The day that you announce your pregnancy to the world is a special one. Pregnancy news is generally welcomed with excitement and squeals of delight.
Sadly, by about the third or fourth announcement, the squeals of delight seem to diminish somewhat. As for the Mama of Many, she stands by, watching fewer and fewer people seem genuinely thrilled with her pregnancy news. When the time came to make my sixth pregnancy announcement, there was a total of three people I felt excited to tell. There were a few I was downright afraid to tell, and for the rest, I just waited for the questions and comments:
“Was it an accident?”
“OMG, you’re NOT!”
“Again?”
“You need to buy a TV!”
“Are you CRAZY??”
When I was sixteen weeks into my sixth pregnancy, I announced it by simply posting a Facebook status update that said “Julie Cole is…..making this world a more beautiful place, one baby at a time”. I was torn between posting that and “Does this fetus make me look fat?”
I don’t let a few inappropriate reactions ruffle my feathers. I’m always excited about my baby news and that’s the important thing.
Some mamas have come up with some pretty creative ways to announce their pregnancies. You hear of pregnancy tests being wrapped up and given as presents to daddy or elaborate hints being dropped to would-be grandparents. One friend recently had a surprise fourth pregnancy. She thought it would be nice to give her husband a beautiful bottle of wine when she shared the news with him. Needless to say, hubs immediately cracked it open and proceeded to inhale the entire bottle. He may have gone to the basement for a little cry as well.
I loved when my friend John announced his wife’s pregnancy. He had a photo of his own face scanned onto the face of the baby in the ultrasound picture. When he told us their pregnancy news, he pulled out the ultrasound image and there was his goofy face looking up at us. It was ridiculously funny.
Dragging a big sibling into the news sharing is always a good way to go. My cousin and her husband recently announced their second was on the way by taking their toddler around visiting family and friends, wearing a t-shirt with the news. Once they arrived, they’d just sit and wait to see how long it was before someone noticed. On some occasions they had to be very patient.
What has been your experience sharing pregnancy news? Did you do something creative? Were the reactions what you hoped for or expected?
Printer-friendly version