Carolyn and I have news that we’ve been starting to share. What’s most interesting about this process is people’s reactions to it seem very personal, and certainly all over the map.
The news is that we’re pregnant. Well, Carolyn’s pregnant. I’m just cranky, gaining weight and nauseated (nauseating?).
The reactions, as I’ve mentioned, have been all over the map. As an artifact of who was home when, we told Carolyn’s parents first. They were excited. Effusive. Carolyn’s mom talked about how much she enjoyed being pregnant!
We told my dad next. After several iterations of “Wow. [pause]” He asked “Are you sure it’s yours?” I’ll let you infer my dad’s behavior and assumptions on that one yourself.
We told my mom next. She was encouraging, but basically told me not to get my hopes up. I am an only child — the one that took after 2 miscarriages.
We recently started telling people at Penn State. The funniest reaction we’ve had so far was from Victor (whom I was sure I talked about before until I couldn’t find the post I was thinking of). The look that crossed his face looked to me like “Damn. I thought you guys were cool, and were going to be fun to hang out with.” He recovered quickly, though, and offered his congratulations.
My long-time friend Nancy said “Isn’t it wonderful having someone more important than yourself to think about?”
I guess. It’s still a little abstract, though. I can drive by the house we now have an agreement on. Only Carolyn’s exhaustion and nausea tell me that she’s pregnant. OK, and the ultrasound, and we got to hear the heartbeat (again) via doppler at the OB-GYN for the most recent pre-natal visit.
My reaction? Excited. Nervous. Enthusiastic. Terrified. Hopeful. Scared. I think I’m going to like being a dad.
You can post your reactions for all to give consideration to in the comments 😉