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MATERNITY DIARIES: Breaking the news


Hi all!
There is no easy way to break the news of your pregnancy to family and friends. Before I actually got up the courage to inform anyone of the little bundle of joy I was expecting,  I said so many prayers, thought up all sorts of scenarios and generally had a long couple of days trying to figure out how and what to say.
Breaking the news of your pregnancy can be such a difficult task. You never know how people are going to react. I was so terrified of informing my parents so I started by telling my brother (and BFF). He encouraged me to tell my mum who took it so differently from the way I thought she would. At this point, I was even more encouraged to break the news to those closest to me. And their reactions were very good.

Do I have any tips on how to break such big news to family and friends? Here are a few:

  1.   Do not wait until it is completely obvious that things in your life are undergoing a major transformation. It’s better not to wait until they ask you and instead tell them before they notice.
  2.    Be completely honest. It is not worthwhile to lie to those closest to you. They are the ones who will be there for you when things get tough and you are feeling all alone.
  3.    They will ask you questions. If you don’t have answers ready, tell them you will get back to them after some time so that you have time to think them through.
Everybody will react differently to your news. Some will be very receptive of your news and will rejoice with you.  Others will be shocked and recover after some time. There will definitely be others who will react in the complete opposite way and be very negative. What is most important is that you surround yourself with the positive. Life is hard as it is and with all the emotional changes that you will be going through during pregnancy, why would you want to have more bad things near you? Even though you can never run away from critics and negative vibes, you have to choose to push them aside and focus on living your life for you and not to please anybody else. 

How have you dealt with breaking huge news to family and friends?

Remember you can leave your comments below or on Facebook or Twitter.

Thank you for stopping by.

 Happy Wednesday.

xo

Audrey

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