Apparently, women aren’t allowed to tell anyone they’re pregnant until they’re at least twelve weeks into their pregnancy. This seems to be a self-imposed rule we’ve put in place to safeguard ourselves in case of miscarriage. We don’t want to jinx anything, and we reason that if we were to miscarry our baby, at least we didn’t tell anyone, so it wasn’t really real anyway.
Isn’t that a lovely way to make sure you suffer in silence? Because, apparently, miscarriage is so taboo that we shouldn’t ever talk about it, or expect love and support through it?
The first twelve weeks can be the hardest time of pregnancy, and you’re expected to do it alone. You might feel sick as a dog and so exhausted you can barely keep your eyes open. You don’t have the cute bump to feel excited about, you can’t feel the baby move, you need to wee all the time, and no one knows why you won’t leave your home at night anymore.
You’re consumed with ALL THE QUESTIONS and you just want to bloody talk to someone about it because it’s the only thing you can think about, but instead you have to sit there and pretend you’re interested in Debbie’s sister’s gall bladder surgery while you fake drinking a champers so no one will suspect you’re knocked up.
So I fully support your right to tell anyone and everyone about your pregnancy whenever you feel like it. Because telling people takes it from the surreal to the SO VERY REAL and that can be a massive relief.
Plus, telling people is when you can officially GET EXCITED. There’s nothing like announcing to your family and friends that there’s going to be a mini-you arriving soon, and seeing their faces light up with joy. It’s no longer just your tiny little secret—it’s everyone’s baby and they can’t wait.