Announcing Birth

I’m probably going to announce mine to immediate family straight away but on social media, probably after we are back home and settled a bit. Maybe a few days or a week or so 🤷🏽‍♀️ Whenever you decide to announce it is up to you. Perhaps play it by ear and when the time feels right, do it 🙂

@Natasha yeah that’s fair, my mum stepdad and sisters would be the first time know once he’s born, I think I just get overwhelmed with texting everyone but I don’t want someone else to tell my entire family I’ve had the baby if that makes sense? I want to be the one to tell people but it overwhelms me a lot!

Same, I will tell my closest circle right away, but we haven't really done any sort of pregnancy announcement on socials either so we'll wait until baby is a few weeks and then discuss how and what. The birth and the first weeks are the most important time for us as a new family, and everyone else is way lower on the list

The alternative would be to just make a huge group chat in WhatsApp in advance and just send a few photos when you're ready, maybe also say that you'll get to responding when you're less overwhelmed but want to announce already

@Dominique I’ve updated quite a lot on my pregnancy social media but just feel like once she’s actually here it’s a bit different as that’s when our life actually changes entirely & we have to get used to this new world as a family! I’m already at risk for PPD/PPA and don’t wanna make it worse by trying too hard to tell everyone that he’s been born 😪 I’ve already told my bf & sister that I want my phone on DND from the second I get into hospital until I’m home as I don’t want anyone texting me whilst I’m birthing my son 😂 It’s definitely a “cross that bridge when we get to it” type thing as it depends how I feel after birth as to wether or not I text extended family about the baby, just need to make it ultimately clear that it’s my news to share so when my close family find out, they are to keep it to themselves! It’s a common issue in my family unfortunately, when I did my gender reveal I told my Nan on FaceTime & she told the entire side of her family in 5 minutes 🙃

@Lucy yikes, yes my mother is the same. She announced my cousin's second pregnancy in the family WhatsApp by just saying 'congratulations'. I told her off for it bc it's not her news to share and it's rude. Also why I didn't tell her about my pregnancy until 12wk scan lol. You need to do what's best for you and your family. (and your mental health!) no one is entitled to anything!

@Dominique thankfully my mum is a saint and knows to keep her mouth shut until I’m ready to announce 😂 she just knows how I get when people make announcements for me 😬 My Nan also posted my sisters last birth announcement on Facebook before she did & that was a brutal conversation 😪 so based on that I’ll probably wait until we’re home and settled to tell extended family purely because I want to be the one to announce him to the world, considering i didn’t get to announce his gender myself 😂

I’ll probably wait at least a few days/a week before announcing on social media. I wouldn’t mind if my parents wanted to tell people though.

@M.J fair enough, I want you to be the one to announce my son and that’s just my preference, I already had my Nan announce his gender before I could so don’t really want a repeat of that. I personally find it disrespectful but that’s just me

@Lucy I just mean I wouldn’t mind it if they told their friends and siblings.

@M.J and that’s fine but that doesn’t work for me lol, each to their own 🤷‍♀️ I want to be the one to tell people since it’s my baby and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Ok, sorry, I thought you were asking what others were planning on doing. You should totally do whatever feels right for you!

@M.J it’s a discussion post lol, that’s why in my original reply to you I said about my preferences as I don’t want my family telling other people which is why I’m hesitant to text them once baby’s born

I did it within a few hours after my first. But this time I’ll be enjoying the baby bubble first as everthing is very hectic

My mum was very keen to share things on social media as she said it was her news. Even when she announced my pregnancy she put 'im pleased to share our news'.. so I definitely will be ensuring no one shares on social media. I'm likely not to tell people when I've gone into labour etc.

I announced to my immediate family and family who I’ve seen. Some relatives and acquaintances still don’t even know. lol

@Kristal yeah that essentially what I plan to do, I’ll make a post on fb in December basically telling people to not post anything if they get told but I’ll be telling my mum/stepdad/sisters & my boyfriends dad as soon as he’s here and everyone can wait until I’ve settled a bit

I’ve been thinking this as well. Immediate family will know but socials I’m going to keep quiet whilst we get settled and etc. Will also ask that no pics are uploaded to social media before we do. We had our pregnancy news spread by my brother before I was 12 weeks so will kindly ask that people respect our wishes until we give go ahead.

Immediate family found out straight away majority were texting my husband throughout because things went a bit wrong. I posted on social media the next day. Anyone close knew what was happening though.

@Sibs that’s fair, I’ve spoken to my family recently and basically said that I don’t want anyone telling anyone when I’m in labour or when he’s born as I’ll do it when I’m ready, my mum/stepdad/sisters/fatherinlaw will be the first to know via text whilst I’m still at hospital and I’ll text everyone else when I’m home and settled before posting on social media, it’s my first baby so kinda wanna soak it all up before being bombarded with texts lol

100% thankfully my family knew not to say anything till I wanted to tell people. This one it’s a planned c section so will know a date plus my mum will be looking after my LO and dog. It actually makes me jealous when I see these videos of people just turning up at their families houses with the baby wish I could have done that.

I'd just play it by ear, I was convinced I'd be all chill and keep it to ourselves for a while (not to immediate, but the big social media announcement as I'm the same as you and have a lot of family on there, most of whom are now scattered across the world so it's a nice way to keep in touch) but in reality I was up in the night after our first was born, still in hospital and just loving on her and ended up posting there and then lol. Whatever feels right at the time go with it, just make sure your family know your intentions when you know (if you want to be first to post etc so you can avoid any disappointment) boundaries are key x

@Eleanor I get what you mean, I’m turning my phone off pretty much the entire time I’m in hospital as it’s our first and I get overwhelmed super easily so keeping it off until I’m ready is the best way to go, I’m deffo gonna hold off on posting on social media at least until we’re home and settled as my mum and stepdad might be 4-5 hours away when I give birth if he comes early and I want them to meet him before I post him 🥲 it’s definitely a circumstantial thing