Telling the fam-jam

We originally wanted to wait until I was about 6 weeks along before telling our families, but my mother-in-law's birthday happened to fall right at about our 5th week mark, and we just couldn't resist "giving her" a grandchild for her birthday.

We knew we wanted to tell my parents the same day as we told my in-laws, so I called my mom the day before to set the groundwork. I needed an excuse to call them on the web cam the next night, which would be tricky since we just "saw" them on the web cam a couple of weeks earlier for Christmas.

I talked to my mom for a solid half hour and was practically at work when I finally mentioned that we wanted to call Mike's mom for her birthday, but that the last time we'd spoken to them on Skype, we'd had technical difficulties. We wanted to make sure the problem wasn't on our end before we called his parents, so would it be ok if we called my mom and dad first to make sure our system was working ok?

There was a long pause and then my mom slowly said, "Meghan, you're not pregnant are you?!"

My response: "Uhhhhh... hahaha... ummmm.... hahahaha...."

"Meghan?! Are you?!"

Well, it's just not something I want to lie about, so I confirmed her suspicions. Evidently, I had told her about the tactic my friend Kristin used to get ME on Skype just a few weeks earlier, when she told me that SHE was pregnant. I still maintain the stories were very different, but apparently she saw through me anyway. Whoops.

So with my mom now dying to tell my dad, I called them later that night, pretending that Mike and I had bought a new computer and wanted to check out the new web cam. My dad got on the computer, answered our call and said, "If you got a new computer, then why does the picture still look like crap?"

"Oh, that's cuz we didn't get a new computer."

*Blank stare from Dad*

"Actually, I'm pregnant."

He was excited (and shocked to learn that he'd be a grandfather for a FOURTH time before he turns 50). :)

The next day, we called Mike's parents as planned, and let his mom open her birthday gifts. We chatted for a while, and then Mike told his mom that we actually had one more gift for her. "What? Another gift?!" she exclaimed. Well, yes, but it's not in PA, Mike explained. It's actually here... and she'll have to come visit to see it... cuz we're pregnant!

There was much cheering and laughing (and perhaps a bit of crying). Then, of course, they started debating what they should be called. Grandma? Nana? Grandpa? Pop-pop? It's an important decision.

Over the weekend we told the rest of our immediate families: We called Nana on speaker phone, and told Mike's sister, Erica, over Skype. We got to Skype my whole family (grandparents, brother, sister-in-law and nieces) at the same time, while they were celebrating my grandfather's birthday, and told everyone at once. (I think the best part was seeing my three-year-old niece clapping excitedly.)

During the next couple of weeks, we told a handful of others close to us. We're going to wait until the end of the first trimester before we tell our extended families, co-workers and the rest of our friends. I can't wait until everyone knows and I don't have to feel like I'm living a double life anymore! :)