Shortly after we got pregnant, I began to think about the next big decision to make:
How were we going to announce our pregnancy online?
It may seem silly, but the Internet and social media specifically, have really upped the game in terms of how you announce big life events. I'm not just talking about pregnancy here either; there's the engagement announcement, the wedding announcement, the new job. Well, you get my drift.
Of course, the Internet didn't invent the creative pregnancy announcement. Instead, it really just amplified the good ones (and not so good ones) making ordinary schmucks like me feel like I'm missing something by not being creative.
In fact, one of the earliest pregnancy announcements I can remember is this scene from Full House when Becky tries to tell Jesse they're expecting.
It was at that moment, when I was nine years old, that I decided that this was how I was going to tell my husband we were expecting, even though at the time I had no desire to be a mother. Last year, I changed my mind and thought I'd buy my web developer husband this book to give him the big news. (That didn't happen either. I was in such shock after taking the first pregnancy test, I numbly walked down the stairs and handed my husband the stick in my hand.)
Thanks to the Internet, we get to share in other people's joy when they share the big news. Here are a few of my favourite announcements:
The excitement of this couple following the mother around is darling. And I love how she doesn't get it when she finally finds the item in the kitchen hidden for her.
Watch this and try not to cry. Just try.
OK, this wasn't really an internet-specific announcement, but it sure was an announcement that broke the internet (cut to the 4:55 mark). (Bonus: Happy Kanye West sighting.)
So what did we do? We had decided to be straight forward and just say it. But then I had an idea.
My husband and I are huge Blue Jays fans. For our wedding, I got him two tickets for In the Action seats right behind home plate for our honeymoon. I tucked the tickets in a baseball cap, which I had "husband" stitched on the back. On the day of the game, we got me a matching one saying "Wife." We wore both to that game, and have worn them to many other games since.
So really, it only made sense that the newest member of our family gets their own cap, too.
Hopefully this baby won't become a Yankees or Red Sox fan when they grow up.
It's June, which means summer wedding season is in full swing.
I don't know about you, but I've already been to one wedding this year, and have two more planned (plus one more we've been invited to but can't attend as I won't be able to fly that late in my pregnancy). Those are just the weddings I've been invited to so far. I'm sure others may pop up.
Figuring out what I'm going to wear to a wedding is usually a fun thing for me. Often, I use the excuse to go shopping for a new dress.
However, for the remaining weddings we're attending this year, there's something else I'll have to contend with: my belly. For someone who's never carried a child to term before, that's a little daunting.
Here are a few tips on how you can navigate wedding season, even if your baby bump is the variable in your dress shopping experience.
For our next wedding in August, I decided to go out looking for a special dress now when I had time. I emailed the online custom-dress shop Dress Mavens to see if they made, or were willing to make me, a maternity dress. They didn't, but they offered me three suggestions on dress types that would be best for my blooming belly. They walked me through how to do my measurements, and gave me recommendations on how to expand certain measurements for growth over the next few months (ahem, breasts and waist).
I couldn't have asked for more. Not only will I have a one-of-a-kind dress at this wedding, but since it's not really a maternity dress, I also will be able to take it in and wear it after the baby comes. Talk about getting wear out of a dress.
If you feel more comfortable buying a maternity dress for a wedding, look for stuff on sale. This is actually what I've done for any maternity clothes I've bought so far. For the first wedding we were invited to this year, I wasn't sure how much of a bump I'd have at 14 weeks. I decided to take a look at some sale items at an online maternity store just to see. I bought two dresses.
When they arrived, the one I thought I was going to wear was still a little too big for how tiny I am. I knew it would look great when I had a more defined bump, but as I was at 14 weeks, I was just swimming in the material. The second dress though, was just perfect. It fit me nicely, and even showed off my little tiny bump.
The key thing here is that neither of these dresses were "formal wear." Instead, they were just nice dresses that I could wear elsewhere, like to work or to the theatre. In fact, the pink dress I ended up wearing to that wedding a few weeks back? I've already worn it to work.
Whatever you decide, it's most important you're comfortable in what you're wearing. If you're close with the bride, then ask her how fancy of a dress she wants you in. Weddings today tend to be a lot less formal than they were even 20 years ago. For example, you'd likely wear something different to a wedding on a beach compared to one in a church.
Shoes are important also. Sure, a 4" heel might look amazing with your new, but your back (and your changing centre of gravity) will not appreciate the fashion statement, especially if you're not a regular wearer of heels.
Have you been pregnant and had to attend a wedding? I'd love to hear what you wore, and what advice you have. You know, in case there are any last minute invitations before my due date.
RELATED: The Good, The Bad, And The Belly - Your Weekly Pregnancy Guide
After I lost the baby, it seemed easy to shrug off the loss.
“We weren’t that far along;” or “There’s a higher chance of miscarriage in first pregnancies;” or “We’ll try again.”
It was easy to convince everyone else, but a lot harder to convince myself.
My miscarriage happened while my husband and I were on holidays in Cuba. We were about to enter our 12th week when the bleeding started. We flew home on the next available flight. We learned we actually lost the baby three weeks before this, it just took my body time to begin the process of expelling the fetus.
It was a process my body didn’t finish. Six weeks after I started bleeding, my pregnancy hormone levels had stagnated. I had to have a Dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure done to remove the fetus from my body. This news came just days before my husband and I were to move across the province. I went to an abortion clinic’s walk-in hours to have the D&C.
Even after all that, I told myself things would be OK. I wasn’t that attached. I was going to be fine.
I threw myself into my new job and picked up running again. I also picked up some bad habits as well. I started drinking a little too much at night and began smoking again. Then there was the issue with other pregnancies - my sister was pregnant as well and was due the week after my due date would have been in the fall. I watched her belly grow, knowing mine was not going to develop like that. Her ultrasound photos broke my heart as a baby emerged in them. In the last ultrasound we had prior to our loss, our baby looked like a seahorse.
I helped plan her baby shower. That was the beginning of the end for me. It was hard sitting there as she was showered with presents of tiny outfits, blankets and toys. To get through the afternoon, I showered myself with wine.
Pregnancy loss is something we tend not to talk about. I thought I had been vocal during that time about my loss, but I wasn’t. I hid a lot of how I felt. Or at least I thought I did. My husband said it was pretty clear I was a mess.
As time went on, I didn’t know if I could go through another loss. I wanted to have a child with my husband, but didn’t want to risk my emotional well-being in case we had another miscarriage. It was then we decided we weren’t going to try again.
I was at peace with our decision, but still found myself emotional when people announced they were pregnant or when a baby was born. When a colleague of mine emailed a photo of her newborn son, I began to bawl at my desk.
Would the pain ever subside? I wondered.
About a month before we were to make our decision not to have kids permanent, my husband and I sat down one more time to talk about our decision. We made a decent amount of money and owned a nice home. We’d probably make good parents and offer a good life to a child. Was this really what we wanted?
We decided to put a pin in not having a baby. We’d try again, at least for a little while, and see what happened. We’d deal with what came next together.
Five weeks after that day, I took a pregnancy test.
Two lines stared back at me.
Beautiful Announcement Introduces 13 Year-Old Newborn 
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