… HE!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
Kelly says
So happy for you all!! When my daughter knew we were having a boy, she started a list of names – Doc, and Fawtita were among them. Oh and Kwawisa. Barnacle is cool though :)
Beth says
So excited for your family! My husband and I are currently pregnant with our first — due March 28th– and we are having a boy too! We found out around 13 weeks because I am over 35 so we opted for cell free DNA testing, which also can determine the sex.
Jaime says
Do you also have visual confirmation of the sex? I had the blood test as well and it was WRONG! My baby girl was born on March 28 this year ;) test said it was boy….
Danielle says
I’m just so happy for you guys!
Sara says
We have 3-year-old twins. Didn’t find out until delivery and it was the best decision. After a long and difficult labor, then an emergency C-section, it was a bright spot to hear “It’s a boy!” And then just a short while later, “It’s a girl!” I’d thought for sure they were both boys. I’m so glad I was wrong.
Marianne in Mo. says
Congrats! Boys are WAY different than girls in temperament. I have 3 grandsons and one granddaughter, and boy, that girl is a mess of drama, even at 2 years of age! I had two girls myself, so hoped with each that the grands would be girls. I had no idea what to do with a boy, how would I relate to boy stuff? Girl came last, and I was over the moon, since I’m told she will be the last grand for us. Love them all, but so glad I have a girl to fuss over. Hope she likes me too as the years go by!
Best wishes to your entire family!
Diane says
My mother always told me there was no difference in raising boys and girls. I had a angel girl first and my son second. I can only say John and Sherry hold on to your hats because there’s a big difference! Little boys make up for all their adventure’s because they get right to your heart and are so loveable.
My daughter didn’t want to know the sex of the baby at her ultrasound and the tech said ok you don’t want to know the sex but you know you’re having twins right?! Talk about a heart stopping moment!!
YoungHouseLove says
OH MY GOSH!
xo
s
Lauren says
So exciting to have one of each! Congrats!!!
Whitney Dupuis says
I am so excited for you guys! Speaking as a boy mom, you are going to have so much fun! Every day is an adventure. Congratulations!
Amy says
Congratulations! I just had a baby girl after two boys- I began to guess it was a girl when I had no morning sickness at all- with my boys I was sick the whole nine months. Hoping you don’t have the same situation; morning (or rather all day) sickness is no fun.
Raquel says
Congratulations! Such good news and such a fun way to share it with your family. We were lucky to have two beautiful daughters–sister bonds are super special. But I’ve sometimes wondered what it would’ve been like to raise a son–and what it might have been like for my husband to have a little more testosterone in the house.
E.D.R. says
Congratulations! Baby boys are awesome (I have 1 boy and 2 girls). In addition, their diaper area is SO MUCH easier to clean! Our first was a boy, and we found out at delivery. I was convinced I was having a girl, until they lifted him up for me to see and said: “congratulations! It’s a boy! And he’s peeing!” And lo and behold, there he was, giant pee fountain and all! BTW, we never got the pee pee tee pees to work for us. We just kept our heads back while changing and a towel handy. And, congratulations again!
Emily says
Congrats!!! Clara seems so excited. What a face!
I love that you guys don’t do super-gendered rooms for your kiddo(s), or didn’t until you knew Clara’s personality/likes/dislikes. You guys are pretty darn cool.
Katie says
EEK! That’s so exciting! Congratuations to you all! Clara looks like she is going to be a fantastic older sister. I can’t wait to see the nursery plans! The bun is one lucky baby!
Reshma Sanjeev says
Congratulations!!!! Can see Clara’s happiness in the pictures. She is so adorable.
Jaima says
We found out in the delivery room! My best friend sent an email letting everyone in our VIP group!
Wendy says
Congratulations!
I called into a radio show psychic to find out the sex of our second child. lol
6 months later, Jack was born and the pshchic was right!
I called the radio station back when they had the same psychic on the show again. I thanked her and let her know she was right. But, she already knew that. ; )
Nancy says
Congratulations! We also have a daughter and son (3 years apart, and what a blessing it has been to have the experience of raising one of each. Our daughter is the older of the two, and she has always taken such good care of her little brother. They are now 30 and 27 and very close. Our son still calls her “sis” (shortened from “sissy” when he got older), and the relationship they have warms mine and my husband’s hearts. I’m thrilled for y’all!!
Dawn says
Aww, congratulations! It will be so sweet to see how Clara interacts with her baby brother.
Sarah Ramirez says
I’m so excited for you guys!! I have two girls and a boy ….I found out with an ultrasound with all three. I can’t wait to see his nursery. You are so blessed.
Bonnie says
Ahhh! So happy for you guys! We have two girls and I remember the excitement of finding out what we were having. We did nothing creative to announce the sex, just started making phone calls before we even left. You’re now one step closer to “knowing” your bun (or barnacle). Now time to design the nursery!
Amanda - Small Home Big Start says
Congrats! That’s wonderful news!!!
My parents did the same thing when my sister was born 24 years ago this month – I was given a little baby girl doll (affectionately named Tina) and took her everywhere. There are MANY pictures of my new baby sister and Tina together because I insisted that both babies be in the photo. It also helped my mom to distract me when I wanted to “help” with changing, feeding, etc. I had my own baby doll to take care of :)
Hanna Cage says
We left it to be a surprise for our first, but several things conspired against us. One was that the doctor accidently mentioned “he” during one of my appointments, but I didn’t tell anyone else. The second was that I was another one of those emergency C-Sections, so we were more interested to see if they could get him breathing normally (they did!) then what was between his legs.
However, it did make it all the sweeter when they brought him over for a quick look, so I could see he was okay, and said those words “it’s a boy!”
My second was a daughter and we found out ahead of time. Her delivery was VBAC and went flawlessly by the way. She was very fierce. They had the NICU team there, just in case, and the first words I heard from them (over the LOUD angry shrieks) was “she bit me!”
She just turned four and has not changes one bit since then, thank goodness. :)
Congratulations on your little barnacle! We are all so SO happy for you!!!!
Hanna Cage says
Oh yes, and her brother wanted to name her “dinosaur.”
Amy E. says
“She bit me!” Hilarious!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Sarah says
eeeeeeeeee!!!! So so so so so excited for you all. Happy happy day to you! :)
kyle says
CONGRATS! Our first is a girl and I’m currently pregnant with our little boy. We were half way through an ultrasound and weren’t even expecting to find out the gender that day when the ultrasound tech blurted out “HOLY WEEWEE!” and pointed at a very obvious part of the male anatomy on the screen.
Once we had all stopped laughing I had her recreate the accidental relay of that information and recorded it so that I could send the video out as an attachment to family and friends as our announcement.
Kelsey R. says
Congratulations John, Sherry, and Clara! What an exciting early Christmas gift! Praying for a healthy rest of your pregnancy!
Melinda says
Yay! How exciting! Congrats on the baby boy! I love checking our Restoration Hardware baby for boys nursery inspiration. They have lots of good ideas that are less nursery -esque that could transition into a little boys room. Example: Instead of having cartoonish airplanes or trains, they use vintage airplane prints or railroad maps on their bedding. Super expensive, but it’s fun to look! They also have an outlet in Leesburg that sometimes carries the baby items, so you might give them a call if there is something you really love. They are usually 20-40% less on prices and I believe they ship. Congrats again!
http://poshpurpose.blogspot.com
Amber says
Congratulations! We brought our 3.5 son and 5 year old daughter to the ultrasound to find out what we were having with #3 and my son cried the most pathetic, disappointing sounding cry when the tech announced it was a girl. He was hoping for a brother so bad.
Pammy says
Congrats on the little boy! I am also having a boy :) So where did you end up finding the baby boy doll??
YoungHouseLove says
We tried Target and two different Toys R Us stores (ended up being at the second, bigger one). They’re hard to come by!
xo
s
Bonnie says
Congratulations! I actually clapped out loud.
Kate says
Congratulations! So happy for all of you! I have twin boys so of course I love boys :) I loved how you told Clara and the rest of your family. We decided to find out what we were having too. We had the doctor write it in an envelope and I can’t believe I was able to do this but I carried it around with me for an entire day without peeking. Then we had a big family party that night. We let my oldest nephew (who was 9) open the envelope and make the announcement. He decided to tell us by holding a football in one hand and his sister’s ballet shoe in the other. He said, “Baby A will play with a…” and held up the football. He then said “Baby B will play with a…” and he started to raise the ballet shoe but switched last minute to the football. I panicked slightly while my husband did the happy dance. Couldn’t be happier with our 2 crazy boys, though! We have it all on video and my boys, who are 10, LOVE to watch it! Best wishes to you!
Sara R. says
Yeah for a baby boy! We have two little boys, Hudson is 3.5 and Axten just turned 1. I had c-sections both times, and both times we went into it not knowing what the sex was. I “knew” both times I was going to have a boy, but to actually hear the doctor confirm it was just surreal! Actually when our first was born, all the nurses and the doctor were so excited that we didn’t know. They said that doesn’t happen very often any more, so they were all guessing what they thought the baby was going to be. Then when the doctor got a good look at the baby’s head he said, “that’s a LOT of hair! It’s got to be a girl!” So here I am laying on the table, thinking it’s a girl, and then when he pulled the baby out he said, “Nope, it’s a boy!” I was like, “Make up you’re mind!” :) haha! It was quite the whirlwind of emotions, but like I said, I had a feeling both times that I was having a boy. We had girl names picked out both times, but I was really calling the baby by the boy name in my mind! :) Good luck on the remainder of your pregnancy! I love following along on your journeys! If I only have a few minutes a day to read blogs, your blog is the one that I will go to first! :) Have a great weekend!
Holly W. says
For our second, another boy, we put the clip from Tommy Boy on FB when he says “brothers hug!” – hilarious :)
Kelli says
Congratulations to your beautiful family!
Beth says
Congrats!! I have two boys (now 8 & almost 5) and a 3 month old baby girl. It is so much fun! We got pink cupcakes to tell the boys about their sister an they were so happy and surprised. I am sure Clara can’t wait to meet her little brother. :)
Yevette says
Congratulations! What a blessing!
Fran Siefert says
AWESOME NEWS – love the way you let Clara know first and how she is loving the Baby Barnacles already. Congratulations to ALL Petersiks (that includes the ones I have known longest – Kathy and Tom). Wishing you ALL a joyful Christmas and the absolutely BEST New Year.
Jessica S. says
Congrats!!!! We found out just yesterday that we were having a boy, too! (our first is a girl, also). I think our daughter (17 months) is too young to understand yet. When we told her she was having a baby brother, she said: “Uh oh!” (or maybe she understands more than we think!)
Liz says
Aww, congrats, guys! I thought it was going to be a girl! My story is a little bittersweet. We had our 20 week ultrasound on Christmas Eve 2008. We found out we were having a little girl, but also that I was already dilating, so I immediately had to get emergency surgery to keep baby in. So we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas that year in the hospital praying our baby wouldn’t be born too early. I was on bed rest for the last 4 months of my pregnancy and our girl was born full term, thank goodness!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, so scary! So glad it all had a happy ending Liz!
xo
s
Khiz says
Congratulations on expecting a healthy boy!!! Really excited for you both and big sister Clara :)
I wonder what the Bowers are having, if it’s a girl, would you match up these youngsters as well?!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, well Clara and Will are totally BFFs, so I hope no matter what Katie has these next two will be good friends – with Weston in the mix for fun too (Clara loves him like crazy too).
xo
s
Ashley says
My hubby and I couldn’t agree on whether we would find out the sex or not, so I had the ultrasound tech tell him only, but he had to keep it a secret from everybody, me included. My birthday was two months later, and he picked one of the pre-chosen shades to paint the nursery and let me know we were having our baby girl! We invited everybody over to see her room all done to let them know.
Amanda says
Congrats! Currently 27 weeks with our 2nd girl. We did the cake for our first daughter and the box of balloons with this one. I love finding out at the same time as our family and friends. Already planning the next gender reveal in my head… as we are hoping to be blessed with a 3rd child. Maybe confetti in a balloon? Oh, and I must add that it’s pretty much a dream come true to be expecting at the same time as both Sherry AND Katie Bower. Bring on the baby talk!
Meg says
Oh you guys this is so heartwarming!!! The photo with Clara and Burger and the tree just made me cry. What wonderful news for your family. Congrats to you !!!
Barbara says
Congratulations to you all!
Pammy says
Congrats on the little boy! I’m having a boy too :) So where did you end up finding the sweet little baby boy doll??
Summer Miller says
Congratulations!!!!!!!
Katharina says
All the best to you from an all girls mom. So cute to see Clara gazing lovingly at her baby doll brother. Cpt Barnacles is super cool :-)
Think about leaving all that stuff in the nursery. In less than two years time he will enjoy climbing up and down and hide and seek in the “mess”
Hahahahaha
Clare says
Congratulations! So happy for you and your family. Have a beautiful holiday.
Clare
Jennifer Laura says
So excited for you guys!!! I was secretly hoping it was a boy, so you would have one of each I suppose, haha! So so happy for ya’ll :) Prayers for Sherry to start feeling better soon and a safe delivery!
Elizabeth Dale says
Hooray! I’m excited you get to entire into the world of boys! I can’t wait to see nursery ideas. :)
Anna says
Congrats!!! So excited for you all! :D What a fun way to announce the sex to Clara and to the family in town!
When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, my husband & I didn’t get the chance to tell many people on my hubby’s side of the family because his dad beat us to it once he knew, lol.
Love that you are going to have one of each! I hope to have one of each, too, when we try for baby #2. But I agree, having two girls would be fun too. We want to do a gender reveal party next time around, since we didn’t do anything fun last time.
Looking forward to seeing the nursery!