It’s halfway through week 8 of our first pregnancy, and still much too early to announce our exciting news to the world. But bloody hell, the secret is eating us alive…it’s just too big to keep to ourselves.
As a couple, we’ve made a (weak) pact that we’ll wait until after the 12 week scan to tell our family and close friends that we’re having a baby.
Meanwhile we’re still debating whether to wait until after our 20 week anomaly scan before telling the rest of the world, and whether or not we’ll even bother with the increasingly clichéd Facebook update announcing our new arrival.
But can you keep a secret? We’ve actually told four people already and are today planning to tell two more! Officially the worst secret keepers ever, clearly….
In our defence, the rationale behind telling a few choice people early is perfectly justifiable and can actually be very reassuring and a much needed support during the first trimester:
The old friends who have been through it all before – they already have three small children, so have experienced every possible pregnancy scenario you can imagine. A great source of advice and wisdom about parenthood and only too happy to share their knowledge with you.
The close work colleague – someone who works with your partner, the mum-to-be, who isn’t the office gossip and can really keep a secret. A real support during the working week, who can throw people off the scent by making appropriate excuses for the mum’s increasing morning sickness, changing diet and unusually frequent trips to the bathroom.
The ‘new mum’ best friend – literally knows exactly what you are going through right now, having recently gone through it herself. As such, an excellent secret keeper who can recommend all the latest and best pregnancy Apps, books and websites, while letting you know (from recent personal experience) the good, the bad and the ugly about pregnancy and childbirth!
As if that group wasn’t enough, today my wife and I have decided that we are going to add two more people to this list of pregnancy insiders…
The close sister and her husband – also pregnant (but further along than us), these two are a big part of our life and will be forevermore, spending every Easter, Birthday and Christmas together for perpetuity. While we’d love to tell all of our siblings now (for we have a good few between us), we see these two the most and as such, it’s getting harder and harder to conceal the fact that we’re expecting too! Plus, we can’t wait to see the excitement on their faces when we tell them…
It feels such a relief to have a few more people that you trust in on the secret, not just to share in the excitement of what’s to come, but also to support you both should things not work out as you planned, this time at least.
Just make sure they can keep a secret, even if you can’t!
31 weeks and three days left to go.
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s blog! As always, we would love to hear about your own experiences too, so do use the comments section below to tell us all what you did in the same situation. Thanks so much in advance!
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It’s good to tell a few people. For support and in case something should go awry. We told a select few with our first. We told everyone with our second.