Pregnancy Tips: Breaking the News to Family and Friends

Telling your family that you are pregnant can be exciting and nerve racking. Many people want to share their good news in a creative, or fun way to help set the mood for the baby announcement. Here are a few ideas or tips on how to break the news to your family that you are expecting.

1. Send out a witty holiday greeting card. One really fun way to let your family know that you are going to have an addition to your family is to send out a holiday card and include “And yet to be named baby” in the signature portion. It will be fun for you to see how many people catch it right away, and how many take a few minutes to realize what they just read. You may end up sitting by the phone and waiting for the calls to come rolling in if you send the cards out. You can still use this idea in person if you want. If you include a picture, you can photoshop in a clipart baby. You can use silly wording, or send out a riddle, etc. Use the holiday greeting cards you will already be sending as a vehicle to inform your family about your pregnancy.

How are you going to share the news?

2. Create an answering machine message. This is a really fun way to let your family know that you are pregnant, but it also means letting anyone else who calls know too. Not to mention, it means not answering your phone and hoping they actually listen to what your answering machine says. There are a few ways to do this. You can do the standard, “You have reached the home of …” then list off the names of the family members and include, “And baby coming (insert due date)”. Another fun way to use the answering machine to break the news is to say, “Sorry you missed me, I am probably standing over the toilet puking my guts out thanks to morning sickness.” Or, if you are the man alter it to say, “Holding my wife’s hair while she pukes her guts out…” Just say something that indicates you are pregnant.
3. Ask for membership into the club. If you are expecting your first baby, one of the greatest ways to let your family know is to call or talk to them in person. Let them know you have an important question to ask, then say, “I just wanted to know if I could be granted entrance to the parenting club?” You can even send out a card with a reply card asking whether or not they will accept you into the “mommy club on (your due date)”. It is a fun way to let family know, and give them a chance to respond in an equally fun way.