happy? Am I disappointed? Aaaaaaaaaaaaah.
So it looks weird on video. At least to me. I look like I have no reaction whatsoever. Instead it was about eleven different reactions at once.
If I had had a moment of clear thought, instead of rushing to please people, I'd have remembered to explain to everyone why we were doing bright pink and green rather than the blush pink and baby blue, as is usual.
I explained it after the fact to Derrick's grandma:
Firstly, I am just not one to do the exact same thing everyone else does.The nursery theme is Super Mario Bros (the video game from 1985), and so we decided to have the birthday party/surprise reveal also Super Mario Bros themed.
The male/female pair of the video game are colored Red and Pink, which are far too close for a fun reveal.
I've always preferred Luigi to Mario, anyway. I'm a younger sibling, and the younger siblings always got to be Second Player, which is Luigi. And in Super Mario Bros 2, Luigi has an extended jump in play, which is helpful, and made me love him more.
Therefore, green.
But yay! A boy!
Now it's the waiting game and the debating what to name the sweet little guy. We have ideas, but it's not solidified. Less than 19 weeks time until we should get to meet him.
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