Time to tell the World!

So your mate (literally, haha!) and you have discovered that you're expecting. Congratulations! So now you have to tell people.  For our parents, we told them all individually (All of our parents are divorced.) 

Who we told and when was driven mostly by my wife. She wanted to tell her mom first to find out how her pregnancies went. (Both my wife and her sister were a breeze).  To make things even, we called and told my mom later that night.  You might find it difficult to tell your parents about their impending grandchild.  This is, after all, the last big milestone for you becoming an adult.  Depending on your relationship with your parents, they may not even know you were trying to get pregnant (maybe you didn't know either!)

Some things to know before you announce:

• Life is not a movie - You might be expecting the classic mom going "Ohhhh my God!" with her hands in the air and the dad giving you a wink that you're not really sure how to interpret.  You probably get this to some degree.  More likely a lot of congratulations, hugs, and handshakes.  This is not a reflection of how excited they are.  It will build, let them absorb and process the information first.  

• Be prepared for the question and answer session - Have the due date, how many weeks pregnant your spouse is, and when you know the gender dates ingrained in your skull before you tell anyone.  They will be asked of repeatedly. By the time I got to telling aunts and grandparents I just started spouting out all of that information.

•  If you can't say the words, use a picture - Have a picture of the latest sonogram on your phone and show it to the future grandparent / uncle / aunt.  They're smart enough to figure out what you want to say.

• This is big news! But don't steal someone else's thunder - Holidays are a green light, weddings are a big no no for announcing your grand news. 

• 12 weeks, wait until then - You might want to shout it from the rooftops.  And that's awesome! Be excited.  But the chance of miscarriage is pretty high before the end of the first trimester.  So hold off on the facebook announcement for the time being.  

• Pintrest is the devil - Thanks to pintrest and etsy, your wife will want some creative way to post on your favorite social media sites.  No matter how ridiculous is may be, let her do this. A happy mom makes a healthy baby. Consider making your dog sit still while a sign hangs around his neck for a picture your first big test of patience. 

The missus purchased this off etsy here.

Thanks for reading!