My friend announced she was having a baby with a party and a cake. They had tried so for long to have a baby that when it did happen I expected the massive announcement. Often I wish when I see these new visual announcements that when I fell pregnant the first time that I did something more amazing like a flash mob, poem, video, or a photo of a pair of booties to announce to my husband we were pregnant. Something other than what I did which was gift wrap the pregnancy stick and give it to my husband mid argument about him going to go back to the mines to work so we didn’t lose our home. Yes in hindsight it seems a little gross; gifting a stick with my own urine on it and the timing was terrible but I was terrified. At the time I saw that stick like a wand; it had predicted our future at least to some degree. That stick and all the meaning it held was a massive gift of love from me to him and I wasn’t able to think much beyond that. I was so happy, excited and so very scared at the same time. So despite being mid argument my husband opened it; the gift wrapped pee stick, happily swore, then smiled and well the rest is history.
For my second pregnancy I was a little more imaginative because honestly I wasn’t so scared. Happily nervous. So I booked mark a baby name book again with the stick. Me and my piddled on sticks. I wrapped it and the book and gave it to my husband just before he went back to work offshore. I figured he had four weeks to find a name we might agree on and four weeks to work out why I had given him a book in the first place.
Our third baby I was back to being scared out of my wits. I wanted this baby so badly but wasn’t so sure I could handle him or her at the time but knew they were destined to be. I was only a couple of weeks pregnant probably too early for a test but I knew. So alone together husband and I, on a weekend away without the kids, I pee-ed on that magic stick the one that changes your life forever and waited. We waited together on the hotel bed on a cold Melbourne day waiting for that stick to change nervously chatting about what if. He looked first he smiled and again the rest was history. That finding out and announcing was ultimately my favourite.
How we told our family? It was simple…we are having a baby…they didn’t believe us until I started to show…our resolve to not have children was that strong they didn’t believe us and the reaction (with the exception of my parents who we announced with do you prefer Nanna/ Grandma or Poppa/Grandad was priceless I wish we had recorded it- thanks mum and dad) wasn’t exactly what we expected so we didn’t even bother the second nor third time we were with child. And all our children were planned not an accident after that one time in Venice but still we kept it private and it was beautiful.
Now like with my friends pregnancy announcement that they are finally with child its all so visual. Announcing pregnancies like marriage proposals have gone to new heights and when I see these photos, videos, cakes and effort I think damn perhaps I could have done something a bit more imaginative to mark something so life changing. Hindsight is wonderful and perhaps but probably not I was too scared to think straight and now for me there will never be a next time but here are some very sweet announcement ideas here, here, and you must watch this video here it will make your day its like watching pure joy- as the announcement of every baby should be.
So how did you announce to your partner that you were pregnant? Flash mob? Card? Or just a simple we are having a baby? Did you video it And did you do something special for your family?
xx Deb
