Are pregnancy announcements always twee?

[Didntcomeheretofuckspiders]

I remember a friend posting a photo to announce her pregnancy a while ago and finding it a bit twee and silly. It was their work shoes and badges (they both work in public services) and then some booties and the scan photo. At the time I was very judgemental about it!

Fast forward a bit and I have my 12 week scan next week and all of a sudden I’m considering doing something similar! 😂 We’re having to move our wedding so I want to announce it as soon as possible and to as many of our friends and family as possible (really close people already know) so that we can pre-warn people and get the new date out ASAP so Facebook has become a good option. And I even think a cute picture would be nice! I was thinking of doing something with race numbers or bikes as we’re both very sporty. Have I gone mad?

@PointeShoesAndTutus I think as others have said it may come across as you taking a friend’s birthday as a chance to announce your pregnancy. If you want to announce it I think better to do so separately, not in relation to anyone else. Your news, nobody else’s - if you see what I mean.

I'm doing my announcements photo today ahead of my scan on Tuesday. All being well I'll put it out there on Tuesday.

I don't plan on the usual scan photo, etc. Instead I've got nappies and dummies for my dogs to get them involved, pregasaurus Tshirt to wear and what to expect and will try to make it as funny as possible.

I do think announcements are naff but I can't help feeling excited and wanting to do something fun. Don't think the dogs will agree too much but they're part of the family so we're all involved.

I’m not sure why you need to announce anything. Can you just tell people when you see them? Or call people? Facebook announcements are cheesy as shit. Scan pictures are the absolute worst - Who the hell wants see inside someone’s womb 😂

We put a photo of 'I'm going to be a Mummy/Daddy mugs in front of a calendar with the due date circled. Couldn't give a flying fuck if others think it's tacky, this was a much longed for baby.
For DC2 we had DC1 in 'I'm going to be a big sister' t-shirt

Its SO nice to hear via a 1:1 call/message.

PancakeInMaBelly I agree, it’s so lovely and personal!

I find Facebook showing off in general really distasteful! It’s designed to make others feel like shit!

Agree - announcements, scan pics and bump shoots all 🤢

Tell close family/friends in a telephone call, everyone else by text.

Wow! There's some real judgmental people in here! I for one love a pregnancy announcement, having lost a baby it still makes me happy to see a friend announcing their good news, and in 2 weeks I'll be announcing mine. If people don't like I, tough shit! But I only have people on my Facebook who I care about, it's not public!

Twee. But, each to their own I guess. I don’t like scan pics.... HELLO EVERYONE LOOK INSIDE MY UTERUS NOW. Plus most have personal details written on ffs!

For those who know friends are struggling, it’s kinder to let them know in an email beforehand. Let them have space to react - they probably are happy for you but they also need apace and time to have their own feelings.

We just did a quick ‘expecting our first roughly xxx, v happy’ post and left it at that. No further postings until it was born.

I actually prefer twee photos over scan pictures. I remember finding it really hard seeing scab photos appear on my feed just after I’d had a miscarriage and seen my own empty scan so I’ve always avoided doing that. I think for my first we just put up a simple status, for my second we didn’t do anything but people soon commented when I got tagged in pregnant photos

We didn't put anything on social media until our twins were here.
We told some people face to face or over FaceTime, called others then sent messages to others. To some I sent the scan pic but to those who I knew had had a hard time ttc/who had miscarried I literally just texted to say that we were expecting twins.
Having struggled ttc and needing ivf myself I know that it can be hard to hear so I wanted to do it gently.
I was still happy to hear other people's news but equally sometimes the delivery was harsh.
A couple of people made a big thing of "they didn't know how to tell me/they were worried about telling me".. that I found hurtful as I never got upset by their news.. only when they said stuff like that as it made it sound like I would be angry!

Wow! There's some real judgmental people in here! I for one love a pregnancy announcement

^Me too.

I didn't announce either of my pregnancies. People either found out by word of mouth - and most of didn't know until after 20 weeks - or they didn't know at all. My new next-door-neighbour never knew I was pregnant at all and was amazed when she saw me carrying a baby around after he arrived

I always felt those who needed to know I would tell in person. If you announce on FB and something goes wrong what do you do then? In your saddest times make another announcement?

I know I sound pessimistic but if I had announced our twins I'd then have to announce one didn't make it.

Scan pictures are a very bad idea.

You'll notice it's generally those who have experienced losses who try to point out that it's hurtful, and those who haven't who think it's OK.

You need to decide where you want to be on the continuum of consideration before putting up a scan picture to a wide audience.

I would just post a short message saying you are delighted to announce you are expecting a baby towards start/middle/end month-in-question and leave it at that.

The point is - no one wants to find out through Facebook. You're either close enough to someone to tell them personally, or you aren't, in which case they probably don't care.

I've had several pregnancy announcements through Facebook - barely raised an eyebrow. Although sometimes it does result in me wondering why this person thought I should know.

I put this on Facebook.

Definitely twee. I just rang people and told them.

Yes I think they're lame at the best of times and really hated them when going through my miscarriages. Just tell the people you care about - why does the internet need to know.

If you don't care that one of your Facebook friends is going through one of life's biggest events then you need a Facebook friend cull.

Of course we told important people, close friends, those struggling ttc, those we knew we'd see in person individually.

But there is another group of people that I am Facebook friends with who will care but I'm unlikely to get around to ringing individually. Plus grandparents etc wanted to mention in online and DH wanted us to be the first to post.

They’re try hard and naff.

I agree that scan photos are the worst.

It’s designed to make others feel like shit! most people don't live their lives working out what they can do to make other people feel crap. They may happen to make people feel like shit and most people would try to reduce the risk of this but if you really think the people you know only post with the intention of hurting others, you need new friends

Slightly twee, but they can be sweet especially if they reflect your personal interests etc.

Anything but a scan picture is good IMO - as pp have said, they can be very triggering for those who have suffered losses.

Congratulations!

SleepingStandingUp Boasting is a terrible trait and yes it is designed to make others feel like shit. Social media is just horrible for this, why do you think there has been such a spike in mental health issues? My friend has been going through IVF for years I would never baby bomb her on social media because I know how shit it would make her feel. People have seriously lost the art of tact and empathy.

Naff vote from me. It was really nice telling people in person.