It’s a. . . BOY!

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The invevitable question everyone asks once they find out you are pregnant is : “Do you want a boy or a girl?” The easy go-to answer is always “Oh, we just want a happy, healthy baby.” Which was especially true in our case. We had waited so long just to become pregnant that the gender was the last thing on our minds. However, once we had processed the fact that we were pregnant, we started to discuss the baby’s gender more freely.

Initially, perhaps superficially, Matthew and I were neutral about the gender of our child. Digging a little deeper however, the truth came out. In the beginning I wanted a girl. I was the first born in my family so to me it was almost more of a natural order, or at least the order I was used to. I relished the thought of picking out girl clothing and bows. There are so many options! For Matthew, he wanted a boy. He is the first born in his family, so again, it was a natural response for him. He also wanted a boy to carry on the Hartman name. Despite having our own gender preferences, because I knew Matthew wanted a boy, I hoped for a boy so that his wish could come true. Deep down, somehow, I think I knew I was carrying a little boy.

We had our gender ultrasound and excitedly told the sonographer not to tell us the gender as we wanted to find out at the same time with our family and friends. She had us turn our heads from the monitor and we heard her say “I found it!”

That weekend (which happened to be the weekend of our fifth wedding anniversary!) we drove down to Chattanooga for our gender reveal party. I had to educate Matthew on what a gender reveal party was and that people actually do this a lot and it wasn’t something I was making up! There are so many fun and creative ways to reveal a baby’s gender. We decided to keep it simple and reveal with a cake. We ordered our favorite berry chantilly cake from Whole Foods and handed an envelope with the gender inside to the baker. We instructed her to put strawberries and raspberries in the layers for a girl and blueberries and blackberries for a boy.

Sunday afternoon we gathered with our sweet family and close friends and cut the cake that revealed baby Hartman’s gender. We were nervous! The anticipation of the moment could be felt throughout the room. Blackberries and blueberries layered the cake – “It’s a BOY!” we all exclaimed. We shared tears and laughter. Knowing the gender of our baby made things feel all the more real! It was so special to share this moment with those who have been praying and supporting us throughout this journey.

Baby boy Hartman, you have no clue how much you are already loved. I pray that one day you will realize just how blessed you are to be surrounded by such a village of people who diligently prayed daily for your existence. Grow strong, little one because you have a lot of hugs to give.

 

 

photo credit: beth crerar