How to hold down a full-time career, get a graduate degree, participate in a social/charity group, and grow a fetus in your uterus all at the same time. The working woman's guide to pregnancy.

Monday, November 27, 2006

When to Send Out the Press Release

For the first three months of my pregnancy, the only people who knew about it were me and my hubby, my doctor and my masseuse. That's all. We kept it a well-guarded secret for reasons that fell somewhere between well-reasoned pragmatism and irrational paranoia.

Even now that I'm four months along and I've started telling more people (our parents, siblings, bosses, and some close friends), I'm still not entirely comfortable with the idea of "going public."

Perhaps it's fear that all conversations from here on out will be about babies or pregnancies. Or maybe it's my lingering paranoia that something could go wrong (and then I'd prefer to mourn as privately as possible). Either way, I've found the experience of keeping this secret quite fun, and I highly recommend that more women try it out.

For one thing, during those months, it's your little secret baby, and not yet someone else's grandchild, niece, or godchild (though those are all wonderful things). Secondly, you're going to be a parent above all else for the rest of your life...enjoy your last few months as a professional, a student, a wife, a funky twenty-something, or whatever you may be now.

So on Wednesday, I have the twenty-week sonogram which should prove, among other things, that I am indeed carrying a human inside me. Maybe, after that point, I'll be more willing to send out the press release!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't become a Student, Professional or Funky Anything until AFTER I had my first child ... so I don't think you need to close those doors right away.

Perhaps you can kiss off the "prodigy" tag, but that's about ready to age out anyway.

Maybe what you're delaying is the inevitable loss of control, Ms. Crafter of Your Destiny. You don't know if this interloper is going to be male/female, noisy/quiet, wiggly/serene, Republican/Democrat, vegetarian/carnivore, homely/cute, healthy/piqued, shy/wacky, Mama's boy/Daddy's girl. You are handing over your life and your Outlook Calendar to fate and a complete stranger.

Whatever little he/she is to be, he/she will be infinitely more fascinating than anything you have yet experienced at work, at school or on vacation. Time to take your foot off the brakes and bring your friends along for the thrill ride of your life.

Anonymous said...

I am enjoying your blog on "fetal attraction" and I like your honesty in explaining the reason for delaying the announcement. Now that the secret is out in the open and you have your Wednesday appointment including a sonagram, I look forward to your new thoughts. I'll be checking on Thursday to see if you have posted more.