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I think I can speak for most parents with newborns when I say no one expected to have a baby this spring during a global pandemic. Never mind the fact that our road to pregnancy wasn't what most would consider normal, the added stress of a pandemic certainly made, and is making, our journey that much more complicated. This pandemic has more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan movie. For us, this meant telehealth visits instead of in person, cancelled maternity photos, and a virtual baby shower.
Months prior to when our baby shower invitations were mailed out, my mom and I began talking about a vision for the shower. Once my brain got over the initial shock of being pregnant, my imagination began to run wild on all the things I wanted to do during the pregnancy. I often would hop onto Pinterest for reference photos of what I wanted for our baby shower and immediately began to send them to my mom. Long after the shower was planned and the invitations were sent out, COVID-19 happened causing us to have to quickly re-envision the day. The first thing my mom did upon finding out that we were going to have to re-imagine the baby shower was to notify all of our guests that the shower was still on, but was going to virtual and come to them in the mail.
In case it isn't obvious, my mom put a lot of work into making this shower by mail amazing. Her hard work made it a fun experience for everyone involved. She took all of the items she had purchased for the in person shower and made sure that our guests would still be able to enjoy the activities. Each mailer had a festive baby shower bag that included:
A plain white onesie for them to decorate
Fabric markers of different colors
Baby shower games and activities - For us, an Emoji Pictionary game, Who Knows Daddy Best game, a wooden elephant for folks to sign/write on, and an advice for parents baby bottle were included. The wooden elephants that were included, drop into this "So Little, So Loved" sign in Eila's Room.
Random, trinket gifts - Since my mom had bought a bunch of little gifts for game winners, she threw a few in every box.
Party favors - Everyone received a tea cup, a bag of tea, and some chocolate. I'm an avid tea drinker so the fact that my mom incorporated this into the shower was an awesome, personal touch.
Return mailer box with my address pre-filled for guests to return their decorated onesie, wooden elephant, and games.
In the weeks that followed, little priority mail boxes slowly started to arrive. Each time we received a box, it was new and exciting. We loved to see all the different, very creative, onesies, the advice provided, and the guesses to the games. In Eila's baby book is an envelope for well wishes that has become the perfect home for the advice notes, cards, and game responses. These items will be there for her to look at for years to come and show just how loved and supported this little miss is and was long before she was born. The onesies are currently stored in a beautiful box until Eila is a little bigger (each is 6-9mo in size).
Guests had the option if they had purchased gifts and lived locally to my mom to drop the items off. My mom and the baby shower were going to take place 4 hours away from my house - so this meant that following my mom mailed me a few of the essential items that I would need during the first weeks of newborn life. Ideally, if I had lived closer, these items could have been dropped off to my home or mailed instead. Close to the intended day of the shower, my mom set up her dining room to be as festive as possible. On FaceTime, my sisters, my mom, and I all gathered to "open" the presents. While my mom opened the gifts and we all oohed and ahhed, my dad snapped candid photos.
Overall, this wasn't the experience that I had expected or envisioned for our baby shower. Ultimately, though, it was a beautiful and fun experience. We were able to join together as a family to open gifts. The commentary through FaceTime by my niece, who is three, was by far the most precious and best part of opening gifts. She had us all in stitches laughing as she declared which items she loved the most and thought were cute. We also were able to still include our family and friends through the mailers, which were really fun to receive back. Everyone added their own flare to their packages, notes, and other surprises that made opening them that much more fun. If you are also planning a virtual or by mail baby shower, I hope that this helps you create a special experience that is perfect for you!
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