By Bethany Kandel
On the day I received word from my doctor that I was pregnant with my first son, I bought yellow roses (a neutral color) and showed up at my husband’s office to present them to him. It took him a moment to understand…yes; we were pregnant! It was great to tell him in person and a lot easier than waiting until he got home from work.
These days, parents are a lot more imaginative in making the big reveal to their spouse, family and friends, often taking to Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to make their announcements.
Since so many people share all of life’s major milestones on social media these days, “It's no surprise that sharing their pregnancy news online is one of the first things couples do after they tell their closest friends and family,” says Cathleya Schroeckenstein, Managing Director of Momtastic.com
What used to be a simple line or two of text, or a snapshot of the ultrasound announcing a pregnancy, has become an elaborate ritual,” she says. Couples ramp up the creativity “so they stand out in the virtual crowd.”
Celebrities, of course, love to share their news on social media. Country music star Carrie Underwood marked the end of last year’s Labor Day weekend with her own labor-related news. The star tweeted a photo with her pups wearing “I’m going to be a big brother” and “I’m going to be a big sister” t-shirts, along with the line, “Ace & Penny would like to make an announcement. Their parents couldn’t be happier.” Baby Isaiah was born in February.
Last January, singer Gwen Stefani took to Instagram to announce her third baby boy was on the way. The caption read, “I was ready to hand over the crown. But I guess I am still queen of the house. #itsaboy #surroundedbyboys.”
Regular people are also telling their news online, too. Last April first, Marjorie and Sean Comer of Charleston, SC, posted a picture on Facebook of a chalkboard that read, "We're not expecting."
“We confused a lot of people,” she says, especially when her husband added a sonogram photo in the comments section. One of her favorite posts read: "Please tell me this is your April Fools, and it means you are!!!"
And yes, they really were pregnant. “My husband is in the Navy, so it was a fun way to tell our extended family and friends who haven't seen us in a while,” she says. Baby Henry was born on October 16th.
Need inspiration? Head to Pinterest and you’ll see hundreds of ways couples announce they are expecting. That’s where Emily Rittenberg of Penfield, NY, got her idea.
When she discovered she was pregnant, she wrapped up her pregnancy test to give to her husband, Josh. Then she stuck a ciabatta roll in the oven for a photo that was posted on Facebook with the note: “Yes…it’s true.”
Most people got the “bun in the oven” reference right away, she says. She loved being able to share her big news on Facebook. “In everyone’s life you have a lot of friends from school, camp, work and it’s a great way to tell them all at once. Who’s not happy about a baby?”
Some share the news in a more traditional way.
“After many pregnancy losses, fertility money spent and all the stress that goes with that when it doesn't work, we did IVF one last time,” says Randy Bieniek of Atlanta. “Being in our mid 40's we knew this was our final try.”
But sadly, she didn’t feel pregnant. She prepared her husband for the worst when he left for work. “Well, lo and behold, our fertility group called to say I was, in fact, pregnant. I was in complete shock,” she says.
Bieniek and her then 12-year-old son from her first marriage painted yards of butcher paper with the message, "Welcome Home Daddy!" and hung the sign across the entire front of the house. They covered the mailbox with pink and blue balloons. When husband Stan drove up, he couldn't believe it.
The biggest surprise of all, however, came weeks later, when the couple discovered they were having triplets.
Image: Getty