Deployed Airman’s Unit Helps Wife Surprise Him with Adorable Gender Reveal
The gender reveal is one of the most exciting moments of a pregnancy — for many parents, it’s an emotional, life-changing event to share together. For those in the military, the responsibility of serving their country makes these moments more challenging to coordinate, but so heartwarming to watch.
After nine months spent hoping for pregnancy, Nicholson and Taylor Pennant were thrilled to discover that they had a new baby on the way. However, the timing turned out to be far from ideal when Senior Airman Nicholson was called for deployment to the Middle East.
“We actually found out [about the pregnancy] a week before he left. He is gone for a six-month deployment, so end of January to August,” Taylor told Liftable, a section of The Western Journal. “His deployment was pretty short notice so it was so hard having him leave especially right after we found out we are expecting.”
Although Nicholson is dedicated to serving his country, the thought of leaving his family at such an important time saddened him.
“It’s been a very emotional roller coaster if I’m being honest. However, the mission comes first and I had to leave on a very short notice,” Nicholson said. “It’s been a challenge staying focused while deployed and thinking of my wife and all the things she’s got going on taking care of home, having a full time job, a 3-year-old and two dogs.”
Taylor scheduled an appointment to learn the baby’s gender, but still wanted to make the reveal special for her husband. She decided to get the help of his unit to make the event memorable for him.
“I found out the gender and went and bought a few things to send so that they could have a little guessing game gender reveal for him there,” Taylor said.
Taylor sent Nicholson a “care package” containing “Team Girl” and “Team Boy” buttons for his unit, blue and pink confetti and gender reveal games.
His medic team even cast votes on what they thought the baby’s gender would be. Team Girl was the most popular choice, but Nicholson was hoping for a boy.
“I know she wanted a girl; I was hoping for a boy. Either way, we both would be happy no matter the outcome of the sex of our second baby,” Nicholson said.
When it came time to officially reveal the gender, his unit gathered around him as he prepared to kick a soccer ball containing colored powder. For Nicholson, waiting for the reveal was agonizing.
“My unit supported me,” Nicholson told Liftable. “They did a 10 second countdown. Again, the longest 10 seconds of my life, and after the countdown, I kicked the soccer ball that was loaded with blue powder and that’s how I found out about my second son!”
The Pennants are looking forward to the arrival of baby number two, and Nicholson is scheduled to arrive back home before their son is born.
“My husband wants to be here so badly to help me and feels so bad that he can’t be,” Taylor said. “We are more than halfway through now, so we are just looking forward to his homecoming!”
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