Something I’ve loved about each of my pregnancies is how I feel I’ve managed to commemorate them in some way or another – largely because I recognize the journey is just as powerful and important as the (birthing) destination. For a lot of us, finding out the sex of our baby and then doing some type of gender reveal is part of this journey, right? And Pinterest is (of course) SO full of ideas about cute, fun, or “never been done before” ways to do this.
To be honest, I definitely try to be careful with my own use of Pinterest. I LOVE a good DIY, recipe, kids’ valentine’s day card, or tips for breastfeeding, but personally, it can also be a space that all the sudden has me running myself ragged as a mama! And sometimes, gender reveal ideas have been no exception 😬. Despite having a business and three other children to mother, I still can’t help but find myself searching alllll the social medias and search engines for ways to do a gender reveal. But, ultimately, I always come back to the simpler ideas, so for those who lean that way too — I thought I’d share my finds with you below!
Who is The Labor Mama and Why Am I Here?
Hey friend! I’m Lo – also known around here and social media as The Labor Mama. I’ve spent my nursing career in labor, delivery, and postpartum, have birthed 3 of my own babies, have labored thousands of mamas at the bedside, have taught hundreds of students online, and have even delivered a few speedy little babies with my bare hands (oops).
Here at TLM, I offer online birth classes to empower you the way everyone should be. The education + support I offer gives you experience, evidence, and empathy; you’re getting all of my years of “clinical” RN knowledge, beautifully combined with my real experiences as a mama and a nurse. These are not your hospital birth classes (those won’t do it, I promise), and honestly, birth doesn’t follow a textbook or protocol anyway – you need to know so much more than that.
If you want to connect with me further, head to Instagram. There are hundreds of thousands of us over there learning together daily.
What is a gender reveal?
If you had asked me before my first baby, I likely would have told you it was at your anatomy scan, around 18-20 weeks of pregnancy. That’s the nurse in me talking! And also…I feel like they were just gaining in popularity when I had my first baby – I hadn’t been to one yet at that point. Now, you can barely get those words outwithout a certain algorithm picking up on it and giving you tons of BEAUTIFUL ideas. Simply put: A gender reveal is a party, photoshoot, dinner, “special” or intentionally “crafted moment where you announce whether you’re adding a beautiful baby girl or baby boy to the world. (One of my best friends did a firework show – that was something else)!
Why go simpler, anyways?
As a fourth-time mama, each and every baby is unique and so very special to me. These babies are a major blessing, and that’s something I do not take for granted. I do, however, have limited time and mental capacity for yet another thing and just can’t bring myself to plan a big party. They are totally awesome and I love knowing how these little ones are coming into a village just waiting to celebrate exactly who they are, but it’s just not the season of life we’re in right now.
Same goes for you?
Check out these five sweet and simple gender reveal ideas
- Have your cake (and announce with it, too!). This was one of the first and most popular gender reveals, I think, and for good reason. You can have your ultrasound technician put the big gender news in a sealed envelope that you take to a bakery and hand over with instructions of putting either pink or blue inside of the baked good of your choice. You can even do this with large, popular doughnut chains if you’re into those instead–and that means they’re easier to split with people at the office, your church, or other larger group. I’ve seen (and LOVED) photoshoots done with these cakes and just your spouse; it’s intimate and so adorable catching all of those emotions through photos or videos.
If you’re looking for something sweet to wear, whatever you do or don’t choose to do, I’ve always felt like Pink Blush has some of the prettiest (and affordable) options for dressing that bump. I’ve worn their dresses for weddings, baby showers, sprinkles, Easter Sunday, and maternity shoots!
- Mail or hand deliver your people some confetti. Assuming you and your partner already know what to expect in the gender department, you can announce it to friends and family with a little card or envelope of confetti. Let them know that’s what they’re getting ahead of time to avoid a disgruntled aunt or grandpa dumping a bunch of pink or blue onto themselves. This little shop has a TON of cute confettis!
- Grab some scratch cards. Etsy has no shortage of cute gender reveal ideas, and lottery-esque scratch cards would be a hit at a family dinner, or for just you and your spouse. You’d coordinate communications in advance with your doctor’s office and the seller if you want it to be a surprise–otherwise, you can just give them the info and watch your loved ones’ emotions when they scratch and reveal the gender of your new little love! Here’s a few, cute, different ones! Option #1, Option #2, Option #3
- Use your kids/pets/friends. Announcing with your other loved ones is such a sweet way to honor the new babe you’re soon to welcome. You can video them in announcing it all together, or you can get special shirts, bandanas, and more if you’d rather them wear something that they can keep and use over and over again. Big kids usually loooove being involved in things like that (mine do), and it can create some pretty sweet (or hilarious) core memories for everyone depending on their candid reactions when they find out if it’s a little sister or little brother. I’ve also seen so many Facetime reactions videoed too, and that’s definitely worth an honorable mention here.
- Wait until they’re here. You can find out with your little family or just as a couple, and hold this close until the baby arrives. When they do, have two little outfits you video them with and end the video with them in the outfit that matches their gender. Since we’re talking about a sleepy little newborn here, think bow, headband and layette for a girl and little hat with a onesie for a boy. Lots of anticipation builds up in this one, but we totalllllly think it’s worth it, don’t you?
Really not interested in anything like this? I get it! We’ve been very chill with how we do this too. Honestly, I’m still someone doing a baby book for each baby – this is the one all my kids have – and I think it’s an awesome way to document your journey too (my kids also love looking at theirs).
The bottom line on gender reveals
Your baby is worth celebrating, but how that celebration looks will absolutely be different for each of us. If you don’t have the means or mental capacity for a big gender reveal, I get it! And it absolutely does not mean you aren’t thrilled to pieces to welcome them. In a world where we can get SO caught up with how things look rather than how they feel, it might be refreshing to just choose a simple way to introduce who they’ll be to the world. I love a big, festive party as much as the next mama–but if you do it in a quiet way I think that’s beautiful, too.
What camp are you in, big blowout reveals or small and simple? I love seeing and hearing about your lives, babies, and stories. Keep ALL of the sweetness coming. xx, Lo
More resources (and freebies!) for you to take a peek at are below, and don’t forget about my online birthing class options here:
