Sharing the happy news

After confirming the pregnancy with a hospital blood test, we decided to start telling our families about the happy news.

The first person to tell was obviously April because she's my closest "friend" and sister. And besides, she's my one source for all things maternity - books, clothes, baby items. The sooner I tell her the sooner I get to pump her for all that info!

It took place on Thursday afternoon, during one of my routine visits to her classroom to help her do some class prep. All week, I had thought about how to casually open up the topic but after waiting for over 30 minutes for her parent-teacher conference to end, I loss patience and just blurted out, "So, I guess we're pregnant!" She knew that we had been trying and that I might have even bought a home pregnancy test last week so the news was not a big surprise to her. Still, she put on an expression of shock and screamed three times "ah! Ah! AH!" each time louder than the last. Then we hugged and she started talking about all the books and clothing she had for me.

I guess she had been waiting for me to enter this last life stage for a long time. Being only a year apart, growing up we shared almost every experience even though she had to wait for me to get married (she married at 22 and I married at 31). For a while, Charlie and I weren't sure that we want to have a baby so she must have been anxious about not being able to experience parenthood together. And now our kids will be cousins and play with each other!

The next person we told was our brother Kevin because he happened to be at our place for dinner the next night and I don't recall April telling him about her pregnancies first so I thought that he might appreciate knowing before our parents.

After feeding him and seeing him relax, I popped the question, "So, how do you feel about becoming an uncle again?" "To your kids?" He asked. "Yup, we're pregnant." Not knowing that we were even trying, Kevin was genuinely surprised but certainly happy for us. Normally, I don't think he'd want to think about Charlie and I being intimate (because we're not a PDA kind of couple) but he sat there unflinchingly through my explanation about how we had finally decided to let God reveal His plan to us and this was His quick response to our inquiry. Last winter, I had commented once to Kevin that seeing how great he is with April's kids, I wished that he would around too when we had children. And now since his plans are likely to keep him in the area for at least a year or two, he will be!

The last family members we told were our parents and grandparents. There was no particular reason to wait but the weekend's Chinese New Year family gatherings seemed like good opportunities to share the news.

First, my parents. All night, during the family dinner, April and her husband David kept making side comments that alluded to my pregnancy (i.e. about how much beer and sake they want to drink because they CAN) but my parents didn't get the hints. Finally, after dinner, I casually brought up the topic of my dad's retirement and asked if they've made a decision on the date. [Dad is eager to retire but mom seems reluctant for him to] I waited for the discussion to die down a bit before going over to dad, putting my arm around him, and saying, "But you have to retire as you planned [after Oct] because you promised that you'd be free to help me with our baby." Upon hearing this, a smile broke out on dad's face. Mom still didn't get it though. So I had to say more firmly, "Yes, we're pregnant, even though it's only been 6 weeks." All she did was *blink*, *blink*. After repeating the same statement, she finally asked, "How do you know?" To this, everyone broke out in laughter. I guess I can't blame her. Even as recent as last month, all she heard me talk about was how unsure we were about parenthood and the sacrifices we'd have to make; she didn't know that we had already made the decision to try and that all this talk was more for confirmation.

Later that night, we also called Taiwan to wish them a happy new year and I broke the news to grandpa (BAY-BE's great grandfather) and he was pretty cheery about the news. I asked if he recalls saying that the next time he'll come to visit us in the US is to see my children. He said that he'll think about it then tried to convince me to go back to visit him first, sometime during my second trimester. No matter, I am pretty sure he will want to come see us. I AM his favorite grandchild after all.

For Charlie's family, we had to deliver the news via skype (we ought to submit this story to the company for use in a commercial) because his parents are in Taiwan and his sister is away for the long weekend. After some New Year greetings and general catch-up, Charlie simply stated, "J and I are pregnant." His sister gave a loud "Yay!" and his parents said "this is the best new year's news we've received."

So there you have it, the news is out. Next, we tell our friends...and wait for the well-wishes (or "condolences") and advice to pour in. Joy~

*Chinese custom says that it's better to wait until after the first trimester, when the pregnancy stabilizes but we figured, the sooner we get prayed for, the better