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Christmas

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Is it a cheesy idea to announce a pregnancy in Christmas cards

109 replies

FrannyandZooey · 03/12/2007 11:31

It would be quite handy

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PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 03/12/2007 14:56

shame, that. could've done you a lovely deal on a second-hand manger...

JingleyJen · 03/12/2007 14:58

we signed J,J & Bump when pregnant with DS1 but we had already told close family it was more the wider friendship circle that we don't chat to every week that we told that way. (IYKWIM)
Congratulations!

wangle99 · 03/12/2007 15:21

My friend did when I received her Christmas present last year!

undertheMRSEI25toe · 03/12/2007 15:38

i think this is a great idea!!
cheesy? yes OTT? yes but its still a lovely way to hear the lovely news!! this is how i want to announce my possible pregnancy as we are TTC and i think it would be lovely to have this kind of an announcement on a xmas card we are thinking of only close family and it would be a card from 'DD and bean' or something along those lines anyway!!
i didnt have chance to 'announce' with DD as DH blurted it out to his mum after she had woken from a general anaesthetic!! she was happy though and he said he was trying to 'cheer her up'
xx ei xx

finknottle · 03/12/2007 16:00

Sorry - was being v silly earlier. You are right Aitch, it can be a very sensitive issue especially at Christmas when everyone swaps news and you read children's names on friends' cards and hear about new babies when people catch up.
My poor sil spent a rotten Christmas when we were together one year & I was 7 months pregnant with ds2 and she'd just had a 2nd miscarriage. We all just pretended I wasn't pg at all and she's the loveliest woman and it was heartbreaking.
Should have known better

milfAKAmonkeymonkeymoomoo · 03/12/2007 16:12

Christmas IS cheesy so I think you can get away with a lot Announce it however you like but maybe warn those who might be a bit sensitive about it in advance or don't tell them in a card.

anniemac · 03/12/2007 16:39

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FrannyandZooey · 03/12/2007 18:34

So what would be your preferred sensitive way Annie? Speaking for myself at a time when this was hard for me, I really preferred to hear in writing than on the phone or in person.

and thank you

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Lazycow · 03/12/2007 18:44

F&Z - speaking as someone who is currently struggling with secondary infertility, I'd prefer to hear in a note or letter too as this lets me compose myself and come to terms with it before doing the necessary congratulating. A phone call or in person makes this much harder and more awkward. This is one of the few occasions I think a written form of notification is better than a verbal one unless it is close friends and family who you know well and you can guess how they will react.

Also I'd like to say that you may be giving this a bit too much thought (a tendency I have myself )

Whatever way you choose to announce it will annoy or upset some people. I personally would think a scan was naff but I would never hold it against someome who sent me one. My best friend in all the world does round robin letters and xmas card with pictures of her children on - both things I really don't like. I still love her dearly and she quite rightly frankly don't give a flying f**ck what most people think about what she sends out on her christmas cards.

I think the scan idea with reindeer antlers might work quite well and if you like the idea why not do it? Or you could just sign it

love from F&Z, dh, ds and the soon to be new 'f&Z,dh surname' family member or something like that.

fireflyxmasfairylights2 · 03/12/2007 18:50

With SIL I didn't write it inside her card.. I drove to her house so I knew she would have her dh for support after I had left.

In the end she didn't wait until I had left..she got off the chair & wept & I had to let myself out the back door, feeling shit, with her dh glaring after me

I wished afterwards that I had just sent her a text.

Sothen when I was pg with ds I told IL's, they said "Oh you'll have to call & tell SIL" I said "No, you can feel free to tell her if you like"

They told her the next day... it was 5 weeks later when i got a text from her saying congratulations. I just replied "Thanks".

My children are now 6 & 3 & SIL still doesn't have any kids yet.

FrannyandZooey · 03/12/2007 18:52

I was joking about the reindeer ears, really

wasn't I? oh god maybe I wasn't

thank you for thinking about it for me

I don't think many of you would appreciate my friend's Christmas cards which she does every year with her and her family dressed up in different Christmas outifts. I bloody love them and can't wait to see this year's. Her unwilling dh's expression is always priceless and the children usually look as if they are being tortured, with my friend beaming out from the middle. God they are marvellous, I save them and look at them when I need a laugh.

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pinetreedog · 03/12/2007 18:55

no, good idea

KittyLetteItSnow · 03/12/2007 19:01

Awww Its a lovely idea!

I love the scan piccy idea too!

Just do it Im sure everyone who knows you will think its lovely.

Awwwww

PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 03/12/2007 19:23

hmmm, but it's got to be okay if they cry, isn't it? it's not you that's causing them to cry, it's them and their useles, treacherous bodies. they don't want your babies, they want their own, and it's perfectly normal to have a weep about it, either when they read the card or are told on the phone. my point was that if you're writing a letter and add the golden 'we've been trying for a while and are relieved and proud' i think it might take the sting out a bit as it reminds the person that they're not alone and that it's not easy ttcing.

i always remember a pal came to tell me that she was pg, which i was composed and did the right things about, lots of 'oh that's great, it does make me a wee bit sad but it's nothing to do with you etc'.
until she told me that she'd had some pains and (because of my history with ectopics) had got an early scan at the hospital. hearing her tell me about how terrified she was that she was goiing to have an ectopic pregnancy (and be a wretched freak like me) was actually too much to bear, especially in light of the fact that everything was fine...

rather amazingly, she was upset that i cried in front of her and told me off about it later. to which i say... ffs get a grip. so, you mark that down as someone who is less sensitive than you thought.

i've got to be honest, i'm a bit shocked at all the people saying go for it on the scan etc front given the recent posts about how it can affect people... i suppose i should be glad they don't know how it feels to get one of those announcements.

finknottle · 03/12/2007 19:30
Sad
FrannyandZooey · 03/12/2007 19:30

I don't think people have read the whole thread when they add their post, Aitch

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PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 03/12/2007 19:58

oh yes, right enough. well i hope that's the case anyway...

fireflyxmasfairylights2 · 03/12/2007 20:03

Do you mean my post?

Oh I hope I haven't offended anyone, that was never my intention!

I was only saying that it doesn't matter how much thought goes into it, no matter what way you tell people your news, if they are having trouble ttc themselves there is no good way to tell them...

I'm sorry if I have offended.

PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 03/12/2007 20:09

god, no, you didn't offend. as long as you weren't offended by the fact that it took her 5 weeks to summon up the courage to respond to your news.
there's no good way, certainly, but i really do think there are better ways and i'll always appreciate the people who took time to think of them for me and DH.
the people who took us out to dinner, for example, shared their happy news over the starters and then she proceeded to get more drunk than me... not so good. i couldn't even get in the taxi home with them, i needed to stumble and weep all the way home with dh.

fireflyxmasfairylights2 · 03/12/2007 20:23

NO Aitch, I wasn't offended that it took her 5 weeks. I actually was more annoyed with myself for not thinking the first time I drove to tell her when I was pg with dd.

At that time we knew they & us were trying, we had all been talking about it, jokingly. Then when I fell pg first we sort of assumed it would happen for her at a later date. But it didn't. That's why I didn't know how to handle it when I was pg the second time. Her mum told her when I was in hospital on a drip. She didn't visit me (I understand that though & don't hold it against her)

It has taken her 3 years to come around the talking to me, my children are her only brother's children, her only niece & nephew.

I guess I feel sad for her, but also felt I shouldn't have had to feel guilty for something that dh & I had really wanted... if that doesn't sound even worse than before.

Anyway, I have to go here & finish an essay, or it will never get done & I'll just talk about stuff that is long buried....

IsawKIMIkissingSantaClaus · 03/12/2007 20:34

F&Z congratulations, I think it would be lovely to announce your happy news in the Christmas cards and I personally would love to receive a scan photo from a close friend or family member.
I don't think it is naff at all.

berolina · 03/12/2007 21:05

Despite 3 mcs, my conceptions have all been in quick succession and so I've never had to deal with announcements while in a Bad Place. But here's my take on it: I think a blithe and cheery announcement in a card would only upset me (beyond the general upset something like that would be bound to cause, in the same way as seeing radiant heavily pg women in the street would upset me) if I were close to the person. In that case I would prefer the person to ring or visit me and say 'look, I'm pg and I understand entirely if your dominant emotion is not overjoyedness for me. Please let me know how much or little pg and baby talk you can handle'.

PaulaYatesbiggestfan · 03/12/2007 21:30

when i was struggling with infertility two ve close friends became pg in the same week
they both told me over the phone and i held it together till they were off the phone- one was quite insensitive and did a lot of retching down the phone over the next few weeks but hey i digress

i think a sweet - not overly bump/beany comment in card is fine

anniemac · 03/12/2007 22:05

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PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 03/12/2007 22:17

heh heh poor frank she has opened a Right Can Of Worms here, she only wanted to know if sending a scan is naff. (it is).

she'll be sensitive and kind anyway, she can't help it, it's her default setting.