T.D.
Hi S.,
I had quite a few people at my shower and get a little embarrassed opening gifts in front of people, but that said a shower is one of those times where everyone wants to see the gifts and 'ooh' and 'ahh'. What I did for mine was have someone hand me gifts to keep the process moving and my friend wrote everything down. Right before we started, I announced that I was opening gifts, but feel free to keep eating, chatting, whatever. That way the people who wanted to see me open gifts could sit closer and enjoy and the others were able to finish eating, etc. Hopefully, the mama-to-be can just enjoy the moment! Besides, there's always at least one very special/sentimental gift that is opened and it's so nice for everyone to enjoy it :)