I am so excited to announce that I’m pregnant! It’s still very very early- expecting [name]July[/name] 2013.
But I am already thinking about ways to announce it in a couple of months. rWe want to announce it to our families over [name]Christmas[/name], when we will be back home. The announcement to my family will have be on the very day we arrive (several days before [name]Christmas[/name]), because I know my mother will ask or say something- she knows that we were wanting to try and she is just that kind of person!.. plus I will want to spend those coveted few days talking [name]BABY[/name] with her while I’m home!
What fun ways did you break the news to your families?
I just want to say that miscarriges in first three months are very common and that you should reconsider who should be told and when it should be told.
If you’re due in [name]July[/name], you should be nearing your second trimester around [name]Christmas[/name]… Which is the perfect time to tell your family! We wrapped a framed picture of our sonogram that said [name]Merry[/name] [name]Christmas[/name], grandpa and grandma on the frame. We put it under the tree with the rest of the presents and let them open it on [name]Christmas[/name] morning. It was awesome!! I think you could do something similar, but have them open it early.
[name]How[/name] exciting for you!!! Especially that you’ll be able to announce it to your family on a trip home. I’m not expecting yet, but love hearing these stories. Here are a couple of cute ones I’ve heard and would consider using myself:
Take a family picture of everyone all together. Have whoever takes the picture say “____ and ____ are expecting!” just as they take it so you get the shocked family photo. You could do it with a timer too-- just should out “we’re expecting!”
Plan a “surprise party” for your husband that is actually a surprise announcement party. Have the moms help plan the party thinking your husband doesn’t know anything, when the party comes around, you bring him in and announce you are pregnant as your own surprise!
Let us know what you decide to do. Congratulations!!
I’ve given a card with a sonogram inside, and twice just told everyone outright. We just told everyone about #4 this past week. A few years ago I bought my mom a bracelet with her grandchildren’s birthstones on it. I bought her the newest birthstone ([name]May[/name]) and put it in a box. I made her a pair of earrings for [name]Christmas[/name] last year, but misplaced them, so when I gave her the box, she thought I’d just found them. It took her a few minutes to realize what the new stone was for, because she thought we were done.
My [name]SIL[/name] told her family by having fortune cookies made with a message inside about the baby, then they all went out to a Chinese restaurant and they had the waitress switch the cookies.
I’m not close to most of my family so they mostly found out through Facebook, and I waited until I was like 18 weeks pregnant to tell my mom because I knew she was going to be disappointed/upset that I was “too young, ruining my life, etc.” She pretty much denied I was pregnant until I was so big she couldn’t ignore it anymore. And now she loves [name]Rowan[/name] so much, I actually think it’s funny she was so against it.
I’m also due at the very beginning of [name]July[/name], so I’ve been thinking about the same thing…provided all is going well, [name]Christmas[/name] seems like a good time to tell my parents since I only see them a couple times a year. My plan so far is to wrap up a children’s book ([name]Little[/name] Critter “Grandma, Grandpa, and Me” unless I think of a better one!!) and just put it under the tree. You could wrap something up (other ideas were some grandparent-related onesie or bib) and tell them when you get home that you have something you want them to open early.
Those ideas are all supercute :). You could also buy your parents t-shirts or mugs that says “World’s Best Grandma/Grandpa” and watch their face as they work through the logic…!
Well what someone I knew did was take a picture of her pregnancy test. She made a scrapbook of the family and put the picture of the stick on the last page. This was a [name]Christmas[/name] president to her mom, my aunt. My aunt took a long time looking a the picture to figure out what it was, lol! We all laughed at her because most use knew what it was when we saw the picture. Then it took her awhile to figure out if it was positive of negative, of course it’s positive! Who takes a picture of a negative test? (although I think that would be a hilarious [name]April[/name] fools thing to do)
On a side note, just be cautious about how many people you tell. I personally would wait till the 3rd month since that’s when you’re normally safe and don’t have to worry about miscarriage.
I don’t know what your parents are like. Though I’m not having kids yet, I thought about wrapping a flannel shirt up for my dad (who wears such things) and having a card that says, “The best granddads wear soft snuggly shirts.” My baking-loving mother will probably get a cookbook and a similar note about the best grandmamas. But I bet the idea could work for whatever your parents are into that you would love them to do with your child (kid toys, fishing poles, guitar picks, whittling stuff, gardening gloves–whatever).
Congratulations to you too lineska! I love your idea of wrapping up a children’s book. I agree that [name]Christmas[/name] is the perfect time. We are only home twice a year too, and it just worked out that I’ll be 11 weeks at [name]Christmas[/name] (although I know that that is still a bit early). My mom and my sister (who is only 1 1/2 years older than me) both miscarried their first child. Knowing that, I am super aware that that may happen to me. I am also so very excited and hopeful and feeling blessed that DH and I were able to conceive quickly (only trying for 2 months). I have a very close friend who has struggled to conceive for 2 years. So I want to cherish this miracle that is happening and enjoy each moment! Wishing you all the best! Have you decided on names yet?
Ellenelle, I love how personal your ideas are. My mom is a big-time gardener and my dad is a fisherman/ hunter, so I cute definitely come up with some gifts around their favorite hobbies. Thanks!
I love the family photo idea! That seems like so much fun! And it’s a great way to capture the excitement, especially if someone can also be recording it.
I am imagining that my family (mom-dad-maternal grandmother-sister+her husband and children-and brother) will all meet up for a nice dinner the night that DH and I arrive. So I will want to announce it at the dinner. Opening a present/ sonogram picture are both really awesome… I just need to figure out a way to do it so that it isn’t “obvious”… because I KNOW that my family will be hoping/ expecting us to make an announcement!!
These are all so cute! My boyfriend and I simply had our parents over for dinner and my boyfriend said “Uhm, so, errr…we’re going to… eh, ehm… we’re going to have a baby.” Not so special, but we were sort of nervous about their reactions, his parents are catholic and we’re not married. They were all so excited though! I hope you find a special way to tell them, since it seems important to you.
Thanks! I think 11 weeks is perfectly reasonable for telling parents, I understand waiting longer to tell the world (I probably won’t go “facebook official” until more like 20 weeks) but immediate family makes sense, especially when you dont have many in-person chances. I’ll be right around 12 weeks at [name]Christmas[/name]. I feel bad wishing away these months but I just want to be into the second trimester so I feel like I can breathe a little…
[name]One[/name] more idea! A friend of mine did this the other week when she told her family. She pretended she wanted to take a group picture of everybody and got them all together in front of the fireplace (you could do [name]Christmas[/name] tree…), and then did the “Okay guys, 1-2-3-[name]Say[/name], “[name]Anna[/name]'s pregnant!”” The pictures of their responses were incredible.
[name]One[/name] more idea! A friend of mine did this the other week when she told her family. She pretended she wanted to take a group picture of everybody and got them all together in front of the fireplace (you could do [name]Christmas[/name] tree…), and then did the “Okay guys, 1-2-3-[name]Say[/name], “[name]Anna[/name]'s pregnant!”” The pictures of their responses were incredible.[/QUOTE]
That is such a cool idea! Storing away in the back of my mind for future usage ;-).
We told our families at [name]Christmas[/name] last year! I got some personalised christmas cards made up that said ‘merry christmas, for christmas were getting you…’ and on the inside of the card I had a picture of the ultrasound and it said ‘a grandbaby, a neice/nephew, a cousin etc’! Got a lots of screams of excitment as everyone opened them together
I found out I was pregnant when I was living in PA and my mom was in NC. I had actually just visited a week before I found out so I wound up telling her over the phone. It wasn’t cute or creative but the love and excitement was there anyway. It’s great that you have this visit coming up as a perfect opportunity. It is a good idea to get a few months in to make it public though. My mom had announced a pregnancy shortly before she miscarried at 10 weeks and was still coming across people who hadn’t had a chance to congratulate her yet while she was grieving. I told her, my closest friends and work (there were safety issues in my profession) as soon as I knew and had every intention of otherwise keeping mum until my 2nd trimester, but I spilled it on facebook when I was about 8 weeks.
I’m a weirdo so I’ve been planning how I want to tell my mom that I’m pregnant (whenever that time comes) for years! She’s dying to be a grandmother! I remember seeing something where they all went out to eat as a family and had the waitress bring the mom/grandma-to-be’s beverage out in a baby bottle. I thought that was adorable. Of course there’s always the brag book with a sonogram inside.
Here are a couple of sites you can check out! I’m so excited for you! Congrats!
She’s dying to be a grandmother! I remember seeing something where they all went out to eat as a family and had the waitress bring the mom/grandma-to-be’s beverage out in a baby bottle. I thought that was adorable. Of course there’s always the brag book with a sonogram inside.