Our Pregnancy Announcements

My husband and i are both creative types who are known for our sunday crafternoons. After i told hubby in a non-inspired way i resolved that we would tell our families with a bit more of a creative flare true to ourselves.

We waited until the 6 week mark to tell our families. I know some people say 6 weeks is too early but i knew if something happened i wouldn’t want to deal with it alone. Also, my husbands parents were coming to stay and my early morning sickness combined with my lack of wine drinking would of given me away quick smart.

Announcement #1: Our first family announcement was to hubby’s parents. They come from a state with plenty of beautiful wine vineyards and always bring new wines to try when they come to visit. The night they arrived we were going out to our favourite local thai restaurant that lets you byo alcohol. We told them we had chosen a nice wine to take with us and gave them the bottle pictured. It says ‘Only the best parents get promoted to Grandparents’. It took them an uncomfortable amount of time to understand what was going on. His mum thought the wine was called grandparents and thought that was a bit odd. His dad came to the rescue soon enough and figured out our little secret and they were both estatic for us. This baby was to be their first grandchild.

Announcement #2: At the end of the weekend we had a family dinner planned for my mothers birthday with my sisters and their partners. My sisters and i are quite close and talk often so keeping the baby a secret from them had been excruciating. My idea was simple, wear the t-shirt pictured to dinner and not say a word. We all sat down and talked for a while and at about five minutes in my husband was getting very anxious as no one had noticed yet. I told him to be patient and wait. Our snickering caught my oldest sisters attention and she started looking at my top with a little bit more interest. Finally they worked it out and there was no more secrets!

I ordered this top from vistaprint and organised express delivery. The whole process took about 3 days from order to delivery! I went with the soft cotton tshirt rather than the standard tshirt and it was very comfy and a great fit.

 

Announcement #3: Now it was time to tell my dad! We decided to wait until our ultrasound booked the next friday. Being a wine lover like hubby’s parents we planned to use the same idea however we never made it that far.

For those wondering how i told my mum i called her the minute after i told hubby as there was no way i could keep the secret from my mum!

Oh baby!

Those first six weeks of pregnancy presented me with a rollercoaster of emotions!

Google had become my best friend as i analysed and searched every symptom i did and did not have. My google search history was flooded with phrases such as ‘is it ok to eat ham on pizza?’, ‘Is it normal to have cramps?’, ‘can i run at gym?’ and so on and so on.

I had minor cramping but nothing compared to normal menstrual cramps. I had no spotting and my boobs weren’t sensitive at all. One thing i was blessed with was nausea! I say blessed because it was a reassurance that my little bean was there and was ok. It was a weird kind of sickness, like a bad hangover where you can’t tell if you feel incredibly hungry or sick. I know most places online say morning sickness doesn’t start until 6 weeks but i am here to tell you it certainly can!

I found myself talking to my little bean when i was alone, wondering who he or she was going to be. Everytime i thought about them i smiled and i felt this smile extend to my eyes as tears would begin to form out of pure happiness. I had never been so content in my life. I felt like i had a purpose. I felt like everything made sense now and suddenly my whole existence was geared towards making sure this little bean was ok, now and forever.

I started the baby blanket below called Sophies Universe.

Oh baby, how i couldn’t wait to meet you.

Those two pink lines of happiness

A cliche exists that young girls spend their childhoods planning their wedding day. I don’t know if there is truth to that, however i know i spent my childhood daydreaming about being a mother. As a bright-eyed kid whenever i was asked what i wanted to be when i was older the answer would always be two things; a petshop owner and a mother.

Currently i am a nurse so i am shooting for one out of two here.

At 25 years old my dear husband and i got married, went on a long honeymoon and then came back ready to make a little human half me and half him. I promised myself i wouldn’t go crazy tracking my ovulation and timing baby dancing as others around me had. It is fair to say i failed. I started tracking my ovulation using a clear blue digital test which shows you a smiley face on your two most fertile days. I got to cycle day 16 of my 28 day cycle with no surge and started to panic. My app said i should of ovulated at day 14 and sometimes i have a 24 day cycle so it was getting kind of late. On day 19 when that smiley face showed up i literally jumped with joy. Que baby dancing.

Next began the dreaded wait to find out if we were successful. It was two weeks laters on a sunday morning when i decided to test. I was part of a group of girls who had matching cycles and out of us 4 the other 3 had already gotten their positive that month. I peed on the stick whilst hubby was in bed with the dog and within a minute that second line was there staring back at me. This was our first cycle trying and i could not believe it.

I had always planned to tell my hubby in an elaborate way like a giant cookie stating if i was to get fat so was he, or a tshirt on our dog saying big sister. However, when that second line showed up there way no way i could contain myself for a whole day waiting for him to go to work so i could plan. I ended up running straight into the bedroom where my husband was and cuddled the dog asking her out loud if she wanted to tell her dad a secret. He shot me a glare as i often did this but the secret was never anything that warranted attention so he exclaimed with sarcasm ‘What?’. I replied ‘Did you tell your dad you are going to be a big sister?’ and he bolted. He ran straight to the bathroom and then ran back. I couldn’t tell if he was more excited or petrified. He just kept repeating ‘this isn’t real’ and ‘I’m going to be a dad’. I gave him time to let it sink in and held off baby talk until he came out with ‘what about this name?’ and then the excitement sky rocketed and it was on.

That second line was all i had ever dreamed of. That second line held so many possibilities, so much responsibility, and i couldn’t wait.

The Journey Begins

I come to this blog writing out of sadness, out of grief, out of a horrible experience and out of desperate hope. Everyone tells me time is a healer but i don’t believe that. The pain of losing a baby doesn’t seem to ease as the days go on. The passing days only make me feel more alone as those around me forget what still keeps me awake every night. I have found fleeting solace in trawling through forums reading other peoples experiences but it never lasts long. That is what brings me here. I hope by sharing my feelings and future journey i can begin to heal and maybe, just maybe help someone else who feels alone.