I Went to a Virtual Baby Shower and Here’s What Happenedfeatured

One of my good friends has been pregnant since the beginning of quarantine. I saw her only one time before we were told to shelter in place. It was when she told me she was pregnant and I never got to see her again. Never got to touch her belly. And I never will.

She really wanted a #IRL (in real life) baby shower. This gal is the type that loves all celebrations and has always traveled the world for her big life event celebrations.

Not this time.

I received the Facebook invite late one night for her “Virtual Baby Shower.” I thought: “What the heck is that?” I mean, aren’t baby showers all about being in the same room as mama and baby and oohing and ahhing at all the amazing gifts over hors d’oeuvres?

Well, times have definitely changed and I eventually got really excited about attending this virtual event and showing my support. My dear friend kept telling me she was nervous about the whole thing and I didn’t quite understand why.

The day finally came for me to attend my first virtual baby shower and now you will find out why my friend had been so nervous about it…

It was hosted via Zoom and everyone joined the meeting room on time. For the first 15 minutes, it was a total family reunion. There were family members in Japan, at the mall, and in front of virtual backgrounds.

“Is this thing on?” “Can you guys hear me?” “Are you in Japan?” “Hi Auntie!” “Can you see me?” “I think I will just be quiet.”

I sat there laughing hysterically and fully muted and decided to invite my kitten and husband to the shower as we viewed it from the couch.

If you are familiar with Zoom, you know that all audio should be muted except for the person hosting the meeting or if someone decides they have something really important to say. Let’s just say the “muting all participants” feature never worked for my friend. Guests were so excited about this new baby that they just couldn’t handle being muted.

Unmuted and muted guests first got to experience a full tour of the baby’s newly decorated room. “You’re going too fast!” the daddy-to-be said. My friend continued the tour as the guests reassured her that she was doing a great job, at just the right speed.

People continued to have technical difficulties with their muting function.

We then all got to watch an “All About The Baby” slideshow. If you are planning your own virtual shower, I definitely recommend this. It gave me all the feels. It was so cool to see a sonogram photo of baby and his full name written out and it’s origins. We also found out his likes and dislikes while in mama’s belly. His likes included: Sleeping, watching 90-Day Fiance, and having Daddy talk to him. His dislikes included: Spicy food and acupuncture.

Momma then hosted a fashion show on her belly, showing off the many cute clothes Baby had received. Daddy did his own fashion show of all the baby gear and functional gifts for the growing family.

The grand finale included ‘The Price is Right’ game show, where guests had to guess how much some of the baby gifts cost by typing their responses in the chat window for a chance to win prizes. I definitely lost but had so much fun playing.

Okay, so the virtual baby shower wasn’t exactly perfect. But do any planned events turn out exactly as expected? They tend to take on a life of their own and this celebration did exactly that.

It was overwhelming to witness the amount of love that surrounded this baby on this special day in that Zoom room. And while we were not able to physically share the moment together, virtually sharing it brought so many more people together, including my kitten and husband.

Had this been an in-person shower, guests from all over the world would have missed it and I wouldn’t have laughed as hard as people remained unmuted and unfiltered throughout the entire event.

If you are debating a virtual celebration of any sort, I recommend you just do it. It won’t be perfect but it sure will be fun, exciting and heartwarming.

I am happy to report Baby is due in a matter of hours. Thank you for the amazing virtual baby shower, Mommy and Daddy! We can’t wait to meet Baby via Zoom.

Love Deeply and Forever,

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