Sharing the News

My favorite part of this new journey (so far) has by far been spreading the news.

It didn't (and it still doesn't) matter how I said it, but the more times I say it - the better it feels and the more fantastic I feel.

It usually comes out as: "I'm pregnant!" or "Ryan and I are pregnant!  Well, he's not but I am!"

You get the idea.

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I found out I was pregnant on a Monday morning.  Ryan had gone off to work early and I was home alone to pee on a stick in solitude.

I barely took my eyes off the pregnancy test and those two little lines were instantly pink.

Holy crap.  Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.

I was in total shock and we had been trying!  It's not like this was a surprise, people!  Still, I knew our lives were changing (and in an amazing way) right in that second.

Of course, I wasn't going to call or text Ryan to tell him the news.  I was going to somehow manage to make it through what was sure to be the longest. day. ever. and tell my Hubby when he got home.


I had a big breakfast ceremony to attend with a bunch of people from work that morning and on the way there my mind was racing and I had this "They are going to see this news and my shock written all over my face!  They are going to know!" feeling.  Of course, no one had a clue.

I came up with a plan for telling Ryan.  He had started a new apprenticeship quarter that day and as far as he knew, I was taking his photo with a "good luck and work hard this quarter gift."  See for yourself.

Of course, we told our parents next.  Actually, our sisters knew before our parents.  Oops.

I had wanted to think of some fun and creative way to tell my sister, Rachel, but it just kind of came out like word vomit and it was totally uncool.  But that's totally me.

Ryan tried to be sneaky and call Webb to enlist his help in getting Danny, Chris, and Cara together for the big reveal.  The plan was foiled when Cara heard the whole conversation and demanded to know what was going on.  She had a feeling that 1) something was wrong, or 2) we were pregnant.  Funny how both sisters found out in totally boring ways.

It just so happened to be my parent's 31st wedding anniversary that week.  And we seriously could not have thought of a better gift in our wildest dreams.


Here they are posing with their "gift" for a 31st anniversary picture.  Apparently I'm good at disguising videos as photo opportunities?

It's best to watch this video twice.  Once to focus on my Dad's reaction and the other to focus on my Mom's.  Both are priceless and wonderful.  Why my Dad is yelling, "We're number one!  We're number one!" and howling is totally beyond me.


We had hoped to tell Ryan's parents (and Cara and Webb too) over the phone all at once or over Skype.  We decided that requesting a Skype date would be a little too obvious since Danny and Chris had just been visiting us a week prior*.

*Why, oh why those little lines didn't show up a week earlier is beyond me.  It would have been amazing to tell them face-to-face.  C'est la vie.

This year was going to be our year to spend Christmas and New Years in St. Louis.  So that was our angle, or gateway if you will, to tell them they would be grandparents again.


I think they knew something was up when one answered the phone and we asked if the other was there, and then told them to put it on speakerphone.  Anyway, Ryan said, "We just found out we won't be able to make it for Christmas this year."  Of course, they asked why not and Ryan simply responded, "Because Lauren is pregnant and we're going to have a baby in December."


Hoots and hollers erupted from the other side of the phone, so as far as we could tell they were very excited to hear the news.  Chris said she wasn't too surprised and assumed we would be sharing news of that nature in the near future.


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I debated on when to start telling friends and extended family members.  I knew there were a few of my closest friends that I wanted to tell immediately, and I made a list of people that I wanted to tell personally after I reached the 12 week mark.  The exception here was Sarah who I met for coffee in May.  I knew that since I only see her twice a year - I had to take this opportunity to tell her in person.


Figuring out ways to tell people was fun, and most of the time I tried to slyly insert the news into conversation and see how long it would take people to realize what I had just said.


When I called Tiff to tell her, I started out by asking about her new job and their recent trip to Destin, Florida (we are taking a trip there in September).  She was telling me all about the jet-skiing, paddle-boarding, and dolphin-watching they had done when I said, "Well, I don't know if I'll be doing much of that myself since I'll be 7 months pregnant...."  It didn't take long for the words to click and the excitement explode.


When I called Becky (my college roommate), I figured she would answer and immediately say, "You're pregnant!" because we don't talk on the phone much.  We usually communicate through text.  Anyway, we talked for a minute and she asked what was new.  I said, "Not much.  You're going to be an Aunt in December and..."  Again, it didn't take long for her to understand what I was getting at and more excitement exploded.


I could go on and on (obviously).  Sharing the news has been really special and fun.  Everyone has been super excited and supportive.  And even if they weren't - at least they pretended to be!


I am starting to lose track of the number of friends who are pregnant and due around the same time.  It's crazy, but awesome to know there are a number of ladies who are all experiencing the same things as me.

Take Luck,

LP