GENDER REVEAL

When you’re having a baby, every little celebration goes a long way in making the arrival of your precious little one that much more special. We’ve known about baby showers for expecting mothers for a long time now. But over the last few years, a new celebratory trend called gender reveals has appeared.

If you haven’t already been a part of one or seen a couple of them on social media, don’t worry. This article will tell you everything you need to know about gender reveals. The concept of gender reveals can be traced back to the late 2000s. Gender reveals are essentially parties that are held during pregnancy to reveal the baby’s gender. 

The presence of prenatal sex discernment technology allows the family to know whether the baby is a boy or a girl before it is actually born. While baby showers tend to focus more on the gifts and the preparations for the soon-to-be-parents, gender reveal parties are festivities that are driven towards finding out the baby’s sex. 

Much like a baby shower, gender reveal parties help soon-to-be parents share their joy with the people that they love. If you’re expecting a baby and planning to have a gender reveal party, then here are some of the things you should keep in mind.

What Is a Good Gender Reveal?

The answer to this is simple. A good gender reveal is whatever you want it to be. Let’s break this down further. Similar to any other party, it truly comes down to what you – as a host – think is memorable. 

Some folks choose simple gender reveals – like in the form of a cake, a smoke bomb, or a balloon pop. Others prefer to take it up a notch with car burnout displays, fireworks, elaborate party themes, or pinatas. 

At the end of the day, a good gender reveal is about sharing and celebrating an important milestone with the important people in your life. Figure out how whacky you want to be with the actual reveal, plan your party budget, finalize the guest list and you’re good to go. 

When Should a Gender Reveal Be Done?

When you’re around eighteen weeks into your pregnancy, your obstetrician, gynecologist, or ultrasound technician should be able to discern the sex of your little one. If you’re keen on finding out even earlier, non-invasive prenatal testing can be useful. 

With non-invasive prenatal testing, a blood test is conducted that helps detect your baby’s gender as early as ten weeks. This test searches for parts of the male sex chromosome in the mother’s blood, identifying the baby’s gender.

So you can have your gender reveal party any time after two and a half months or four and a half months of being pregnant, depending on which testing method you choose.

However, most parents choose to wait a little longer to be completely sure that there are no major complications with their pregnancy. Generally speaking, 18-20 weeks of pregnancy is considered the best time to have a gender reveal party. 

What Is the Point of Gender Reveal Parties?

The main point of gender reveal parties is pretty straightforward – the revealing of the baby’s gender. There’s not much else that you can find out about your little one while they’re in the womb. Naturally, this makes finding out the baby’s gender that much more exciting.

That said, it’s considered more of a celebration of the joy of the pregnancy overall. Additionally, finding out the baby’s gender makes things like picking out a name, choosing decor for the nursery and selecting your newborn’s wardrobe that much easier. 

It’s also vital to remember that as fun and exciting as pregnancy is, it’s also filled with stress, exhaustion and a whole bunch of preparation. A gender reveal party can help alleviate the mood and add a happy new memory to your pregnancy journey. 

How Does a Gender Reveal Party Work?
The first step to planning your gender reveal is finding out your little one’s gender. When you’re getting your ultrasound or non-invasive prenatal test done, ask your doctor or technician to write the results on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope.

Resist the temptation to take a peek and hand this sealed envelope over to someone you can trust. This could be a friend or family but keep it secret from your partner so that you both can enjoy the surprise during the reveal.

Build a theme for your party, if you want! This could be outfit coordination like having all your guests dressed in white, asking people to come in either pink or blue. It could also be a more specific theme like something sports-related, game show-related, seasonal, or anything else you’d like.

After figuring this out, you can set a date for the big reveal. As we’ve mentioned above, make sure that you’re feeling comfortable revealing the gender on that date. At the end of the day, it’s also a celebration of you, so make sure that you’re happy with all of the details. 

You’ll need your trusted friend for the next step. Depending on the method via which you’re planning the big reveal, this friend will have to manage which colors finally come out.

So if, for instance, you’re planning to reveal your baby’s gender via a cake, your trusted friend will have to instruct the baker on which color the filling should be. 

If you’re planning a balloon pop reveal, your trusted friend will have to recommend the color that the confetti needs to be to the party decorator. 

When the day arrives, make sure that you have a professional photographer or your friends recording the big moment so that you have photos and videos to remember this very special day. Reveal your baby’s gender and get excited for the future that awaits you! 

Conclusion

No matter how big or small you choose to keep your gender reveal, don’t forget that it’s also a moment for you to hold in your heart. Do it exactly the way you’ve always dreamed of for yourself and your baby.