Telling Our Family

We decided to tell immediate family right away.  I know most people wait a while, but we figured that the baby is here right now so we may as well celebrate him/her.  Plus, if the worst DOES happen, we know we will have the people closest to us here for support.  So here's how we told the family:

My (Caitlin's) Mom and Dad:

On the evening of November 5th (the day we found out) we headed over to my parents house.  The week before, I dressed up as Dora the Explorer for Halloween and I knew Mom wanted to see pictures of me from that.  So I printed off some pictures from Halloween as well as a picture of my positive pregnancy test.  I put the pregnancy test at the end of the pile.  We went into their house and I immediately handed the pictures to mom.  She was laughing at the pictures of me as Dora and chastizing Matt for not dressing up as Diego.  Then suddenly she came to the picture of the pregnancy test.  I have to hand it to mom, she stayed very calm and cool.  She just looked at me wide eyed and said, "Oh, OHHH!  Show your dad!"  So I brought them over to my dad.  He looked through the pictures and when he got to the pregnancy test, he was  a little confused at first, but once it computed he just smiled and hugged Matt and me.  The smile didn't leave his face the entire night.  Matt, mom and dad had a celebratory glass of wine and I sipped on my "juice box" (aka water bottle). 

The entire time we were over at my parents house, Matt's sister Elizabeth and Brother in Law Jason kept calling us.  We were supposed to go to their house that night but were just so excited/freaked out by the news we had gotten earlier that we just couldn't see us going and keeping this a secret.  So Matt called Elizabeth and told him that I wasn't feeling well.  Elizabeth said, "Well she better have a doctor's note or a positive pregnancy test!  You won't get out of our party that easy."

Matt's Parents and Sister Elizabeth:

Sunday, November 7th was Rick's birthday.  So I went to the store and bought a tiny pair of baby booties and wrapped them up in birthday wrapping paper to give to Rick as a gift.  When we walked into their house I immediately said, "Okay Rick you have to open this one right now!"  Everyone gathered around as he opened it.  He pulled out the baby booties and stared at them saying, "Hmm, little shoes."  Gerry added, "Oh, they are cute little shoes aren't they?"  They just stared at them for what seemed like forever.  Elizabeth perked up and then I finally said, "So, what do you think that might mean?"  Suddenly it clicked and there where hugs and (happy) screams all around.  Matt handed Elizabeth the positive pregnancy test and said, "Here's your doctor's note." 

Matt's Grandma:

Matt's grandparents have not been doing so great lately.  His grandpa is getting pretty old (91) and can't take care of himself like he used to.  He ended up in the hospital and while he was there, poor Grandma tripped on the carpeting and (among other injuries) broke her elbow!  Because Grandma couldn't care for Grandpa in her condition, he was sent to a nursing home upon his release from the hospital.  So Grandma has been feeling very lonely in addition to the pain she is suffering from her own injuries.  So we thought it would be nice to give her some good news!  We stopped by her house right before we went to Rick and Gerry's house.  We had some small talk with her and asked how she was feeling etc.  Then she asked what we've been up to.  Matt said, "Not much."  I was said, "What?  Not much?  Care to really tell her, Matt?"  Grandma looked a bit confused then Matt said, "Well, you're going to be a Great Grandma again!"  She was so happy!  She told me that must be why I look so good - apparently I am glowing (such a Grandma thing to say!)  She took the very practical approach and told us that we have been very smart about it - 30 is a good age to have a baby - we've been married almost 3 years etc.  It was a very nice visit and it was good to see Grandma smile again!

My Sister, Erin:

When I was at my parents house on Friday night, I sent a text to Erin asking her if she would like to go to lunch the next day.  In all the excitement, I didn't get her text back till the next day, but luckily we were able to get together and go to Adriana's.  I couldn't think of anything else to do in such short time, so I did the same thing as I did with my parents and showed her the Halloween pictures.  She was giggling at me as Dora the Explorer and then she flipped to the picture of the pregnancy test and, unlike dad, immediately dropped the pictures and hugged me saying, "Congratulations!  Yes!  I'm going to be an aunt again!"  We ate lunch as I told them (she brought her friend Jimmy along) all the details.  She was excited that I'm due in July so she can be at the hospital when I'm delivering.  We ended the lunch with hugs and well wishes.  I know Aunt E is going to be such a big part of this baby's life.  It was so fun to share the news with her!

My Brother, James:

James was out of town when we told the rest of the family, so I sent him an email asking him if there was any time this week that we could come over and see Will.  I haven't seen Will in so long, so it wasn't a lie - we just had more to tell him too!  So Wednesday 11/10 was the day.  We got over there at Will's dinner time so James was busy trying to find something he would eat.  As he was doing that, he was also trying to get Matt and me something to drink.  Matt said he'd like a beer.  James asked if I would like a glass of Chardonnay.  I said, "I would LOVE a glass of Chardonnay, but I don't think the baby would like it too much."  He immediately smiled and hugged us.  He went downstairs and got Matt and himself a beer to celebrate.  We got to play with Will for a little bit then James bathed him and put him to bed.  After Will was asleep, we ordered Pi for dinner and just talked about parenthood.  Unfortunately Ann was out of town, but James was able to text her the good news.  It was a great night! 

The only one we have left to tell is Matt's sister Debbie.  We have been trying to get together with her even before we found out about the baby, so this may take a while.  I know she will be thrilled though!  Can't wait!

After a year's worth of bad news that I've had to deliver to my family and friends with the breast cancer and all, it's fun telling people good news for once!  We are so excited for this new little person and all the joy he or she is going to bring to everyone he/she meets!