It's A……!

I have spoken lots about learning to embrace this pregnancy. Unfortunately, this time around it hasn't come so easy, so these past 18 weeks I have learned some ways that have been helpful in terms of "embracement". Some things that have been personally helpful for me are: 

Honesty: Learning to not fear the question "Is this your first?"- "No it's not, I have a baby girl who now lives in heaven, and no I am not sad that you asked, I LOVE talking about her as often as I can, she is still my child, my baby".

Belly Photos:  I began taking belly pictures at 12 weeks of pregnancy. This was difficult, but I've pushed myself to do it and I know how much I'll appreciate it later.

Taking Me Time: Taking time for myself, plain and simple. Time to breathe, let go, and just be. 

Annabella Time:  Giving myself permission to miss her, cry, write to her, talk about her and to her.

Baby Time:  Reading Annabella's books to the baby and listening to Annabella songs.Taking prenatal classes such as yoga, giving myself time to bond with baby and be alone with my thoughts, even if its spending time thinking about BOTH my children and what I am thankful for : )

Finally, we chose to find out the gender of our baby.

We had to really think about this, finding out the gender of this baby or not. After searching our hearts we both came to the conclusion that it would bring excitement and joy back to this pregnancy. It has been hard to bond with this baby and since knowing the gender that bond has grown tremendously. Of course finding out the gender isn't something everyone plans on doing and does not mean you can't bond or love your baby but you have to do what feels best for you, what helps your heart, and this was something that helped ours.

I took a sealed envelope to a local baker and had her fill two cupcakes with icing- either blue or pink. We sat and had a nice dinner at home and for dessert- the cupcakes. We were both so nervous, me especially, and then we bit into them! It was an amazing experience! We laughed, cried a little, and my heart wanted to jump out of my chest. It became much more real for me. I was going to be a mother of two. I wanted to tell our friends and family who would be joining our family, but in a special way of course.

So then came the gender reveal gathering.

On a beautiful sunny afternoon with loved ones all around we ate, talked about the baby, and everyone made their guesses. I set up some "guessing games", provided blue or pink punch, and blue and pink decorations were spread throughout our home. 

Below are some pictures from the day, and at 1:30 pm we all bit into cupcakes I had made earlier, all filled with the appropriate colour of icing…

Our guests snapped photos of their guess with either a moustache or lips…

 TIME FOR THE REVEAL!

IT'S A BOY!

Annabella will have a new little brother : ) 

The reaction...

Such a wonderful, loving day!

Blue onesie sent in the mail from a dear friend for our lil man! 

Mark, Annabella, baby and I want to thank everyone for their kindness and love that day and all that has been given during this pregnancy. Later that evening, I thought about the day and reflected on how blessed we are to be surrounded by so much love. I thought about her lots that evening, wishing she could have been there. I know she is watching over her new brother and that is one thing that I know is special to him and our family. 

Check out the (funny/nervous) video from the first time Mark and I got to find out the gender…

as you can guess, I was so sure I was having a girl, but we are over the moon were welcoming a son to our family : )