The Big Reveal

While I was pregnant with Lindsay, Mark would constantly rub my tummy and repeat, “my son, my son”.  So when Lindsay was born and the doctor announced,  “It’s a girl!”, I looked at Mark and asked, “Are you upset?”  “Of course not!” he answered, through his happy tears. 

Nowadays, because of the advanced technology we have, parents can get to know the sex of their baby way before it is born.  Consequently, doctors are no longer the only ones who get to be the first to reveal the sex of babies, ultrasound technicians can and in the case of my daughter, bakers can also.  Hence, the big reveal. 

This is how it works: if the technician, during the 16 week ultrasound or in some cases the 20 week ultrasound is able to determine the sex of the baby (three lines for a girl and one line for a boy), she writes it on a piece of paper, while the parents do not look, folds it and puts it in a sealed envelope.  The parents then take this envelope to the baker, who is the only one to open it and then bakes the cake that is either pink (girl) or blue (boy) on the inside and frosts the evidence with unisex colored frosting. 

Then, the parents invite family over, wearing either pink or blue, and the suspense begins, with guesses and predictions until the mother and father finally cut the cake to find out what’s inside the cake and of course, what’s inside her belly. 

When it comes to my daughter, there’s always some kind of ceremony, involving suspense and decorations. 

What kind of decorations do we need?  Isn’t the cake enough?

Maaahhh-om, we need to make a poster to tally who thinks boy, and who thinks girl and we need dowels with either a mustache or red lips for everyone to hold while we cut the cake.  We also need to make some signs and get some yarn and clothespins.

Clothespins???

Maah- to hang the sonogram pictures!

Of course!!

So back to….. Michael’s!--  the craft store.  I remember the last time I was there to get the finishing touches for decorations for the wedding.

The reveal was set for Sunday, December 22, because the technician was able to see the sex of the baby at the 16-week sonogram.  I had already invited Lindsay and Scott for a belated Hanukkah dinner celebration on that night.  Now the plans were getting more complicated. On Saturday, my cousin, Eileen, from Florida, flew into New York, to spend the week with us.  I had to pick her up at LaGuardia airport in the midst of all this preparation.  Luckily, Eileen offered to do all the cooking for the Hanukkah dinner and we headed straight to the supermarket to get the food.  When we got home, Lindsay, my younger daughter, Kim, Eileen and I all got to work decorating the dining room for “The Big Reveal”. 

On Sunday morning, I dug out an old pink shirt that I hadn’t worn in ages.  I had a strong feeling it was a girl because I had a dream in the fall of a baby girl and I knew in that dream it was Lindsay and Scott’s baby.  I’ve had dreams before that have come true.  I dreamed of Kimberly the night she was conceived.  Nine months after, when they put Kim in my arms, I realized she was exactly the baby in my dream. 

I was the only one, besides for my brother, sister-in-law and nephews who were on the “Pink Team”.   I told Lindsay I wanted my granddaughter to know I’ll always be on her side from here on in. Lindsay was on the blue team, wearing the blue polka-dot maternity dress I had bought her for Hanukkah.  My mother was on the pink team first, but then switched to the blue team. 

We ate the delicious potato pancakes and noodle pudding Eileen prepared, filling us along with the butterflies in our stomachs, growing more anxious as time ticked away towards the big cake cutting moment. 

The rest of the family arrived and finally Jaimie arrived, Lindsay’s friend and the baker, along with Herb, her fiancé and the beautiful cake.  Everyone wrote his or her name on either the boy’s side or girl’s side of the tally poster we made. Anticipation was building.

And then the cake was cut to reveal……PINK!  It’s a girl- a granddaughter!  Of course I would’ve been just as excited if it were a grandson.  Although, I am really excited about the clothes—girl’s clothes are so irresistible.  And naturally, I realized that it will be four generations of women- my mom, me, my daughter and my granddaughter. 

What’s her name?  (Everyone asked.)

Oh, we’re not revealing that.  Some things still have to be a surprise.