It looks like you are going to be having a baby! During this week, you might be feeling a little freaked out and your heart might feel like it is beating just a little faster. You may be excited right away or the bfp (big fat positive) could be putting you into panic-mode. You may be trying to think of ideas for how to announce the big news. In this week’s newsletter, we are going to help you come up with some creative ways to announce your pregnancy. Don’t worry if your pregnancy was unplanned: half of all pregnancies are unplanned, so you are certainly not alone on this. We will have some ideas for you on how to share the news, when to share the news, and what to do if your big announcement doesn’t go over so well.
What Is Going On with Mom & Baby
Baby is the size of a poppyseed!
Baby: Baby is approximately 1 mm long and looks sort of like a tadpole. Your ovary contains a tiny corpus luteum which is what is left of the follicle your egg was being housed in. The corpus luteum will produce progesterone until the placenta takes over progesterone production around 10 weeks after conception (when you are about 12 weeks pregnant). Right now the placenta is still forming and the cells that will become your baby are dividing at a rapid pace.
Mom: You may be feeling some symptoms of early pregnancy by now or you may not notice any changes yet. You may feel more tired, your breasts may feel tender, you may notice that you are urinating more frequently, or you may feel like you are just about to start your period. A lot of newly pregnant moms, in fact, think that they are not pregnant because they feel like they are about to start their periods. Early pregnancy symptoms often feel similar to PMS symptoms. You may feel bloated and be worried about slight cramping, but this is normal for early pregnancy.
This Week’s Pregnancy Checklist
- Schedule your first prenatal appointment.
- Ask your doctor’s office about starting prenatal vitamins.
- Quit smoking or drinking alcohol now.
- Contact local agencies if you think you will need financial assistance with medical care, food, or other assistance.
- Contact insurance company to make sure of insurance benefits, health care providers, or to answer any questions you might have.
- Start a pregnancy blog, journal or website for your baby.
Creative Ways to Announce your Pregnancy
Ways to Tell Daddy
- Decorate a cake with the words "We have a bun in the oven!" and a plus sign on it to indicate a positive pregnancy test. Then, at the right time have your partner get the cake out of the oven for you.
- Buy a couple jars of baby food. Take the labels off of them and create labels of your own. On one label put “It’s a boy?” on the other put “It’s a girl?”. Glue the labels to your baby food jars. Then, pack the baby food jars inside a lunch bag and give it your partner to take for lunch.
- Create a Pregnancy Journal by decorating a photo album (or purchase a pregnancy journal) and write your first journal entry with your thoughts and feelings about daddy. Leave your pregnancy journal where daddy can see it.
What if You Are Having an Unplanned Pregnancy?
Well, you weren’t planning this, but now you are really excited about your pregnancy. You may be worried about how to tell your partner. How is he going to react?
Here are a few tips on telling your partner about an unplanned pregnancy.
- You may want to decide how you feel about your pregnancy before you discuss things with your partner. This can help you stay calm.
- Talk to someone you can trust first; a friend, counselor, minister, or family member. Find someone that you know will be supportive of your decisions.
- Tell him when you are ready. Some moms use the “let’s get this over with” approach and other moms wait until they are feeling more confident.
- If you think he is going to be unhappy with the pregnancy, it will probably not be easy to talk to him about it no matter how you approach it. Prepare yourself for his reaction and when you are ready, just tell him.
- Find support from other moms who are having an unplanned pregnancy on our message boards.