Things to know about gender reveal parties

Gender parties are kind of a recent development in the baby shower department. I don't think there is anything as exciting as finding out the gender during your pregnancy, with the exception of having the baby! It's pretty crazy to think people used to wait all 9 months to find out what their child was! And now? You can find out as soon as 12 -13 weeks with a blood draw. You can get an extra ultrasound at 16 weeks, or wait for your anatomy scan around 19-20 weeks with your doctor.

Oh the options! I'd definitely saying figuring out the timing is the hard part.

Then the actual party! There are so many different ways you can go about it. You can just invite family. You can invite the world. You can know before, or you can find out on the spot! (Which I personally think is most exciting). You can go all out in decorations, or just buy a cake. I mean it's all up to you! Gender reveal parties don't seem to have a standard way of doing things yet.

So This is what Matt and I did:

We had a genetic testing appointment, (someday I'll write a post on how much I did not enjoy that experience), and the gender blood test was an added service, and complimentary through our doctor.

I waffled big time on whether to even go to genetic testing, and then waffled some more on whether to get the blood test. It felt too soon to know the gender, but I knew a free blood test, which usually costs 100-150 bucks, is quite the steal. It would also prevent us from adding that "extra ultrasound" around 16 weeks. I knew for darn sure I couldn't wait until my 19 week anatomy scan with my dr. That was definitely not happening! So I caved, and we went to Genetic testing, mostly bc I heard the ultrasounds were amazing, and we took the complimentary blood test. Dun dun dun.

Then the waiting game began.

They said they would post the results to a 1800 # within 7-10 business days. The tech told me, oh it's usually sooner, so guess what I did? I planned our party for a weekend that only gave them 9 full business days to post the results. And guess who was having a panic attack when day 9 came and the results still weren't in?!? Me of course!

Well long story short- after pleading with the clinic and bugging my dr. We got the result. Or Matt got the result. I had no idea! And that Friday and Saturday were very, very long days!

Matt was in charge of keeping a REALLY big secret, and of getting the pink or blue balloons in the box, safely to our house. I said "if you tell anyone what is inside my uterus before me, I'll never forgive you." Even though I didn't really think this would be a problem (Remember our Honeymoon?), because I like to be suprised, and Matt likes to keep secrets and surprise me, but you best believe I put the disclaimer out there! Well, because he was laughing and giggling all weekend, and I was having intense dreams about having a boy, I was 100% convinced: I was having a boy.

Then came reveal day! We invited our family and closest friends. Matt told me not to go all out and make a huge fuss (he HATES to be the guest of honor), so we had some snacks and I invited everyone electronically the week of. And exactly 35 minutes after the party started, Matt opened the box for me. 

Was I nervous?! Oh heck yes! I woke up in the middle of the night before, sweating and convinced I should cancel. I stared at the ceiling for an hour thinking "What the heck did I do?!" I told myself: You can't do this! what if your reaction is weird!? What If I just stand there and watch the balloons with stage fright?! All these things were running through my mind. And honestly I almost chickened out weeks before. I told Matt that he should surprise me by himself, and then I can go buy a blue or pink dress for a reveal picture. But Matt kept repeating: "you've always wanted this honey. Stick to the plan." Lord I love that man for making me follow-through!

me saying, ok ok, just open it.

And I'm so glad I did. The videos we have are priceless. I found out I was having a baby girl on March 9, 2014 :) 

So, are reveal parties for everyone? Probably not. But do I think you should have one?! Of course!! What do ya'll think?? Have y'all had one? Do you think it's just one more over the top way to celebrate ourselves? My only point of advice - look for an outfit sooner rather than later. Finding a pink and blue in an outfit is tough!

ps. all my camera cords have gone missing. so I will have to update this post with pictures later.