Tuesday 1 October 2019

PREGNANCY #3: Let's Talk About...How Announcing Pregnancy Changes After Your First

PREGNANCY #3: Let's Talk About How Announcing Pregnancy Changes After Your First
Announcing you're pregnant for the third time is a funny one really; the excitement of announcing for the first time has certainly reduced, yet it can come at an unexpected time so has that shock/surprised factor. Pregnancy and trying to conceive is a very personal journey for each couple and this is my experience of announcing we were pregnant for the third time. When we announced we were pregnant with our first baby everyone was beyond excited; baby showers were thrown, NCT classes attended and I was well and truly looked after by all those around me. If I could have the experience of being pregnant for the first time again I think I'd have endless children because it was honestly one of the most special times to look back on. The excitement, love and anticipation that we shared with everyone around us was just incredible and those moments I'll cherish forever.
When it came to announcing that we were pregnant with our second baby around 18 months after Isabella was born it really surprised me how different the reaction was. We were still showered with congratulations, love and excitement, but it was almost expected that we'd be having another baby soon. A pretty common age gap between siblings seems to be between 18 months to 2.5 years and as we were approaching that I guess family/friends were kind of expecting some kind of announcement as we had expressed our wish to have more children if we were lucky enough. 
When it came to telling our close family it all ended up being quite dramatic, as we were involved in a serious car crash when I was 9 weeks pregnant and actually on the way to tell my husband's side of the family. The night before we had revealed our exciting news to my side of the family on FaceTime with a pumpkin that had 'Big Sister' carved into it, as it was around Halloween. We had that pumpkin in the boot of the car when someone crashed into us and it's fair to say that when the car hit in the barrier and flipped the pumpkin didn't stand a chance of surviving! As we were all rushed to hospital in an ambulance (luckily we all escaped major injury - I am just left with a scar on my knee and have needed therapy for anxiety) phone calls were made to loved ones and our parents came to the hospital as quickly as they could. That meant that telling my husband's parents that they were going to be Grandparents again happened in hospital and without knowing if the baby was still ok in there. A few days after the crash I was given a scan to check that everything was okay and luckily up on the screen we saw the flickering heartbeat of what became Poppy. It was dramatic, terrifying and not exactly the announcement we had in mind, but we can only thank our lucky stars that everyone came out alright in the end.
Then it came to announcing our third pregnancy in March of this year and thankfully it was a lot calmer than our second one! For the first time nerves overtook excitement for revealing our little secret to close family and friends; I think it was because when you have three children you're outnumbered, people question how you'll cope and you're greeted with shocked faces rather than excited ones. We announced it to my close family in a birthday card to my Dad at my birthday meal. His birthday is only a few weeks after mine, so I said we had an early birthday present for him and gave him the card. It came completely unexpected and everyone was surprised but excited. Then came telling my husband's close family the week after, for which Isabella stood up and announced that we were having another baby. It was a lovely moment, yet again filled with surprise and shock.
We then waited until our 12 week scan to tell other family and friends and even then I put it off for a week or so. I was just so nervous at what people would say and because we're the first of all of our close 'parent friends' to have three children I knew that we were going into new territory. Again, the excitement levels certainly decreased compared to the second announcement and to be honest I was expecting that. I am scared about what is to come; we will be outnumbered (though I'm outnumbered for five days a week now and am managing just fine), life will get busier, we will go back to having no sleep, there is no end in sight for changing nappies etc. But our hearts will be filled with more love than ever before, the girls get to have another sibling to grow up with and I feel extremely lucky to be going through pregnancy again. It is such a unique experience and something I'll probably only do three times in my life, so to be here again is such a blessing and one I'm not taking for granted. 


If you've also had more than one child, did you also find that the reaction of loved ones was different?


Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)


Helen x
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7 comments

  1. Can I just say, pregnancy really suits you. You look fabulous.

    I can imagine that people almost expect an annoucnement once you've had one. I still get asked now and my son is 11 but with 2 step daughters and hubby to be has had the snip, we really are done!

    Congratulations x

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  2. We waited 4 years in between our children so the announcement of our second was still quite exciting. Gosh, reading about your car crash is awful - you are so lucky to have walked away from it relatively unscathed and Poppy is obviously a little fighter! I love how you announced the 3rd in your Dad's birthday card - how lovely! I can just imagine his reaction!

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  3. I also forgot to say...CONGRATULATIONS!!!

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  4. We've only got 1 so I don't know about announcing any more! Congratulations though!!

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  5. Congratulations! We only have one and we have no plans to announce any more, haha!

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  6. When we told people we were expecting our third we got a lot of "again?!" and "haven't you figured out what's causing it yet?" comments!

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  7. Every baby is a blessings, whether planned or unplanned, They'll bring joy and a whole new purpose in your life :)

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