When Ben Hinders and his wife Hannah found out they were pregnant, they made the strange decision to hide that fact from almost everyone they loved.
Unlike other couples who couldn’t wait to make the announcement, Ben and Hannah had a good reason for staying silent.
The couple received the happy news the day before their first wedding anniversary, but they didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet.
Keeping it under wraps for 9 whole months was a near impossible feat, one that practically no one had pulled off before.
But, they were bound and determined to surprise family and friends with the ultimate gift: a life-sized bundle of joy.
Ben told TODAY that Hannah first got the crazy idea in her head after the two watched a video about a surprise adoption.
“My wife had the idea of, ‘Wouldn’t it be crazy if we had a kid and didn’t tell anybody and then just showed up on their doorstep?’ Everybody was like, ‘You’re insane.”’
Insane or not, when Hannah’s belly started to show, they tried their best to distract everyone from the truth!
Instead of selfies where Hannah’s midsection might show, the couple filled their social media feeds with pictures of Hawaii’s gorgeous landscape.
“We had to be really stringent. I have friends who love Snapchat, and I had to tell them, ‘No Hannah in the Snapchat.’ I was being the police, and Hannah was unbelievably self-controlled to not share it with anyone.”
Ben and Hannah had recently moved to Kailua, on the island of Oahu, to escape the harsh winters of the East Coast. Naturally, they figured the jig would be up the moment someone stopped by for a visit.
Yet, as luck would have it, no one actually made the trip to see them at their tropical paradise home!
Two months after little Ivy Elizabeth was born on September 2nd, they flew to Virginia and Florida to let Ben and Hannah’s family unveil their surprise gift.
Everyone’s reaction turned from confusion, to denial, to shock and then joy!
Of course, it’s incredibly fun to see the expression on all of their faces! Knowing the surprise ahead of time doesn’t make it any less exciting.
But, it turns out that not everyone was happy with Ben and Hannah for keeping Ivy’s existence a secret.
“We had some anger come out after the fact, maybe a week or two later. My wife was pretty nervous, but we just thought, it’s pretty hard when you meet Ivy to not fall right in love. Nobody was mad for very long if they were mad.”
One things for sure – if there’s a baby brother or sister in the future, everyone will definitely know ahead of time!
With a chuckle, Ben readily admits:
“If she has a sibling, they’re going to be so disappointed because we’re definitely not doing this again.”
There were actually a few lucky friends who were in on this surprise the entire time. On their YouTube channel where the family reunion video was posted, the couple gave a shout out to their most trusted confidants:
“A huge Thank You to the friends who helped us keep the surprise safe. You know who you are!”
As an FYI, Ben and Hannah want it known that they weren’t being irresponsible with their newborn at the beginning of the video. They wrote:
“We did not drive with Ivy facing the wrong way. We only did that for the intro video so she could be seen. We had just landed from the airport, and wanted to film a quick intro before surprising everyone!”
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