How We Told

I've been meaning to write about this for some time now, mostly just so I don't forget these special early pregnancy memories. As it is, I'm having to rack my brain quite a bit to draw out all the details. Let's see how this goes.

I should preface by saying we didn't do anything creative at all to announce our pregnancy. We were too excited. We just wanted to call and tell the everyone! And so we did. Sorry if that makes this post a little boring.

I should also mention that neither of our families live in town, so maybe that's why we lacked creativity in our announcement. All of it had to be done over the phone or FaceTime, so we were pretty limited by that. At least that's what my non-creative side wants me to believe.

The first person I told, aside from John of course, was my sister.

Actually, that's a lie. The first FIRST person I told, aside from John, was Emily over at Mama Holi. I was nearly going crazy waiting for my husband to get home from work and just needed to reach out to someone who understood pregnancy and infertility and the whirlwind of emotion when you finally get a positive test. So I emailed her and support ensued. It was just what I needed.

Then John got home, I took 2 more pregnancy tests just to be sure, and we spent the rest of that evening in shock and total elation.

Later that night, when we finally went to bed, I couldn't fall asleep for nothing. There was just too much excitement running through my brain. And when I finally did fall asleep, it didn't last for long. I was wide awake at the tip top of the morning, about to burst if I didn't tell anyone our news. So that's when I decided to tell our first loved one: my sister. I knew she'd be awake, so she was the perfect place to start. I called her and immediately just blurted out, "I'm pregnant!" Excitement ensued. We chatted for a while and then I told her to keep it hush hush since we weren't sure how long we'd wait to tell the rest of family and friends.

That didn't last long. We decided that we wanted to share the news with our families and close friends as soon as possible, so that this little life could be celebrated and prayed for immediately.

When we called my parents, they were out at a restaurant and couldn't FaceTime. I considered offering to call them back once they get home, but John thought they would suspect something was up. So I just went ahead and blurted it out and my poor mom cried in the middle of the restaurant. Ha! It was beautiful. This'll be grandbaby #3 for them, so they're pros when it comes to being Memere and Poppa. But that didn't stop them from being oh-so-excited!

We did get to FaceTime John's parents, as they were home when we called, and after sharing our news the first thing my mother-in-law said was, "Is this an adoption thing?" Ha! Since we had been homestudy approved for a while, they knew that an adoption could happen at any time for us, so I think she thought, "We're pregnant!" meant that we were matched with a birthmom or something like that. It took some explaining, but quickly she came to understand that we were literally pregnant. :) And then they proceeded to be thrilled for us. Actually, I've never seen my father-in-law so giddy! It was adorbs. This'll be the first grandbaby for them, so definitely a cause for major celebration.

Over the next few weeks, we told all our siblings and close friends, and of course they were all thrilled. Again, it was mostly phone calls and us saying "we're pregnant!" and then lots of happiness, so they're not all worth detailing.

BUT! I do need to mention my sister-in-law's reaction, because it was probably the best of all.

We FaceTimed her and her husband and after dropping the bomb, her response, no exaggeration, was "SHUT THE F*** UP!" followed soon by, "NO F***ING WAY!" You stay classy, Auntie Kathleen. :P

Announcing a pregnancy is almost always met with SO MUCH JOY. But announcing a pregnancy after 2 years of infertility? ... That's cause for some serious expletives.

Let's just say we LOVED every moment of shocking the crap outta everyone.

Oh, and in case you're wondering... NO, we haven't put it on facebook yet. As far as I'm concerned, all the important folks know about Baby Schweitz by now, so no need to blast the news in faceland yet. But when we do, I'll be sure to use my creative side to make up for all the non-creative announcements we made in real life.  Perhaps something like this?

I kid, I kid. We're way classier than that. But it probably made you giggle, am I right?

Also... NO, I haven't told my coworkers yet. Call me crazy, but this is just a case of me not wanting tons of attention from work people. I'm getting to the point where hiding under baggy shirts isn't as easy now, so I imagine the cat'll be out of the bag within the next week or so. But up until now, I've enjoyed keeping this joyful little secret all to myself at work.

And there you have it. All the details of how we told our loved ones about Baby Schweitz. It may not have been the most creative or interesting approach, but it was honestly perfect to us.