Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Spilling the Beans...

One of the many things infertility takes away from you is the element of surprise. Us getting pregnant, while a miracle, was no surprise. Meaning, we've been working towards this for years. Everything has been charted, cycles are exact, and we knew the moment we would get a yes or a no. All of my plans years ago to tell David over a dinner of baby spinach salad, baby back ribs and baby carrots went out the window. (Yeah, I know...that's really cheesy. But it's also pretty cute! So someone please use it and tell me how it works out for ya!)

As I mentioned in my previous post about the babies, our families and friends had been involved in our previous treatments so they knew when to expect the results just like we did. They were waiting for the call. There was no waiting it out and telling in our own way when we were ready.  Each time, the negative results proved hard on everyone. For our last round of treatment we decided to fly under the radar and not tell anyone. The result was not only the overarching blessing of the babies, but the shred of normalcy in a process that has been anything but by allowing us to tell our families in fun ways. While this was absolutely my deal and not as important to David, he humored me and allowed me the joy of thinking of fun ways to tell our families. 

Here is what we came up with!
*Disclosure: In the videos I have NO idea why I am talking so high pitched and giggling so much. I guess it was nervousness and elation :) But I'm warning you, I'm annoying.


Background: Our parents live about an hour and 10 minutes away from each other. Dave had just passed a round of his CPA exam so our parents had been talking about meeting in the middle and taking him out to a celebratory dinner. It worked out so perfectly that we had our 7 week ultrasound on a Friday, so we planned it for that evening. We went that day, heard a heartbeat...then heard a second heartbeat!! And we walked away with photos to share. I had found 2 frames (I speculated twins based on the numbers in my blood work and the unbelievable morning 24 hour sickness I was experiencing) that perfectly described these babies and used 2 of our ultrasound photos. The video below is so dark, and I can't figure out how to get it to rotate correctly, but it accurately captures my mom sobbing and the fun of sharing it with our parents. 


Claudia and my mom posing with their grand babies :) *Side note: I told my mom she could tell NO ONE for a couple more weeks, so she proceeded to tell the waiter. She just couldn't help herself. Ha!



David and me with our families after they learned the good news. 

Next, I got to tell my Nana. This was bitter sweet as we did our last round of treatment right before my Papa passed away. I found out on April 9th that we were not pregnant and he passed away on April 17th. It would have been such a joy to get to tell him this news...although I know he knows now. 

For my entire life we have eaten special meals on my Nana and Papa's wedding china. Desert Rose :) Thanksgiving, Christmas, family gatherings...for 31 years of my life these dishes have been a constant. I thought it would be fun to give her two new plates since she will need them to serve her great grand children. I didn't get her on video but there were a lot of happy tears!



For my sister and Brad I decided to play up Kristen's years in NYC. She fell in love with the city as a teenager and plotted her move right after graduating college. She had several wonderful years there and we have made MANY fabulous memories there! I found this cute board book showing sites of NYC and wrote a few notes in there. Kristen lived on the Upper West Side near Central Park and close to Columbus Circle. So next to Columbus circle I wrote, "Aunt Kristen's apartment was close!" She got it pretty quickly. :) The card I wrote her explained that her nieces and/or nephews would enjoy hearing about all of her adventures in the big city.




Telling Taylor and Rebecca- My brother plays minor league baseball for the San Francisco Giants. I decided to ask him to sign 2 of his baseball cards. I handed him a piece of paper telling him what I wanted him to write: 

"I'll teach you everything I know. Love, Uncle Taylor" 

My best friends' kids all call me Aunt T-Rog. So at first he just thought he was signing them for Charlie and Blythe or Avery. Of course never assuming he might really be an uncle! These videos had to be cut short but we got some big tears out of the big guy. 



Dave's sister, Kate lives in NYCcurrently. So I went the
 New York route with her as well getting her an adorable pop-up book. Y'all, it is the cutest! It shows all of the major sites from the Empire State Building to the Statue of Liberty to Yankee Stadium. I wrote her a card also telling her what fun her niece and nephews will have getting a tour of the city from a "local" and getting to visit all of the places their Aunt Kate has been. 

We made her Face Time with us while she opened her gift, and my mother-in-law happened to be there that same weekend so it worked out perfectly!!




If you actually made it to the end....wow! You are terribly kind!! I can't imagine I will ever forget these details, the joy of sharing this with our family, but just in case I wanted it all documented. ~ XOXO

29 comments:

KatiePerk said...

You are so creative! I love each of these ideas. So special!

Stuart, Jennifer, Hannah and Hudson Yeager (Phoebe and Daisy too!) said...

I cried at each video!!!

Pink Lace and Cupcakes said...

This brought tears to my eyes! So thrilled for you guys:)

Brandi said...

Ok, I feel like a big cheese ball, I teared up with each video!!! So cute and sweet!!!!

Liz said...

First... I love Kristen's... "you're a liar. And you're a liar. Liar. Liar. Liar."

Second... I kind of feel bad that I haven't asked Taylor to sign a card for Charlie since that was his very first assumption was that it was for Charlie!! Have him sign one and send it to me. :D

Also, I'm happy my reaction was the same as your moms since we both sat there and bawled for a minute before we could really react. I was feeling kind of bad that I didn't jump up and down. :)

meredith said...

All of these make me want another baby, for the express purpose of having this much fun telling people. Love it!

Perfectly Jenn said...

All of these are so perfect! So excited for y'all!

melissa said...

I just can't even stand how wonderful these videos are! What thoughtful, sweet ways you shared your news with the family. I love it!

Loving these baby posts!!!

melissa said...

Also, how did you make it SEVEN weeks without telling anyone? That's pretty impressive! I'm sure you were ready to shout it from the roof tops!

Sara McCarty said...

Oh my goodness, this is fantastic! You are so clever! I couldn't even wait long enough to go to Target before blabbing the news to my family - I can't believe you were so patient! AND SO CREATIVE! What an awesome surprise for everyone! You are the best!

The Good Life said...

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you. Prayers for a healthy pregancy and two healthy babies! I love how you shared the news with your family. I just watched your videos and cried like a baby. Well done!

Katie Norwood said...

Oh my goodness. So sweet. Your mom sobbing just completely did me in. And your sister in law's reaction is pretty adorable too!!!

Lisa said...

This is just the sweetest!! I love all your creative ideas!! Hope you are feeling better and continue to have a safe and healthy pregnancy!

Rebekah said...

Those were so cute! I love how creative they are. We haven't started treatments yet but I'm already sad about not being able to really surprise Dylan but it will still be a wonderful surprise to be pregnant one day!

Jules said...

I love all of the ways y'all spilled the beans, but my favorite is how you told your Nana! So sweet!!

Chaos and Coffee said...

Such an amazing post and what a blessing for your family. I am a fellow mama to twins. My boys are 6 weeks old this week. Welcome to the club! :)

Hilary said...

#1 I'm bawling. #2 You are so creative and what a blessing with the timing. God works in such mysterious ways. Am so happy for you!

Tricia said...

Tears in my eyes....so sweet of you to share. I just adore everyone's reaction.

Nat said...

So glad that you got to surprise your family like that! Everyone looks so happy!!

Sweet Simplicity said...

I love that you told everyone in such a unique way! Ty's grandma had the same china and I think it is so special you bought your Nana two more sets.

~Momma to Twin Girls~ said...

I found your blog via twitter yesterday and as a mommy to twin girls I just LOVE the way you told your family. I will tell you that having twins is just the BEST thing in the entire world. My girls are now 8 :( and if I knew God would give me twins again I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Congrats!!!! I am off to read more of your blog. :)

Lauren said...

LOVE that you did so many different things for all the special people in your life! It was so fun for us to decide how to tell everyone about our little secret!

CASEY said...

Oh goodness. . . I cried with each video! The reaction by the people closest to you is proof of how loved you and David and the babies are. . . and will always be. You've waited for those "spilling the beans" moments, and you deserved every joy of those celebrations!

Katie and Justin Cox said...

So happy! All of it... love the sweet videos!!

BeckyJo606 said...

What a sweet way to tell your families!! I love the picture frames!! Congratulations! :)

annalee said...

every detail is PRICELESS! well done. smiling ear to ear! and rejoicing BIG time!

also, loved your sweet comment on my everyone has their own story post too. really spoke to me, thank you!

Chic Runner said...

I'm so excited for you two, soon to be four. I cried at each of these special videos. So special!

Lindsey said...

Your videos had me crying at work!! So happy for you guys. The best part of knowing that your pregnant is being able to share that joy with your loved ones.

Kate said...

I have just gotten around to catching up on my blogs... I hadn't seen this post, and you had me crying with each video! Over the moon excited for you and Dave!