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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

  1. Sara Fonacier says

    I am 30 weeks pregnant with my first, and we are having a boy as well. We threw a gender reveal party, and it was so fun and exciting. We had the doctor write the sex down on a piece of paper, and then had the nurses fax it in to the people at http://www.thegenderreveal.com, where I had already ordered a large black balloon from them, with the instructions that they would receive a fax with the sex on it. They were fabulous about keeping it a surprise and had the balloon shipped to us. We popped it in front of our closest friends and family – did a countdown and then had blue confetti raining down on us and everyone started screaming. We even live streamed the party so that my family that lived in different states could watch. I actually had to wait 2 weeks after the doctors appointment with the note from the doctor in my purse (the nurses had stuffed it in multiple envelopes and triple taped it shut) for the party because my husband’s parents were out of town, and it was torture. But finding out with everyone was absolutely worth the wait, and I loved that there wasn’t a single person who knew before anyone else. Many congratulations to all of you on your baby boy!

    Reply

  2. Holly says

    Congrats to your family! We have 3 boys and a girl. The oldest 2 boys told me we were having a boy when we were expecting number 3 – they were right. Then when we told them we were expecting number 4, they told us it was ok if we had a girl this time – and we did.

    Reply

  3. anne says

    Congrats! But you do know that thinking it was a boy because of the length of time Sherry was nauseated has nothing to do with whether it is a boy or a girl, right? Old wives tales.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, this pregnancy I just feel different in general (more nausea but I’m also carrying differently, gaining weight differently, sleeping differently, etc) so it just feels like a whole new ballgame. I hear every pregnancy can be different though (or exactly the same) whether it’s the same sex you’ve already had or the opposite – so it really is just all one big guess!

      xo
      s

  4. Stacy says

    I don’t have any kids, so no stories from me….

    But one that sticks out in my mind is at work (I’m a Labor and Delivery RN), there was a couple with 3 daughters, they didn’t figure out the gender of the fourth, but assumed it was a girl bc the pregnancy was the “same.” They all (mother, father, and grandmother) expressed to me that another girl in the family was just fine as it was a family of girls (all nieces and granddaughters).

    So, the baby was born, and lo and behold, it’s a BOY!! There was a ear-piercing scream from this family (it actually scared a few staff members who thought something awful had happened!), and then the tears. Big crocodile, tears…from ME!! I’ve done so man deliveries in my 7 year career, but OMG, i was a wreck. We all cried and laughed together, and kept confirming that it was a boy… It was awesome and memorable!

    Reply

  5. Becca R says

    Congrats! For our first, six years ago, we were told we were having a girl. So, we mentally prepared for a girl, but when our child was born, the doctor said, “Congratulations, you have a healthy boy” What? the ultrasound said a girl. It is a good thing I am practical and did a gender neutral nursery and all the big stuff was was neutral as well. For our second, we chose not to find out what we were having and we blessed with a beautiful girl!

    Reply

  6. Joy G says

    We found out the sex of both our kids right there in the delivery room. My husband got to tell me when we had our first child. It was a really special moment as soon as I delivered to have him look at me with excitement and say, “it’s a girl!”

    With our second, the docs and nurses were taking bets on what we were having just before I started pushing. My nurse wrote, “welcome Eleanor or Judah” on the whiteboard in my room. Then the doc was quick to announce, “we have a Judah!” As soon as he was born.

    Our ultrasound tech actually blew the gender to me at the midway ultrasound, but she played it so cool that I wasn’t sure she had done it. When he was born I was like, “she did blow it!”

    Soooooo many congrats, guys!!!!!

    Reply

  7. Sheila F says

    Congratulations on your blessing. Now I cannot wait to see how the nursery turns out. And Kudo’s for making Clara feel so important in her role as a Big Sister. I did the same with my daughter and now she is 24 and lil brother is 20. They are best friends. As are my older 2. All of them love one another but Amanda loves being Hunter’s big sister!

    Reply

  8. Kayla AKA Kilo Bravo says

    Congratulations!!! So exciting for everyone – love how you decided to share the news with Clara and family! I was an older sister of a younger brother, and my husband has an older sister as well. I can tell you that she will love him fiercely – it’s a great sibling relationship! Clara will be the greatest little helper! Congrats again and can’t wait to see what you cook up in the nursery! xo!

    Reply

  9. Amy Kathryn says

    Congrats Petersiks!!!!! I’ll be following your blog even more closely now — like you, I have a 3 year old little girl and am expecting a boy in May. Can’t wait to see how this new experience plays out! :)

    Reply

  10. Destiny says

    If you have a little boy all your very own, then you have enough and more to have a happy home. Congratulations!

    Reply

  11. Jules says

    I’m so very happy for you guys! I cried while reading this because I’m a BIG sap. Sending wonderfully positive thoughts your way and I cannot wait to see this new barnacle!

    Reply

  13. Mameelynn says

    We just had our 4th baby a week ago (boy #3!) We didn’t really do anything big to let everyone know that it was a boy when we found out but when we found out we were pregnant we were in the middle of a cross continent /cross border move and didn’t let anyone know until after we made it but when we did we told everyone that half way through the trip we found a stow-away… everyone thought it was an animal in our very packed car until we showed off the bump so that was a lot of fun!!

    Congrats on a boy!! They are lots of fun!! I can’t wait to see what fun things you do in the nursery so I can get ideas from you for when we get ours set up!!

    Reply

  15. Michellelhb says

    Congratulations! My two sons are my sun, moon, and stars:-) When we adopted our youngest son from Kazakhstan we selected him from a number of children. Because of that, we travelled there not knowing if we were going to have a son or daughter. The night we met and fell in love with our son, we posted a picture of our son in a pink sleeper (he was dressed by his caregivers) and titled the post on our adoption blog, “Don’t let the pink fool you, he’s our boy!” Best wishes!

    Reply

  16. Rachel says

    Congratulations!!!

    Between this and a cuddle of a gorgeous 4 month old today I’m getting a little clucky. So glad your baby is healthy and you are all doing well. Xxx

    Reply

  20. anna says

    congratulations! :D

    with our second, we asked the ultrasound tech not to tell us, but halfway through, she said “and here you can see she… it…”. hubby didn’t hear, but i was disappointed. (that i found out, not that we have a second girl…)

    Reply

  21. Sam says

    Wow, Clara looks so much like you, Sherry. Especially the nose! This will be embarrassing if all of you think she looks like John or something, ha! To me however, she really does look like you (if you are reading this).

    I can’t wait to see what you guys do with the new nursery for the baby! Congratulations!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think we see parts of each of us in her (long fingers and height from her dad, head shape from daddy, mouth and nose and smile like mine, etc). We hear that she looks like me a lot more now and used to get “John all the way!” when she was a baby!

      xo
      s

  22. Tania says

    I’m so excited for you – one of each!! Congratulations!! I’m a few weeks behind you and will be having my scan and finding out the sex next week. I couldn’t possibly wait until the birth, I’m dying to know!

    Reply

  23. Joy says

    Yay! I was so sure it was a girl, but pleasantly surprised it’s a boy! I have a little man myself, and I am certain that no one will ever love me more than he does. Congrats!

    Reply

  24. Karla@{TheClassyWoman} says

    Aw,congrats to you 3!! :) I was thinking girl too, glad to hear the little guy is healthy!

    Hubby and I found out at our 20-week ultrasound. We believed it was a girl, prayed for one and it turned out to be a little princess which we were overjoyed about. We were originally going to host a Gender Reveal party but as my man was finishing his Master’s Degree and things were chaotic, so we decided against it mid-planning and instead spent the money on her crib instead.

    For our parents we took a copy of the ultrasound photo and I attached a tiny hot pink bow to her head and had it framed in a pretty cream frame then let them open it for the reveal. Both of our parents have one and so do we as a keepsake. We announced to everyone else via Facebook by sharing some photos of me pregnant in a dress at 6 months holding 12 pale pink balloons at a pretty outdoor hotel venue. :)

    Reply

  25. Laurie says

    CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL!!!! Okay, now the testosterone and the estrogen should be all balanced out! I can’t even imagine what name you will choose! So happy for you!

    Reply

  27. Denise says

    Congrats, I am so excited for you guys! I can’t wait to see the big plans for the new fellas room. Aww, Clara is going to make plans for the lil bro even before his arrival. That is wonderful a girl and a boy to make your little family even sweeter, cherish every minute.

    Reply

  28. Christy says

    Congrats! Here’s a helpful hint….. Make sure Clara has everyhing to take care of her new baby (diaper bag, doll crib, etc). That way she can care for her baby while you are taking care of a newborn. Trust me, my daughter was 3 1/2 when her sister was born and it was a great system! We did “baby duty” together!
    Enjoy them now, mine are 23 and 19 – they grow up fast!

    Reply

  29. Emilie says

    Congratulations! I love the way you told your family in town, very cute.
    The sex of my little guy was a surprise to everyone right up to the end. At every ultrasound, the tech would tell me when to close my eyes (if we were approaching the “danger zone”). I think everyone around me was mildly stressed at not knowing, but I pictured finding out at the birth, without anyone announcing it, and what an amazing surprise it would be!
    When I found out I was having a C-section, I was pretty devastated, as I had wanted an all natural birth, and had managed 3 days of induced labour with no painkillers, only to be told the baby wasn’t engaged and needed help to come out. Even though my birth plan went out the window, it was what was best for my little guy.
    BUT, I did manage to convince the entire OR team not to say the sex of the baby, so I could still find out on my own. And they were amazing, nobody said a peep (well, not that I could hear)…when all was said and done, they wheeled me into recovery, and I got to unwrap all the blankets and the diaper from around him and find out for myself that I had a little boy…totally worth the wait.

    Reply

  32. Katie says

    We didn’t find out the sex with either of our girls…I love that surprise at the end :) With our first daughter it was an emergency c-section 5 weeks early due to pre-eclampsia and growth restriction but finding out in the midst of all that drama was still so fun. My dr asked my husband if he wanted to say the sex after they pulled the baby out. He said the dr could do it but she asked my hubby to say what the sex was (he was standing up watching the whole thing!) He didn’t say anything for a few seconds and I remember thinking “how does he not know what it is??” Then my dr said “its a girl!” and of course I started bawling :) In my husband’s defense, my daughter was breech and came out butt first so he really couldn’t see any “parts” to know for sure what the sex was!! With our second daughter (also emergency csection due to pre-e) the anesthesiologist lowered the blue drape a little and lifted my head up right as they were pulling the baby out – I couldn’t see any of my body, but it was just enough so that I could get a better view of the action :) The first thing I saw was an arm come up and then this full head of black hair! I was more shocked by the color of her hair than the fact that we’d just had another girl (I was convinced it was a boy). We knew the baby was going to have a lot of hair (you could see it on all the ultrasounds I’d had!) but I never expected it to be black. Every dr/nurse/hospital worker who came into my room had the same reaction – “holy cow look at all that hair!” :) It was such an awesome moment to be able to “see” my baby being born and I’m so grateful for that anesthesiologist for giving me that experience. I felt very cheated out of the whole birth experience with my first daughter because of the severity of my situation…I saw her face for a second or two after she was born and then I didn’t see her again for 9 hours and I didn’t hold her until almost 24 hours after she was born. I’m sure you have similiar feelings after your scary birth experience with Clara? Its just not how you envisioned it going so it takes some time to mourn that I guess. So to feel like I was more involved in the birth the second time around was really special. I’d ask your dr about seeing if they can do something similar for you (if you’re doing a repeat csection). All the dr did was lower that blue drape just a little and then held my head up so I could watch my baby come into this world…it was amazing :)

    Reply

  35. Pip says

    So excited for your family – wonderful news that your little one is a boy. Also surprisingly thrilled that Clara’s hair is long enough to tuck behind her ears. Thanks for sharing your family’s progress with us all out here on the internets.

    Reply

  37. Valerie says

    Congratulations!! So excited for you! Our bean is now 7, almost 8 months old. Here’s the video we made to announce our news:

    http://youtu.be/WF0GyQtti4g

    It was so fun to make! I made 2 versions and once we found out, I emailed everyone the link to the relevant video so that everyone found out at the same time. Such special memories! Xoxo

    Reply

  38. Amanda Sheren says

    Congratulations!!! Baby boys are TONS of fun but I might be biased since I have a 13 month old boy of my own :) He has completely stolen my heart and I don’t ever want him to give it back so I don’t mind one bit. We found out that we were expecting a boy at a scheduled 18 week ultrasound and man was that hard to wait for! We called all of our family to tell them that day and then we scrambled to get everything together for either that evening or a couple of days later (I honestly can’t remember anymore, how sad!) when we told all of our friends at our house. I threw a gender reveal party with pink and blue decorations and I used chocolate cupcakes with a blue filling that I piped in from the top and then covered with chocolate glaze since I had the feeling that people would look at the bottom (and they did!) to see if they could see any icing since they all knew that the cupcakes would tell everyone. Before we told anyone though, we had a dinner of different foods that I had been craving, such as chile rellenos from Chuy’s, pizza, salad from Olive Garden, popcorn from Target, and a fruit salad. We played games such as Jenga where I colored all of the ends of the pieces with pink or blue paint, and puzzles where we pitted the boys (with an avengers puzzle) against the girls (with a pink hello kitty puzzle)and the girls won! Then we had everyone bite into the cupcakes and it was awesome because every single one of my friends except one had predicted that we were having a boy (due to my LACK of morning sickness actually, lol considering you thought you were having a boy due to having lots of it) and everyone screamed when they saw the blue. One even fist pumped. It was so fun and I just loved it.

    Reply

  39. Mindy says

    We’ve had three (aahhhhhh) and didn’t find out what we were having with any of them. Daddy got to announce each one of them to me – so fun.
    We had a boy first, a girl two years later, then another girl four years later. By far, boys are sooooooo much easier. At least at this point in our lives. We’ve got an almost 8, 6, and almost 2. Girls are waaay more work, drama, and well, girly. Boys (at least the one we got) are mellow, sweet, kind, and pretty much the exact opposite of girls.
    It will seem different for the rest of the pregnancy, but babies are babies. Other than calling him ‘he’ and ‘him’ and putting him in blue, they’re all the same in the “baby” department.
    Congratulations!!!

    Reply

  40. Aubrey says

    Congratulations! We found out with our first two and had one of each. For the third one we decided to keep it a surprise. When the baby was born the midwife asked my husband to announce the sex and he proudly exclaimed, “it’s a boy!” And the midwife responded, “Um, try again dad!” The cord was between the babies legs and he mistook that for a boy part, we had another healthy baby girl! And she was born 5 years to the date of her older sister.

    Reply

  41. Eileen says

    Congrats! How exciting! We were told at our 20 week ultrasound that we were having a girl. My sister started buying outfits. I just never had that girl feeling though. A few weeks later I had a fever and was ill and went into the ER to get checked out. While having a quick ultrasound done, I said “don’t worry about not letting me see, I already know we are having a girl.” They then showed me the image of “the goods” on the screen. Proof that we were oh so not having a girl. Those were some fun phone calls to make! If I hadn’t gone into the ER (and btw all was well) then I wouldn’t have known until I delivered.

    Reply

  42. Kelsey says

    Congrats! One of each is so exciting! Have you guys ever thought about doing a post about baby must haves for the first 6 months/year? I’m pregnant with my first and it’s so overwhelming trying to figure out all the stuff I will actually need and what is not necessary! Sorry if you already did a post like that, and maybe it’s something more for younghouselife but just a thought. I’m sure tons of people would appreciate it:) Congrats again! Can’t wait to see how you decorate the room!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That would be fun! Although we feel sort of out of practice now that it had been a few years! We could post on Young House Life about what worked awesome for Clara and ask for advice on if things have changed. Might help everyone! Haha!

      xo
      s

  43. Deanna says

    SO SO SO SO excited for you all! However, Captain Barnacles sounds like a lovely suggestion. Maybe Barney for short? When I was four my mom quizzed me on future baby names. I picked ‘Kenny Loggins’ for a boy, and ‘Sparkle Rose’ for a girl. There was also consideration on the name ‘Concrete.’ Luckily, my baby brother is named Stephen.
    Also, super jealous about the boy baby doll. My goddaughter has requested one as well, and it’s proved to be a difficult item to hunt for. Where did you find Clara’s?

    Reply

  45. Shanny says

    Congrats on the barnacle!

    When I was 4 yrs. old & my parents told me I was getting a little brother, I decided I wanted to name him “Chilly Willy” after my favorite cartoon penguin…so now his middle name is “William.” Haha maybe something will inspire you…although Barnacle is a toughy!

    Reply

  46. Carrie says

    CONGRATULATIONS! I would have liked to know what I was having when I was pregnant (15 years ago) but my son refused to show himself. He literally covered himself up with his hands. I wanted a boy and had a feeling it was. I would have been happy either way.

    Reply

  49. Allison says

    I have 2 girls (5 & 7). Both were a surprise until the delivery day. Throughout the first pregnancy people told me I was having a boy. Everyone who crossed my path was convinced. They would cross the room to tell me: strangers in restaurants, the woman who worked at the dry cleaners, my own Mother(!), my Mother-in-Law (who had a dream about her grandson!!).

    So imagine our surprise when the Dr. said IT’S A GIRL!!!! The second time it was even more shocking bc people dug in harder the seond time. “THIS time, I’m sure…”

    After each delivery, the Dr. said: “it’s a girl!” and we’d say:”a girl?!?!?!” — “yes, a girl!” — “a girl? really?”

    Everyone has their pregnancy/sex-of-baby story, but I love ours. Best surprises of my life.

    Reply

  50. Allison says

    p.s. Suggestion on a fun color combo for baby boy: Tiffany blue walls, and cherry red bedding with a cream run (we had Pottery Barn popcorn rug in cream) and small random pops of color like yellow and black accents in furniture. We tried to design a “gender-neutral” room since we didn’t know what we were having and ended up loving it for girls but it easily could have gone either way. Now that they are sharing a pink room in twin beds, we changed the nursery into a black twin bed w/ trundle guest room and left the teal walls and red sheets, and got a cute Pottery Barn quilt. People love staying in there.

    Reply

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