Don’t you dare let the ultrasound tech yell out the gender at your appointment! Try these creative ways to announce your baby’s gender and leave a lasting impression while creating a lifetime memory for you and your family.
Balloon Box
Get a friend or family member involved for this one because it’s going to take some planning and preparation. Have your ultrasound tech seal the gender reveal in an envelope and then hand that envelope to the person helping you — along with a large decorated box, a long ribbon and a handful of pink and blue balloons. The person helping you will then have to open the envelope — in private and keep a secret — then fill the pink or blue balloons with helium and seal them in the large box.
Annie in San Francisco used this idea and brought along her professional photographer to capture the first time reactions of her son — and soon-to-be-big brother — husband and herself. The photographs will forever remind them that they, as a family, spent that special moment together and they were able to involve their first son in the celebration.
Choosing a pregnancy portrait photographer >>
Surprise cake
Take a sealed envelope containing the gender of your unborn baby to your local bakery and have them create a special cake for you. Plan a family dinner, take it to your favorite restaurant or spend some quality time with your husband while you cut into the cake to reveal if your baby is a boy or a girl. The bonus with this idea is that you get to eat the cake, too!
I love my little brother or sister T-shirt
If you are pregnant with your second — or third, etc. — baby, create a shirt for your older child that reveals the gender of his or her baby sibling. You can surprise daddy, your family or even all of you — if you get someone else involved to keep the secret — as your child walks in the room with a shirt that says “I love my baby sister” or “I love my baby brother.”
Bringing home baby: preparing young children >>
Gift from baby
Pick out a frame with the words “Daddy’s Girl” or “Mama’s Boy” and proudly display your newest home decoration with a picture of the ultrasound, or even a piece of paper with the words “Coming this September.” Then, once your baby has arrived, you have a special frame waiting for baby’s first picture.
Dinner party
Plan a casual family meal and secretly create a special menu. Alert your guests that you will be serving BBQ-style foods then serve either hamburgers or hotdogs to see if anyone notices. You can make your guests figure it out or you can plan ahead and hide clues all over the house leading up to the big reveal — when dinner is served.
Baby’s first outfit
Hand the sealed envelope with your baby’s gender inside to a store clerk and then shop around for your favorite boy outfit and your favorite girl outfit. Give both outfits to the store clerk and ask that they secretly wrap up the outfit that matches the contents of the envelope. Open the box in the privacy of your own home or during a family celebration to make it a special moment that you will never forget.
Tip: Make sure both outfits equal the same amount or buy a gift card before selecting the outfits so you don’t know which one was paid for.
More on baby gender
Boy or girl? Wives tales to predict the sex of baby
Tips on dealing with gender disappointment
Dealing with mama guilt over gender wishing
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