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Introduction
8 Weeks
This week was really exciting for us, we had decided to tell our families that I was pregnant as a sort of Christmas present to all of them. For a few years now we have not been giving big presents to family – we’re all older now and have recognised that we don’t have to purchase presents to show one another that we care about each other. Rather, we usually have one small present for each family member on Simon’s side, and a select few on my side. This also frees up straining budgets on other’s behalf’s, as many of us right now are students, with all the extra cash that comes with (i.e. NONE). We still receive presents from our parents and Simon’s parents are so welcoming, they always give me as many presents, or equal value to what Simon receives :-)
This is not to say, however, that I do not enjoy getting presents… Oh no, not at all. I LOVE getting presents, but most of all, I love surprises, and presents are like a two in one deal. I get a lovely surprise, and a lovely present, at the same time! I have actually gained a reputation for this now in my In-laws family, and am teased mercilessly about opening my presents before the big day, whichever it is, Christmas, birthday, anniversary… The thing they don’t understand is that I would never open it up, even for a peek, because it would ruin the surprise! Truly, I regress in age the closer an event approaches to the point where I am merely a child (essentially, my soul comes increasingly apparent in my manner and actions). Simon, on his part, truly enjoys this transformation, for all his rolled eyes and shaking head behaviour.
Anyway, back to the point of this entry. After coming to the conclusion that we really couldn’t wait until the first trimester was over to tell everyone, we further concluded that to tell them at Christmas would be the best time, as most of everyone would be at a few select locations during some part of that day, thereby allowing us to let everyone know by only phoning a couple of places. What we ended up doing was so much better than just a phone call however… We had found these little pewter frames, about 3x5 in size, and at the top, there was an engraving. The engraving read: I (Heart-Shape) Grandma/Grandpa. We purchased one for both grandmas, and one for Simon’s dad. Currently I am not in contact with my own father – something that is distressing, but nonetheless required right now. Back to the picture frames. I printed out in a nice font to fit exactly into the frames my due date: EDD August 11th, 2003. We then wrapped up the presents, and because it was so close to Christmas, sent them via Express Post to our families. That same day, we phoned them and told them that they were not allowed to even open the shipping package, as there were instructions they needed to follow and they would get them on Christmas morning. The plan was in motion!! :-)
Now, for some reason that I cannot remember, we had made a pact with Simon’s little sister that when I got pregnant, she would be the first to know. I think that it had something to do with the fact that she, for various reasons, was the last to find out about the wedding. So…that morning we slept in, got up and into our jammies and houserobes and leisurely opened our presents up, knowing that it would be almost lunchtime before we would get a phone call, what with the four hour time difference. We expected that it would be Simon’s parents who would phone first, as his sister knew that she was the one authorized as we called it to give the instructions, but it ended up being my Mum who phoned first. I had her open up the general present first, so it wouldn’t be forgotten after the excitement, and then had her open up the picture frame. Her reaction was a little slow, but I asked her what the frame said, when she repeated the phrase, I said that she was going to be a grandma :-) Just for context, her partner’s daughter, son-in-law and grandkids had flown out for the holidays, and the kids had come into their room yelling at 6:15 am that it was time to open presents. My Mum has not had to get up that early for Christmas morning for the better part of 15 years now, so she was a *little* sleepy still, and slow to react. Anyway, the little girl asked her what the present was and what the words meant, and she explained them to her while on the phone with me, and I could tell she was getting excited. She then asked if she could tell people, which really showed me that she was excited and happy, and I replied that she was more than welcome to share the news. Mum phoned me later in the evening and said that she had been thinking about it all day :-) and wanted to say congratulations properly, because she didn’t think she had said it that morning in all the confusion and excitement!
On to Simon’s family: His sister phoned not too long after my Mum, and Simon took the phone call. He made her and his brother go into another room to tell her the news, as we both knew she would be so excited that she was apt to spill the beans before the presents could be opened. We were right – when Simon told her she was going to be an aunt, she just screamed (actually hurting Simon’s eardrums in the process, it was that loud) and it took a couple minutes to calm her down enough to go into the living room and give the ‘instructions’ to the prospective grandparents. When they opened up the presents, I can’t remember exactly who had the phone at the time, or if it was on speakerphone, it was just so chaotic. I think that as they were opening the picture frames his sister shouted out that I was pregnant – although I’m not certain on the exact sequence! There were hoops and hollers, crying, laughing, it was really an incredible moment. Simon talked to his Dad and brother briefly, both were really excited for us and full of questions, but when the phone was passed to his Mum, she was so emotional that she couldn’t even speak, and had to have someone else tell us that she would phone us back later when she could talk :-) To give some context to her emotional state, we found out later that day that she took the frame, and in her pajamas, ran down the street, in the RAIN, frame in hand, to her neighbour, and good friend, to share the news. Toooo funny. I’ll have a lot of fun bugging her about that in the years to come!
Simon’s whole family was getting together for a Christmas dinner later that day, and so we received phone calls from them interspersed throughout our afternoon as one person arrived, and then another, and wanted to phone us and say congratulations. The last phone call to make was to my only remaining grandmother. My maternal grandmother had passed away at the end of November, and I had flown out for her funeral in the beginning of December. That was the trip I referred to in my first entry – so now you all have some context as to the feelings I was experiencing throughout the day. I had done the pregnancy test the morning of the funeral, and then couldn’t talk to Simon on the phone until 10:00pm his time because I was always surrounded by people that day, and we didn’t want to tell anyone yet. Even that conversation was rushed, as I had only 5 minutes to talk before I had to leave the house, so I had to phone back at 2:00am to have a longer conversation with him. I was, and am still, very sad that Granny Marion passed away not ever knowing that she would be a great-grandmother. She was 90 years old, and passed away from a mild heart-attack in her sleep (there really isn’t a much better way to go). She was always so happy when she was holding a baby, and it had been at least 17 years since the last opportunity for her to do just that. I just have to trust in myself that she knows, and that she is happy where she is.
Anyway, I phoned up my paternal grandmother, as I knew that she would be doing a family dinner, and it was a tradition to give her a call regardless. When I told her, I knew she was just beside herself with happiness. She is one of those wonderful grandmothers who bakes cookies and had me over for sleepovers when I was a child – I have such wonderful memories from those times with her. She said that she would start knitting right away :-) What a sweetheart. I told her to go ahead and share the news at dinner when everyone was there, and by the way she replied to me I knew that she was honoured to have that task.
The days following Christmas we received a few phone calls here and there from different family members wishing us a healthy pregnancy and calling to say congratulations. This has been one of the best weeks so far in my pregnancy, I just hope it continues in this tradition!
Symptoms: I am still dealing with morning sickness… although as I mentioned last week, my tactics seem to be working! I have only had a couple days and a couple bouts where it was a real close call as to whether I was going to have to make a call to Brother John. Luckily enough, I was feeling pretty good all day on Christmas Day, because I had made the full Christmas dinner, and I look for ANY excuse to have turkey, I love it that much! So needless to say, I was quite pleased at being able to make my turkey and enjoy it too :-) Still having those crazy dreams, and my little nuclear reactor is going strong! Breasts still very very tender, and I’ve noticed that they are definitely bigger too (and so has Simon :P ) One thing I don’t think I’ve written down yet is that my belly, just where the front of my pelvic bones come together is really hard – just something curious that I noticed, it must be the Little One stretching and pushing things around down there!
Okay, this is a HUGE entry, and I will leave it at that my friends. I hope you all enjoyed the reactions of our families!
**Talk to Me**
When were you bitten by the “Have to tell someone the good news RIGHT NOW” Bug?
How did your families react – parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents… Was it different for the first vs subsequent pregnancies? And was it the first new generation for the family or are there already grandkids etc?
Namaste, Laura and the Little One
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