Smash cake, gender reveal and babymoons: How Long Island parents celebrate new babies
Alyssa and James Kelly of Medford had hockey-themed gender reveals for both of their babies – and both are girls. Credit: Jeannine Lombardo Photography
When Debra Semken’s grown daughter was pregnant with her first baby in 2021, Semken, 62, of Holbrook, found herself taken aback by the things her daughter was doing to celebrate the impending birth — a maternity photo shoot, a gender reveal party, a babymoon.
“Everything’s so different,” says Semken, from when she gave birth to Alyssa Kelly of Medford, now 31. Says Kelly: “When it came to anything I wanted to do for the baby she was like, ‘We didn’t do that, that’s crazy.’”
But Semken says her skepticism has since turned to embracing the new trends in parenthood. “If I was living in this generation, I would do it all,” she says now.
What is “it all” exactly? Here are seven things parents-to-be and new parents do nowadays that were rare or unheard of a generation ago:
GENDER REVEAL PARTY
Erika Ramirez and Roland Carlone of Lindenhurst had a Halloween theme gender reveal to find out they were having a daughter. Credit: Erika Ramirez
Ijah Wilson, 30, who works in customer service, and Kevin Blunt, 38, a realtor, who lives in Bay Shore, had their gender reveal for their son Kal-El, now 9 months old, at the shooting range in Calverton, where Blunt aimed at a target. “For my son, I was so sick, and the old wives’ tale says if you’re very sick chances are you were having a girl. When that thing popped blue, we were so surprised,” Wilson says. “People at the range realized what we were doing and it turned into a party, it turned into a whole big thing where the range was celebrating with us.”
When Wilson herself was born a generation ago, her legs were closed during the ultrasound and her own mother thought she was going to be a boy and decorated the nursery in blue. Says her mother, Karlene Blair, 54, “I told myself I’m going to have a boy, just a feeling.” Nowadays, couples can be almost certain of gender with a blood test; that’s what Wilson relied on, she says. “I did the test at 12 weeks,” Wilson says. “I don’t have that patience to wait.”
BABYMOON
Alyssa and James Kelly of Medford took a “babymoon” right before her third trimester, heading to Arizona. Credit: Kelly family
The Kellys traveled to Arizona, where they did a helicopter ride over the red rocks of Sedona. “It was super romantic,” Alyssa Kelly says. “We have not been on a trip since. It’s nice that we have that last memory of what it was like, just the two of us.”
SPRINKLE
Vanessa and Nick Costa of Levittown had a “sprinkle” – a scaled down version of a baby shower – before the birth of their second child. Credit: Vanessa Cost
PUSH PRESENT
Andrew Harris of Stony Brook says he gave his wife, Meghan, a “push present” ring after he saw how hard it was for her to give birth to their daughter, Payton. Credit: Meghan Harris
Ramírez asked Carlone to gift her a push present she could wear now and then pass down to their daughter when she is older. They chose a white-gold necklace with Emilia Marie’s name on it, along with her birthstone sandwiched between the birthstones of Ramírez’s grandparents, for whom Emilia Marie is named. Ramírez says it symbolizes Emilia’s namesakes protecting her from heaven. “I really wanted something meaningful that one day she could keep,” Ramírez says.
Not all push presents are jewelry. Nappi-Franzone’s husband gave her a Louis Vuitton designer bag after her C-section to have their daughter Fiarenza. Kiersten DiCarluccio, 29, of Rocky Point, a nurse for a pediatric practice, says she was gifted a high-end Dyson hairdryer after the birth of her second child. "No sentimental value, but it is appreciated as I use it frequently," DiCarluccio says.
FACEBOOK PARENTING GROUPS
Yvonne Byrnes of Setauket says she relied on Facebook groups for advice when she was pregnant with George. Credit: Yvonne Byrnes
SMASH CAKE
Olivia Conley, 1, of Holbrook, enjoys her smash cake photo shoot in February. Credit: Blue Family Photography
Ijah Wilson and Kevin Blunt of Bay Shore, pictured with their son Kal-El, plan to do a smash cake photo shoot when he Kal-El turns 1. Credit: Melanie Durante of Love Island Photography/Melanie Durante of Love Island Photography
Wilson says she also plans to do a smash cake shoot with Kal-El when he turns one later this year. “It’s pretty popular so I’ll kind of just jump on that boat,” Wilson says. “It’s pretty messy, but it probably is cute.”
PROFESSIONAL MATERNITY PHOTO SHOOTS
Alyssa Kelly of Medford posed for a milk bath pregnancy photo shoot. Credit: Erika Ramírez @Lifesprecioustudio
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
