I'm Pregnant! How Do I Tell the World?
Fun and creative ways to announce your pregnancy
Oh, Pinterest. I love you — I really, really do. But it truly is a love-hate relationship. You have definitely upped the ante on just about everything. DIY home decor? Girl, you better get you some spray paint and PVC pipe! Rainy-day activities? Put the TV remote away, because your child will now expect a full-blown science fair project in your living room in the form of cloud snow or rainbow foam. And if you're pregnant? Hold on to your horses, because you are in for a ride of homemade announcements and clever photos.
Gone are the days of … well, just about everything, as the emergence of social media has been a complete game changer for sharing life milestones with your friends and family. Since I am an '80s baby and a loyal Facebook account holder since its inception in the mid-2000s, I really can't remember (and didn't care) how people announced their pregnancies back in the day. I imagine it involved rotary phones and writing letters with pen and paper, maybe a little Morse code or fire signaling for good measure. Long gone are those days, I tell you!
Now, with the combination of Pinterest and Facebook, the ways to announce your pregnancy to the world are getting more and more creative.
I remember when I was pregnant with my first child, I had this super elaborate photo shoot planned out to announce my pregnancy. I literally cancelled the day of (SO SORRY to all the photographers out there, because I know that is such a crappy thing to do) because I seriously couldn't stop getting sick. I opted for the absence of puke on my face and shirt instead of the presence of makeup and a tight tee revealing my growing bump, posing next to a chalkboard that announced that, in fact, a Baby Boyd was on the way. I hated that I couldn't be more creative and post something super cute and amazing.
My favorite baby news posts are the simpler, unexpected ones, a reveal with a photo or clever image and caption. Extra points if you tie in the nearest holiday. With my second child, we were announcing my pregnancy around fall, so I had some cute ideas with little pumpkins to work with. There is a TON of these types of photo announcements that you can personalize to the holiday or your family's interests, or you can put a cute T-shirt on the totally unassuming family dog or soon-to-be big sibling. My cousin took a picture with a Prego spaghetti sauce jar literally in the middle of a grocery store with her iPhone and posted it on social media. So to say that there are a million ways to announce with a picture is a huge understatement.
And because everyone loves the live reaction of announcing a pregnancy, another super-cute way to announce your pregnancy is if you happen to be able to get a group of your family and friends together for a "picture," but really you'll be taking a video. Have the mama or daddy say something like "On the count of 3. Ready? 1 … 2 … Tara's pregnant!" and document everyone's reaction. That's a cute (and memorable) one.
I never had the patience or ability to wait to tell my husband I was pregnant either time. The excitement overcame me and I blurted it out in the kitchen as soon as he got home from work both times. Same with telling my parents. I called them both times on the phone and just said "guess what?!" to which they correctly guessed each time. In hindsight, I wish I would have been more creative as I read through other people's ideas. (Thanks, Internet, for making me feel insignificant in this arena!)
Great ways to announce pregnancy to a loved one include:
- Give a gift with a baby item in it or something with their new "name" on it (i.e. daddy, grandmother, etc.) (I gave my mother-in-law a baby bib that said "Grandma loves me" on it)
- Have family over for a baby-themed dinner spread - -- i.e. baby back ribs, baby carrots, baby spinach salad, etc. and see how long it takes for them to catch on
- have your husband go get something out of the oven for you, and have it be an actual bun in your oven. Make sure and video it!
Another extension of pregnancy announcements are gender announcements. This is where the ante is upped EVEN MORE. By then you are no longer holding your head in the toilet every day or so unbelievably tired that you might actually have the brain power to plan something without it really being difficult for you to do.
A gender reveal party is a fun way to celebrate with family and friends. You can have cake or cupcakes with either blue or pink icing in the middle … open a gift with either boy or girl clothes inside … open a box with either pink or blue balloons inside … the list goes on and on. I recently saw, on Facebook of course, an ultracool gender announcement. A breakable baseball was thrown by the mama-to-be to the daddy-to-be, and when he hit the ball with the bat it exploded, revealing either blue or pink powder for the gender! The pictures of this event were AWESOME. Definitely goes down in my mind as one of the more creative gender announcements.
Whether announcing a baby is on the way or revealing a future of touchdowns or tutus, sharing the news is only half the fun!
Remember, even if your announcement doesn't go exactly as planned or win any awards for "World's Best Announcement," it's a memory you'll keep for a lifetime and retell a thousand times — only one of many memories to come along your pregnancy journey.
About Tara
Tara Boyd, North Texas mother of three, to Beulah ("Boo"), Lucy ("Lu") and little brother Jacob, dishes practical advice on marriage, motherhood and munchies with humor and southern charm in her blog, Boyd Meets Girl.
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