I was thinking that or announcing it in the wedding speech!! Would be soo hard to hide it as weāre both so open with our parents. We could certainly hide it from the rest of our family/friends till the day though 
Same here with mine. Plus Iām rubbish at keeping my own secrets lol.
Although this pregnancy I donāt really feel the need to announce anything to extended family until Iām 20 weeks.
How does everybody feel about gender reveal parties?
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Definitely not my thing. But Iām fine with other people doing it!
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Itās really not my thing either! Seems to be on trend at the moment.
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I 100% understand a preference to find out the gender with friends/family rather than a doctors office.
But I think itās very excessive to have a gender reveal party, especially with gifts, AND a baby showerā¦ If you combine a gender reveal with the baby shower, I think thatās a great idea! But all the gifts would need to be gender neutral (which I think it better than all pink or all blue anyway). Or they would need to find out the gender and wait several weeks for the reveal party/baby shower, so everyone can buy appropriate gifts for the gender.
I also hate the videos of the gender reveal parties with siblings. So many kids donāt āgetā the gender they want and throw a fit, making them look like brats. It seems very unnecessary to me. [name_m]Just[/name_m] tell the kid the gender, then they know itās not something that their crying can change. Making all the hype over it is very silly.
When my friend was pregnant and the doctor gave her the gender in an envelope, we just went out for dinner and gave her a nice card telling her the gender. It was more special than the doctorās office but not over-hyped. We actually decided to all dress in pink, to throw her off 
She wanted a boy and he was a boy. Itās a wonderful memory for all of us!
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Haha I like how you all dressed in pink when the baby was a boy.
Yes itās very excessive. Not sure where you guys are from but here in the UK. [name_u]Baby[/name_u] showers are not as popular as in the states. We still have them but I think a lot of mums donāt.
I had a small family gathering for my first but my partner had arranged it as a surprise.
Iām in the US and we recently had a wildfire break out in [name_u]California[/name_u] because of a gender reveal with fireworksā¦ I hope the trend will become more low-key nowā¦
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Yes I remember seeing on the news. Bloody awful!
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Iām really looking forward to hopefully not worrying as much this time. 
I know every pregnancy has risks and Iād never take anything for granted, but we were both very anxious with our first pregnancy and I would love to just be able to enjoy this one.
Plus, already having experience with two newborns has got to make the second time around a little easier.
We didnāt really have a āpartyā but we did let the grandmas do little confetti poppers for the gender reveal.
Still thinking we wonāt find out the gender this time, although I think Iāll have a chance to know at 10 weeks because of blood work soā¦thatās going to take a lot of self control not to look or ask.
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I am a bit of a worrier too. Itās a bit nerve wrecking carrying a baby though. And itās a long time 9 months
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Iām really hoping I have less morning sickness this time. That would make a huge difference.
Iām looking forward to seeing my kiddos interact with my belly. That obviously hasnāt happened before. H already understands the gist of babies in bellies, so he will be able to snuggle and kiss and listen and feel. A is so little now but by the time Iām really pregnant, he will be big enough to copy big brother.
Iām looking forward to making time for myself. I really took excellent care of myself last pregnancy and Iād like to do so again. Of course having two young children will change those expectations, but I look forward to the ways in which I can prioritize myself and baby (baths, extra time gardening, yoga, afternoon naps, early bedtimes, etc.). I barely went anywhere when I was pregnant, and with COVID now it seems like a good excuse to just say no to outside commitments except regular hikes/nature walks. Iām a homebody by nature and Iād much rather hang around the house for a year than feel the need to go anywhere apart from daily walks.
Iām looking forward to savoring every little thing as this will be my last pregnancy. Iām also looking forward to having more people around me celebrating and supporting me. I was the first of my college friend group to have kids and everyone was separated by a lot of distance so last time I was really an island to myself as we had just moved here. Now I have so many mom friends who will be really excited for me. I still donāt think Iāll have a shower or anything (thatās just not me), and I wonāt be super social (see above), but just having emotional support and more overall excitement from others this time will be nice.
Iām looking forward to figuring out what foods the baby likes in my belly. With H it was oranges, peaches, and chicken. He LOOOVED those and would get so excited for them.
And this one is a bit silly but Iām looking forward to eating a few dates every day again. I am sugar free and for the past few years I have refrained even from dried fruits, fruit juices and smoothies, etc (basically I eat a liberal amount of whole, fresh fruit and no other forms of natural or artificial sweetness). But Iāll definitely be having my dates again third trimester. I donāt know how much of a difference they made but I want my labor to be as easy if not easier as it was last time and Iāll do all the things I did last time to help influence that.
I wonāt find out the sex again so no reveal for me.
[name_f]My[/name_f] eldest being super calm and happy-go-lucky definitely influenced our desire to have more. During the adoption process we had to be very explicit about the type of child we felt capable of parenting and we wound up saying yes to many very needy children who were presented to us, feeling that Hās temperament so far gives us more capacity in other areas. We were not chosen for any of those children with severe special needs, though. So now Aās general temperament and development so far has us feeling confident again. Of course either of these elder children could have greater needs at a later point; chances are they will all go through periods of demanding more time and energy of us. But now we feel like even if we had a very medically-fragile baby this time around or one with genetic or neurological differences we would be able to handle parenting all 3 (or 4 in the case of twins). I will do everything in my power to have the healthiest baby I can, but so much is out of our control and just left to chance.
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Well Iāve spent the last 2 months on here procrastinating about baby names! Lol.
Partner and I have finally settled on a girl and boys name now. either
[name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] [name_f]Maeve[/name_f]
[name_u]Lawrence[/name_u] [name_u]Arlo[/name_u]
Now hopefully theyāll be a baby on board by [name_u]June[/name_u] next year.
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That is amazing! Iām envious of your confident assertion that youāve found the right ones. They are both gorgeous and also so stylistically compatible with your sibset!
Iām struggling so much with names. Had a long discussion about our naming priorities yesterday and Iām pretty lost. Everything feels important to me.
Oh and just curiousā¦ did you have the right name for both your boys beforehand?
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Yay gorgeous!
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[name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] and [name_u]Lawrence[/name_u] [name_u]Arlo[/name_u] are so perfect for you!
I also like [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] [name_f]Eve[/name_f] but something about the T and M together is more visually appealing to me.
I know what it is. Tabitha Maeve makes me think of Mab so it reminds me of fairies and magic. I love it!
And I just realized that Maeve is a variation of that name so that makes sense. 
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I adore [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] [name_f]Maeve[/name_f]!!!
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I love [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f]. Itās at the very top of my list!
And [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] is stunning. I hope we both get our Tabithas.
Lawrence is actually on my list, too, but Iām not sure I can talk my husband into a baby Larry! I also like Linus, but it doesnāt fit our traditional, mostly presidential-first-names theme.
Currently we have:
James Daniel
(DFD; canāt share her name, unfortunately)
William Joseph
Elise Marie
Zachary Allan
George Thomas
Arthur Niels
My current faves are Rose, Tabitha āTibsā or āTibbyā, Dahlia, Carol or Caroline (to honor my husbandās late Aunt Carol), Malachi (husband doesnāt like), Henry, & Lawrence. Iād love to find a way to work in Julienne (to honor my late grandma āJujuā), maybe as a middle.
If I were to get my Tabitha Iād want her to be Tabitha Jane or Tabitha Carol. Tabitha Juju crosses my mind, but it sounds like a witchās hex or something, haha.
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Twin girls: [name_f]Rose[/name_f] and [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f].
Twin boys: [name_m]Henry[/name_m] (if I can finally convince husband this time) and [name_m]Linus[/name_m].
B/G twins: [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] and [name_f]Linnea[/name_f], even though [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] is our 5thās middle name already. I love the way they go together.
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Thanks @hyacinthbucket. I think itās easy to like so many names when there are so many glorious name options out there. For me, the deciding factors in their names was saying their names out loud a lot. In my mindās eye I just see a little [name_m]Lawrie[/name_m] over a [name_u]Noah[/name_u] or a [name_m]Reuben[/name_m] ( partnerās choices) it feels like I am going with my instinct and I donāt feel like our instincts and intuition is ever wrong. And it was the same with [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f]. Partner actually wanted [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] as a first name but it doesnāt stylistically go with our boys names so it sits better as a middle. Something about [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] feels so warm, Iām really happy that itās not overly popular too. Her name is in my mindās eye too. I just see a [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] in my family. [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] I adore because of the literary reference like @whatchamacallit has said. Itās [name_f]Queen[/name_f] [name_f]Mab[/name_f].
[name_f]My[/name_f] eldest name I still to this day really love. [name_m]Zachary[/name_m] came to me in a dream, it was never on the list either. When I dreamt of the name I knew it was the one. His middle name [name_u]George[/name_u] is after my mum [name_f]Georgina[/name_f], she was present at his birth. So his middle name is an honour name.
[name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_u]Theo[/name_u] is a completely different story. I do have some slight name regret with his name and I honestly think itās because I thought about his name for way too long than necessary. Itās like [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] is a gorgeous name but it didnāt suit him at birth at all. The name is quite grand and he was so sweet and it was a big name for such a sweet little baby he is now 3 and is starting to suit his name. I actually wish I had called him [name_m]Evander[/name_m] because I feel it is less common than [name_m]Alexander[/name_m]. [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] also gets [name_u]Alex[/name_u] a lot by family and I have never liked the NN [name_u]Alex[/name_u] much. [name_u]Theo[/name_u] my sister suggested and I liked how both [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and [name_u]Theo[/name_u] were Greek. (Greek on my dadās side) so to answer your question I feel like the more you over think a name the more it can either become less or more appealing. I feel like the naming process sometimes doesnāt have to be too complicated. I feel like intuition should be listened to when it comes to naming our children.
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I love all your choices. [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] and [name_f]Rose[/name_f] are very sweet.
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