Jennifer's POV
A few days have passed, and the day has finally come. Today is the day of my baby shower. I let my sister Anne plan out the entire shower, and some of the Ravens players' wives helped out as well, like RG3's, Mark Ingram's, and Matt Judon's. Lamar also came over to help my brother-in-law Mark out with some decorating. The whole team, as well as Coach Harbaugh was invited to the shower. My sister sent me out somewhere so I wouldn't see how they were setting up the shower. She sent me out to get my nails done, as well as getting my hair done. I honestly couldn't wish for a better sister and a brother-in-law. They really went all out for me, so that I could have the best & comfortable pregnancy possible. And with the help of the Baltimore Ravens team, I couldn't feel anymore blessed than I already was. Getting my nails done didn't take that long, so I was able to get to my hair appointment faster than expected. It took about 1 1/2 hours for my hair to be finished, and I got a message from my sister saying that the shower was all finished and set up. I walked outside to my car and made my way back home.
------25 minutes later; back at home------
As I was pulling up to the house, I was greeted by my brother-in-law Mark. "How was your special treatment today?" Mark asked. "It honestly felt so good to get my hair and nails done. I felt so special." I smiled. "Well, we're so glad that you had a great time. Ready to see the finished product of your shower?" Mark smiled. "Ready as I ever will be." I smiled. I parked my car in the driveway as Mark assisted me into the house. Once I got inside, I was immediately amazed. The front entryway was decorated with so many balloons and flowers, gender neutral of course. Speaking of the gender, I did end up finding out the gender, but I didn't want to know the gender until I had my baby shower. I gave the gender results to my sister Anne so she could plan the whole gender reveal and baby shower. She made sure everything was gender neutral so that I wouldn't have a hint at all. I was all smiles while walking alongside with Mark. When we got to the living room, where everyone else was hanging out..... "Congratulations Jennifer!" Everyone shouted as they clapped for me. I immediately started crying happy tears from everyone's attendance and seeing their smiles. "Awwww, thank you all for coming, and willing to be here during your busy schedules to celebrate me and my baby." I smiled with tears. "It is our pleasure, sweetheart. You are a part of the Ravens Team and the Flock, so we all came out here to support & celebrate you." Coach smiled as he walked over to give me a hug.
We began serving the food and sat around and chatted about life and upcoming plans for the Ravens. After 2 hours have gone by, it was time for my sister to reveal the gender of my baby. Everyone gathered together outside and my sister began to speak. "First off, we want to thank all of you guys for coming out here today to celebrate my sister-in-law, Jennifer. It means the world to us to have you all here today to celebrate." Mark smiled. "Yes, as my husband Mark said, we are super thankful for everyone here that came out to celebrate Jennifer." My sister Anne smiled. "So without further ado, it is now time to reveal the gender of Jenn's baby." Mark replied as he went to go grab the poppers. He came back out with 3 poppers, one for me, and the other two for him and my sister. I stood in between Mark and my sister while the guests started counting down.
3......2......1...... POP!
The gender was finally revealed. And I am so happy to say, that I am having a BABY GIRL! It feels so great to finally know what I was having. Either way, I would've been happy with whatever God blessed me with. But honestly, I was so happy that I'm having a Baby Girl. After we had the gender reveal, we continued on with the shower with opening gifts, eating more food, and chatting away. The time is now 6:30 pm, and all the guests had left. Mark helped me put all the baby gifts in my room. I sat in the living room while my sister was making me my evening tea. I always like to have tea in the evenings, at least 2-3 times a week. It makes me feel more relaxed during the night. Now that it was just us 3 in the house, we had a serious talk about having Patrick know about the gender. "So Jenn, do you think you feel ok with telling Patrick about the gender?" Mark asked. I stared off into space before taking a deep breath. "To be honest, if it were up to me, I wouldn't tell Patrick at all, what the gender is." I replied. "Well, you know he's going to have to know eventually." My sister replied. "Well, how about this. I'll let Patrick know the gender...after I have the baby." I said. My sister and Mark looked at each other before they shared their response. "Well, if that's what you're comfortable with, your sister and I can't say no." Mark replied.
Overall, today was such an amazing day. I am so beyond thankful for my sister Anne and my brother-in-law Mark. They have done so much for me, I cannot thank them enough for it all. I already have a name picked out for my baby girl, but, I won't be revealing that to anyone until I give birth to her. I am so excited to meet my baby girl and welcome her into the world.
