My partner didn't announce my pregnancy. My pregnancy announcement was made via an allusive Facebook post by an over-excited mother-in-law who could not wait any longer. Don't get me wrong, this at no point bothered me: although I wasn't asked for my permission, had she asked, I would have given it. I didn't want a big deal made about it - if I'm honest, I was still getting my own head around it, I didn't want to be bombarded with messages, whether congratulatory or not, when I myself hadn't quite settled in it. It didn't bother me, but it did bother a lot of other people, which I had never expected.
People can get take the big pregnancy reveal very seriously, and in some cases, there is good reason. If you've tried for a baby for a while, it's an amazing thing to be able to tell the world, and understandably, doing it in a unique and original way just makes it all the better. I can wholeheartedly now say I regret the way my pregnancy was announced. It ultimately should have been mine to tell, and although I wasn't bothered at the time, I think I'll always look back with a tinge of 'What If?'. I'll have my wonderful baby at the end regardless, but documenting this pregnancy has given me wonderful pictures to look back on and remember the time, and I can't help but wonder if announcing my pregnancy in a different way would have been something else I could remembered more fondly. For me, it was a tick in the box, another thing I had to 'get over with' I suppose, whereas had I viewed it differently at the time, I could have seen the opportunity to make a memory out of it, to have a story to tell for years to come, whereas I have 400 Facebook likes from people I've never actually met. Again, I don't want to be negative here - my pregnancy is a blessing, however people came to learn about it is irrelevant. Playing the time machine card though, there's a few other ways I can think of that beats letting someone else tag me in a Facebook status...
- Ice Ice Baby
Can I be cliché and say I'd have loved to have done one of these borderline cringey play on words pregnancy announcements - you'll have seen the picture, the partner and soon to be brother/sister holding the two bags of crushed ice, followed by an unscrupulous bump to represent baby. Cringey yes, but cute all the same. Unfortunately with only myself and my partner in our little family as it stands, we'd have lost our second ice bag holder, and I'm not sure 'Ice Baby' would quite have the same effect.
- Winter Hats
I've seen a few posts of these going around - mummy's hat, daddy's hat, and a very teeny tiny, obviously baby's hat, layed out on the floor. I think had I fallen pregnant around the autumn/winter seasons I would have done this, moreso because I'm obsessed with hats than anything else, plus there is something so touching about a baby's first hat, so it's a win-win. Unfortunately though, my pregnancy announcement came in July, not quite sure a skip cap would have had the same effect...
- The Shoes
Again, in the same way as the hats - mummy/daddy/baby, all lined up, perfectly documenting the onset of the new family. This one I could have done in summer and I wish I'd seen it at this point. Imagine being able to look back in years to come and have the very image you used to reveal your pregnancy - especially an iconic one. I wonder if my Facebook screenshot will have the same effect...
- Anything With A Dog
First point of call here - get a dog.
Our lack of pet might have been an issue for this scenario, but does your heart not melt anytime you see a pregnancy announcement featuring a little pup and a scan picture? I should have just borrowed a dog for the sake of the picture, it would have made a great story to tell in years to come...
-Pumpkins/Stockings
Needless to say, this depends on when your announcement falls, but I'd have loved to be able to have a family collection of pumpkins to reveal the news, or even better yet, named stockings. I'm a massive Christmas lover and it would have been an amazing way to announce a new chapter. Albeit though, if you happen to fall pregnant in February the Elf theme might not quite fit...
I can play the what-if game all I like, it's easy to look back retrospectively and say what I would have done differently. I missed a trick with my pregnancy announcement - it's not all that important, but I'd have loved to have announced my little boy on my terms, and in a way I could remember and look back on fondly for years. My second hand Facebook announcement may not be my family of hats, or play on MC Hammer lyrics, but it was my announcement, and the important thing is that I'm having my baby regardless. If you are pregnant though, think carefully about how you want to tell the world - you don't want it to be something you wish you'd done differently! On the flip side though - imagine how good my announcement will be for my second child... I'm making up for Number 1 here!
This post was written for us by Kirsty who you can find at tracking twenty.co.uk.
