After 10 long weeks—in “excited parent time” that’s about 54 years—of keeping our new baby news under wraps, the word is finally out, and we couldn’t be more excited! For a few weeks, Tom and I volleyed ideas back and forth about how to tell. We eventually settled on picture postcards for out-of-state family. We snapped a picture of Jacob wearing his “big brother” shirt, jotted down a note about how the baby would be joining us in September, and off the cards went. Since we didn’t use tracking, it was like pins and needles waiting to get the calls that the cards had arrived!
For our local family and friends, we decided to share the news at church. Tom’s dad is the pastor of our church, and Tom, who is the youth pastor, makes the announcements each week, so it was a natural choice for us.
Though we are thrilled to have been able to share the excitement with friends and family, to me, there is something wonderful and precious about the time when the news is known only by me—and then by my husband. With Jacob, and then with this baby, too, I was in no rush to lose that time.
In fact, it took me several days before I found the right time and way to tell Tom the news. In those days, I savored carrying a secret that was known only by me. Those days of silence helped me adjust to the idea of a new reality for our family and process what that would mean for me as a mother.
Once Tom was in the know, we saved the news from family and friends for awhile (though not as long as we’d planned) in part due to the practical considerations of miscarriage in the early weeks. But, too, because we cherish the fun and romantic feeling that comes from sharing a secret with the person in the world you love the most.
Because I became sick right away and haven’t made it out of the house much, there was plenty of speculation among nearby friends and family. It wasn’t easy avoiding the questions—many of which were point blank “Are you pregnant?”—but it was worth it to be able to tell in our own time and our own way.
So, do tell, when and how did you decide to share the news of your little bundle? Did you spill the beans right away or savor the secret for awhile, like us?
