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Baby Petersik is a….

… HE!

Its A Boy

We haven’t done one of these posts since 2010, so it feels kind of strange and exciting to be sharing this kind of news with you guys again. We found out on Wednesday, and then scurried to tell our families over the last 48 hours. Of course, the most important person to tell first was Clara. We didn’t want her to learn the news from an ultrasound technician, so we scheduled a playdate for her with my dad during this particular appointment. Then when we were back together, we surprised her with a baby boy doll (which are surprisingly hard to find, we learned). It was a cute little “OK, look in the bag to see if there’s a little boy or a little girl in mommy’s belly!” moment.

Clara Bag Peeking2

And if there’s one thing she enjoys more than tearing through some tissue paper, it’s baby dolls. It was love at first sight and, more importantly, she completely connected the dots that this meant she was getting a little brother. She pretty much immediately started giving him his bottle and changing his diapers and even bragged that she knew it was a boy the whole time. When we asked her what she wanted to name the baby doll, without hesitation she shouted: “Barnacles!” After Sherry and I completely failed at stifling our laughter, Clara explained that its full name was actually Captain Barnacles (a character in one of her new favorite shows, Octonauts). So yeah, she won’t be naming her real brother… but we have called the bun “the barnacle” a few times since then.

Clara Baby Boy

She (okay, well all of us) originally guessed we were having a girl. But our instincts started to shift to boy when Sherry’s morning sickness wouldn’t let up (this pregnancy is pretty different than the last). Which is good because Clara started asking for a brother, probably because a few of her best friends have baby brothers. Regardless of the reason, she couldn’t have been more thrilled at the news. And so are we.

All Three

After about the sixteenth Captain Barnacle diaper change, Clara called up Nonna to tell her via FaceTime. She was really excited to deliver the news – and Nonna was just as excited to hear it!

Telling Nonna

For telling my family here in town, we decided to make a little game out of the announcement. We managed to get my parents, my sister, and her family to meet us out to dinner last night (at Panera, since we’re super fancy and all). We came armed with a bunch of blue and pink envelopes, so each person could make a final guess by picking a pink envelope if they thought it was a girl and a blue one if they thought boy.

Envelopes

Then we had them all tear into them at the same time to see if their baby-dar was on point or not. All of the blue ones said some iteration of “yup!” or “bingo!” or “you betcha!” and all the pink ones said “nope!” “try again!” or “wrong-o!” We had about a 50/50 split in guesses, so even though half of ’em were off-base, everyone was thrilled. It was really fun to watch their faces as they all figured it out at pretty much exactly the same moment.

Envelopes Open

Then we got to make a whole bunch of other family & friend calls to spread the news (Clara was awesome about boasting “I’m getting a baby brother!” about 100 times to various friends and relatives on the horn). And that, as they say, is history.

Sherry and I are both really excited. We’re mostly just thankful to hear there’s a healthy bun barnacle growing in there, no matter its sex. But being able to picture this child – this boy! – a bit more clearly makes the excitement that much more real. As much as two little girls would’ve been fun, we’re really looking forward to the experience of raising a son along with this great daughter of ours. Not to mention that Sherry’s already going crazy looking at nurseries on Pinterest.

It’s fun to think about the possibilities for that room now that we know better who will be occupying it. Not that we’ll fill it with “man things” or make it all blue and green (actually, come to think of it, Clara’s original nursery was blue and green) but it’s just fun to talk about potential projects and colors and art now. The funny thing is that the nursery is the only room in this entire house that had pink trim when we bought it.

Nursery Before

Good thing it’s already painted white! Bad that the room is currently housing a bunch of random junk. Guess it’s getting time to start working on that…

Nursery Now

We’d love to hear your stories about finding out the sex of your baby (whether halfway through with an ultrasound, one of those early blood tests, or right there in the delivery room). And feel free to share how you told your family and friends. Was it a photo on Facebook? One of those blue/pink cakes? A box full of balloons? Or did you just call or visit people and blurt out the news? Any way you play it, it’s a pretty exciting moment.

Comments

  5. Laurie Sturtevant says

    I swear I just stopped everything at work to check on this. I was like “Oh my God its 10 o’clock!” Congratulations. Wonderful news. So happy for all of you.

    Reply

  8. Kerin says

    Aw, that made me tear up. Currently 37 wks pregnant with a “surprise” — and I have a 2 yr old daughter — so this post hit close to home. So happy for all of you!

    Reply

  14. Tiffany says

    CONGRATS!! I have an 8 month old little boy…they are the BEST!:) You now have the best of both worlds. So excited for you all!

    Reply

  15. Hannah H. says

    I’ve been refreshing since 9 am hoping to see this news today! Congrats, congrats, congrats! Can’t wait to see a boy baby P!

    Reply

  17. Haley says

    Clara is so stinkin’ cute! SO excited for you guys…can’t wait to follow along on a journey with a boy :) (and to see the nursery!!)

    Reply

  20. Somer says

    Congrats! We waited until delivery to find out and it was the LONGEST waiting of my life. There were so many times I’d look at my husband and say, “Let’s find out!” and he’d say no. I’m glad he did because it was like the best present, ever! He yelled “It’s a girl!!” and they we started crying. Man, it makes me want another!

    Reply

    • Jessica says

      I’m waiting until the delivery too and the only thing keeping me from finding out is my boyfriend announcing it! Makes my heart melt just thinking about it :)

  23. Katy says

    Congratulations! Hate to tell you this but my MS with baby boy did not let up until he was evicted on his due date. Diclectin. Diclectin. Diclectin. Let the doctors give you the drugs. Say it with me: TAKE THE DRUGS.

    Reply

    • Heather says

      Do NOT take the drugs! The drugs they give pregnant and nursing women have not been thoroughly tested for safety. I was prescribed a drug to treat a bladder infection right after having my son that said right on the paperwork you get with the prescription “If you are nursing do not take this drug” which I was and they knew I was and when I called the office to tell them what the paperwork said and how they needed to stop prescribing it to new mothers they just said “It’s fine but we’ll prescribe something else for you”!! They do not care what happens to people who take these meds. They only care about $$$. Sherry, please for your own safety and for the little bun (barnacle) seek out natural alternatives to drugs. Just my two pennies. :)

    • Lindsay says

      Most competent OBs will only prescribe medications that are safe during pregnancy and you can always do your research before taking anything. The most commonly prescribed anti nausea drug for pregnant women is zofran and it works very well. Reglan is another option. Good luck!

  25. Em says

    Yay for a boy! Congratulations. We are also expecting, due in June. So we don’t know the sex of the baby and actually haven’t told ANYONE. We are waiting for a Christmas announcement, which should be pretty fun. I have to say I was thrilled that we are pregnant at the same time because I knew you would post baby stuff (which is my fav right now).

    Reply

    • Lacey says

      I’m in the same boat… but due in July. We aren’t telling a soul until Christmas… I can’t wait!

    • Bonnie says

      We’re due in May, and hoping to find out the sex before Christmas so we can do a big announcement!

    • Karyn says

      I’m in the same boat too Lacey, due in July and we haven’t told anyone (not even our 3 year-old daughter) yet. Christmas reveal is going to be so much fun!

    • Cate says

      We are due the first of May and just told our families over thanksgiving (when I was almost 17 weeks). We let big brother whose 4.5 tell – we chatted with him a little bit before dinner and let him share the news! Our family was shocked & couldn’t believe we’d kept a secret for so long. My mom is a radiologist, so we were able to go to her office on Saturday and found out it’s another sweet baby boy!!

  29. Stevie says

    Yay! Congratulations!! Clara’s excitement is so adorable. Also I have a grown-up version of her dress, haha! It’s cuter on her of course.

    I don’t have children yet, but I think I’ll probably just blurt out the news to the folks who matter because I am terrible at keeping secrets when I’m excited. Also, I was so weirdly excited to find out that I refreshed facebook every few seconds for 5 minutes instead of studying for the final I have in an hour. You guys are obviously more important than grad school.

    Reply

  31. Elizabeth says

    Congrats!!! :) I had a feeling for some reason. I just found out on Wednesday at our 20 week ultrasound that we having a girl… we will have 3 girls and I’m very excited!

    Reply

  32. Katie {deranchification} says

    Congrats, y’all!! And what great reveals with Clara and your families! We planned on doing a big reveal with out families but couldn’t wait and ended up texting our families from the waiting room between the sonogram and OB appointment :)

    Reply

  33. Alsiha says

    My husband and I decided to wait and be surprised with our son (he just turned one last weekend). After over 17 hours of labor, I had an emergency c-section. When he was born, everyone in the operating room said wow, look at that head size, look at that head of hair… it was probably a good 2-3 minutes before I finally heard “It’s a boy!”. =) It was such a surreal moment. I still get chills thinking about it. I love your idea and Clara is just such a doll. We will likely find out what we’re having if there’s ever a #2. Not sure how we’ll announce but I love seeing all the fun things people do!

    Reply

    • Brigitte says

      The same thing happened to me. They are so used to most people knowing that no one thought to mention that we had a son. He got handed off to the NICU team with no comment. Also, there was a little drama with my uterus being on the verge of rupture and I was pretty drugged up because the spinal didn’t completely numb me up correctly (I don’t recommend c-section with only partial anesthesia!) So I finally piped up from behind the screen, “um, what is it? Boy or girl?”

      And “it” was a perfect, healthy little boy. Boys are such fun.

      Congratulations! Thinking of you all and sending healthy baby/mommy wishes.

    • Ali says

      Totally agree and with the age difference it makes it perfect!! at least i think so, since the age difference between my brother and I will be very close to Clara & lil Mr. P :)

  36. Alexandra says

    Congratulations!! We tried to have the willpower to have the ultrasound tech write the sex in an envelope for us to open together later, but we had to peek at the screen and we both totally thought we knew what we were looking at (or NOT looking at!). :-) We’ve got 2 gorgeous girls – so excited for your guys’ adventures to come with 2 kiddos!

    Reply

  38. Reagen says

    Congratulations! So looking forward to the future chronicles of Clara & “Barnacles” Conversations, because I’m sure if he’s anything like his big sister, they’ll be a hoot!

    Reply

  40. Rachel says

    Ahh! I’m so excited for you! When you announced your pregnancy, I hoped it would be a boy. I just had my first baby, a boy, and especially throughout my pregnancy I was a little nervous about what I would do with him. I’m such a crafty/creative person (not to mention uber girly), and I was kind of lost thinking about playing with him and crafting for/with him, etc. You all are so creative, hopefully I can piggy-back some of your crafty ideas :-) We told our family and friends with this cute photo: http://rachelplayinghouse.blogspot.com/2013/06/its-a.html. It was a blast! Congrats again!!

    Reply

  42. Dawn says

    Healthy baby is number one but I have loved having a boy and a girl. They are very different regardless of gender. For our ultrasound with number two our Radiologist said “it’s a girl”. My husband said “are you sure?” And the Dr. Said “did I say I THINK it’s a girl.”!!! Doctors!! Congratulations!

    Reply

    • Maya says

      hahaha! We were given 70% chance of having a boy at our 13 week NT scan, so I was shocked when we were told “girl” at the 16 week scan. I asked the doctor if it could change again and he said, “Yes, but only with an operation.” :) We love our girl but it would be fun to get to know a little guy some day too!

  43. Lisa says

    So happy for you!!!!!!!!!! we had three lovely ladies and then The Lord surprised us with a Baby Boy. What a treat!! Grateful that your little barnacle is a healthy buddy. xo

    Reply

  45. Kelly {the Centsible Life} says

    Congratulations! Thrilled for you all!

    Having a boy is definitely an adventure! I have two myself and just like your pregnancy is different a lot of other milestones and experiences you’ve had with Clara will be different (in a good way!) with a boy.

    Reply

  46. Kati says

    Knew it!!!! I made myself write down what I thought it was going to be so I couldn’t mentally excuse myself “Oh you really knew…” how exciting!!!!!!!!! We’re not going to find out with our pregnancy- but we are going to go ahead and turn our little girl’s room into a shared boy/girl room, i.e., a neutral nursery, so that whether this is a boy or a girl the room will work perfectly!

    Reply

  47. Sarah B says

    Yay!! CONGRATS! So happy to hear everyone is healthy!

    We are due with #2 mid-March; and recently found out we are having another girl! We got most of our family together last minute to do a little reveal ourselves. We had everyone take a guess (about 50/50 split), and revealed the news via pink champagne. It was fun to see everyone’s faces.

    Hope the rest of your pregnancy is smooth sailing!

    Reply

    • prue says

      Lovely! Though I couldn’t help imagining the faces had you offered them BLUE champagne for a baby boy … ;-)

  48. Stevie says

    So excited for you guys! :) Congratulations! I was refreshing my facebook every few seconds instead of studying for the final I have in an hour because obviously you guys are more important than grad school, right?? Unrelated: I have a grown-up version of the dress Clara is wearing, but it’s much cuter on her!

    Reply

  49. Lindsey says

    Congratulations!! We love having one of each (our son is 3 1/2 and daughter is 8 months). Enjoy the anticipation of meeting your baby boy!

    Reply

  50. Stephanie says

    YAY, so exciting!! Congratulations to you all and I can’t wait to see what the nursery will look like. Clara is going to make a stellar big sister!! :)

    Reply

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