The Announcement

My husband Stan and I got married in April 1999. We decided a year later we wanted to have a baby. We tried for several months and had a couple very disappointing false alarms. But, after 6 months our dream came true...we were pregnant! We called my brother and sister and sent emails to other family and friends. We swore them to secrecy as we wanted to tell my parents in person.

Stan said he actually wanted to tell them since his mother was dead and he had no idea where his father or brothers were and didn't have any family to whom he could make the announcement.

We called my parents and asked them if they were going to be home. We said we were going to visit a friend who lived down the road from them and since we would be in the area, we thought we'd drop in. This of course was a ruse to make sure they would be home. We really weren't visiting a friend, and in fact, my best friend Jodi was going to follow us over to Mom and Dad's. She was going to give us about 15 minutes and then she was going to come to the door with her 4 year old daughter Kaitie.

We drove up to their house and I nervously got out of the car. They had no clue what was about to happen. Stan rang the doorbell and my Dad answered. Stan greeted Dad with, "Hi Grandpa. Where's Grandma?"

Dad said that Mom was upstairs. Stan went to the bottom of the stairs and yelled, "HEY GRANDMA!" She called down that she would be down in a minute. Meanwhile, I greeted Dad with a hug.

Mom came down a minute later and when she saw me, she smiled brightly and said hi. Stan greeted her with, "Hi Grandma".

Mom got this curious look on her face, looked at me and asked, "Are you trying to tell us something?"

Stan played innocent and said, "Now what could we possibly want to tell you? Something like, oh, I don't know...Deb's pregnant?...Which she is."

Mom looked at me and asked, "REALLY???" with tears in her eyes.

My eyes welled up with tears as I nodded yes. She squealed with delight and ran over and hugged me, saying I was going to be a wonderful mother. Dad came over to me too and gave me a big hug. They then both hugged Stan and congratulated us.

Then Mom asked when our baby was due. I told them, "Happy Anniversary."

They both got excited all over again. Their anniversary is July 9 and we were given a due date of July 10.

Just then, the doorbell rang again. Mom wondered who it would be this time. She opened the door and there was Jodi with Kaitie. Mom squealed again and invited them in. Mom and Dad both greeted Jodi and Kaitie with hugs and kisses and then said that we had only been there about 15 minutes. She said she knew, because she had followed us over. She and Kaitie were surprise number 2. Mom asked if we had told her our news and she said yes, that most people had found out a few days ago and we had sworn everybody to secrecy.

We had a great visit with them that day and I'm sure it's a visit none of us will ever forget!