"Amens!" and S-E-X

It was difficult deciding who to tell first, but we decided on my parents since, after all, my mother was to be my midwife. Thanksgiving Day was going to be our Big Day to share our precious secret with everyone. Since we were traveling to Ty’s family’s house first but wanted to tell my parents before his, we rushed over to my parents’ house beforehand. As we were pulling into their driveway, however, my dad was just leaving. We tried to flag him down, but he blithely waved and continued on his way. This put a momentarily kink in our plans, but we decided we would tell my mom anyway.

Mom was surprised to see us at her house so early, which I think aroused some intuitive suspicions. We chatted her up for a few minutes, asking nosy questions about where my dad had gone and what kinds of foods would we be enjoying later in the afternoon. She answered them cautiously, still not sure why we were there so early. Finally we cut to the chase, and I asked her if I could check out her midwifery wheel to find out when I was due. She laughed and said “No” and then gave us a second look and asked, “Really? Are you?” We grinned stupidly which was enough for her! After some hugs and light bouncing on her part, she did go get her wheel, and estimated our due date to be July 20^th, 2006.

Next stop was Ty’s mother and step-father’s house. We were having “first” Thanksgiving dinner with them, and had our approach all planned out. We kept our faces appropriately disguised throughout pre-dinner conversations and focused hard on not making eye contact with each other to ensure we would avoid bursting out in glowing smiles. Finally we all gathered around the table and began our traditional ritual of each mentioning something we’re truly grateful for. Ty went last, and when it got to him he thanked God for all of our many blessings, his family, his wife, and the opportunity we were getting to become parents. A shocked silence was quickly followed by unceremonious “Amens” and an uproar of delight, especially from my mother-in-law – who, later pulled me aside and confided to me that she was hoping it was a boy…”For Ty, you know.” I laughed and then stopped when I realized she was serious. “Well, I would like a boy too, but we’re just hoping for a healthy baby of course,” I grinned at her.

We both felt highly satisfied with that experience, and when it was time to go back to my parents’ house for “second” dinner, we decided to use the same approach. First we had to tell my dad though, it wasn’t fair for him to find out with the rest of my extended family. We pulled him into the office and with smiles told him he was going to be a grandpa. He moved quickly from excitement for us to another stage: “Oh, wow, Tweets! That’s so great, good for you guys! (Hugs us) Ok, now how are you going to tell everyone else? You know what you should do?” He asked, and mapped out a plan for us to announce it. We laughed at his thought processes and all went out to the table to gather in prayer. We ended the prayer circle with Ty again, and he repeated his gratefulness at our chance to become parents. Again, the “Amens” were mostly skipped over the cries of congrats from my grandparents and siblings.

We had a lot of fun with all the various ways we told the rest of our family and friends. There is something so unique in announcing a pregnancy; so different than announcing a new job or moving to a new house or even getting married. While all those things are fun to tell too, they just cannot compare to broadcasting a pregnancy. It is such an accomplishment, and even as commonplace as it might seem, it never fails to bring on genuine joy from your friends and family. It is the one time you can say – in so many words – “Guess what? We had sex!” and it will not feel dirty or embarrassing!