Let's Chat About...Gender Reveals
For me, being 52 years old, gender reveals are a fairly new thing. We never really did that back when I was having children. In fact, I only found out with one out of six kids what the gender would be. And when women did find out the gender, it was through the ultrasound at 20 weeks and wasn't 100% accurate. Now days, they can find out at about 12 weeks through a blood test. Times have sure changed.
Gender Reveal parties are becoming as popular as Baby Showers. This is an event at which the sex of an expected baby is revealed to family and friends as being either male or female.
“We can trace gender reveal videos first being uploaded to YouTube back to 2009,” Stephanie Shih, a public affairs manager at the company, told HuffPost. “The trend of gender reveal videos began to emerge on YouTube in mid-2011 and continued to grow in terms of uploads and views from then on,” she added. “In 2017, YouTube saw a 60 percent increase in views for gender reveal videos compared to 2016.”
There are many different ways to announce the gender. Here, our son and his family reveal by shooting off rockets of confetti. Casey is a MN Viking fan and Kamille is a Green Bay Packers fan, so if the confetti is green and gold it's a girl and if it's purple and gold it's a boy. It's a girl!
Our daughter Abbie and her husband Evan have 2 dogs that they think the world of. They wanted them to share in their big day, so for the reveal, Ridge and Willa ran up the stairs to us with either pink or blue neckerchiefs. It's a girl!
Cassidy and Trey decided to find out the gender of their baby by diving into a cake with either pink or blue frosting in the middle. It's a boy!
Jenica and Noah did it a little different, instead of them finding out the gender at the party, they already knew and surprised us. We all got a cupcake that had pink or blue in the middle and we took a bite at the same time. It's a boy!
Often times games are played at the gender reveal parties. Some of these include:
Baby Bingo
Baby Predictions
Gender Predictions
Name Suggestions
Old Wives Tales
Guess Who...Mommy or Daddy
There are many explanations for the increasing popularity of gender reveals. With medical advancements in recent years, parents can find out the sex of their unborn child earlier in the pregnancy and with more accuracy than in the past. It’s no secret people love the opportunity to throw a themed party. And in a time when the world seems full of bad news, gender reveals can be occasions to share moments of joy.
Gender reveals can certainly have a competitive element, which is only amplified by social media. As the practice has become more widespread, parents seem insistent on one-upping each other with more elaborate and over-the-top celebrations.
I have a story to share with you about my own gender reveal experience. When I was expecting my 5th child, I already had 1 boy and 3 girls. My Mother accompanied me to my 20-week ultrasound. During the procedure the nurse informed us that she knew the sex and asked me if I wanted to know. I had found out the gender with my 4th child and I thought it took away the anticipation and surprise of it at the birth, so I said no. She then asked if I had a feeling about what I thought it was and I said another girl. Well, when I went into the bathroom to get dressed, my Mom was so curious that she begged the nurse to tell her and promised to keep it a secret. The nurse replied, "I can't tell you, but I can say that a Mother's instinct is usually right." At that, she was sure that I was having a girl. She did a very good job of keeping it a secret and even had someone knit a pink bonnet and booties to present to me after the birth. Boy was she in for a surprise. It was a Boy!!
Personally, I think Gender Reveals are a great thing! It brings both sides of the family together before the big event. Gender Reveal parties tend to include both male and female guests where baby showers are typically for women, although this trend is changing too!
So, if you have any opinions or experiences on this topic, please share in the comments below!
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