How to keep long distance family and friends in the loop during your pregnancy
It’s true, it’s real, and you are so excited! You are going to have a baby!
You are bursting with excitement and are ready to share the news. It is very easy to share this exciting news with family nearby and friends in your neighbourhood, but what about the family further afield? How do you keep them in the loop? There are a number of great ideas to use to share your news. In this day and age, sharing information is much easier, but you might want something special for this event.
Here are some suggestions for getting that message out there. It is probably a good idea to wait for a few weeks to be absolutely certain everything is 100% positive before going wild with your announcements. Try these ideas for something original and creative.
Bump Pictures
Watching your baby grow and seeing that maternal evidence through your ‘bump’ is a great way to show off your pregnancy. This may not be everyone’s idea of publicity, but close family and special friends will love to see how you are growing with this new life inside your tummy. Go ahead and take a before picture and then record the growth month by month. This will make your growing belly more obvious to people who haven’t seen you in a while. You can be discreet and wear a T-shirt that will show off the rounding of your tummy.
Ultrasound Updates
The ultrasound pictures are just amazing. Seeing your little one moving around and even appearing to wave a hand is magical. Modern technology allows parents to share these images with family and friends. The number of ultrasound visits varies from pregnancy to pregnancy, but this is a great way to show off the baby in utero.
Crazy Cravings
Pregnant moms often have a craving for something unusual. It paints an amusing picture when dads have had to go out in search of some really different kind of food or snack. Your family and friends will be most amused by the changes in your diet. Whether you can’t stop eating bagels or you’re dreaming about pickles on top of ice cream, share your cravings when people ask how you’re feeling.
Baby Shower
The baby shower, especially if this is your first baby, is a great way for everyone to spoil you. Your friends may want to surprise you but perhaps there is a way to tell the family and friends who are far away about this event. They could be invited to join in through a ‘zoom’ chat or any other social media platform. When it comes time for your baby shower, send invitations to far-away relatives and friends. Even if they are not able to attend, they will appreciate the invitation.
Big, bigger, biggest – tracking baby’s size.
There is an app for everything these days. Tracking a baby’s size is very easily done via an app. A pregnancy tracking app will probably give you comparisons in size to vegetables or fruit. Babies often start out being compared to a bean and later reach pumpkin or watermelon status! This is an entertaining way to send out a pregnancy picture and imagine what size your little one has grown to be.
Needs or wants?
Preparing for a baby can be quite daunting. Include your family and friends in the task of recommending the right basics for your baby. The things you really need can come in the form of a tried and trusted brand or item for the nursery. What did the moms in your family and your friends find really useful. Then add in some of the things you would want to have but may not actually need. Your kind family and friends may have some of these items to hand down to you.
Nursery Decor.
Decorating the nursery is an exciting adventure. You can include family and friends from afar in this process. Start with a blank picture of the room as your before mood board. Then as you add to the décor, post up pictures of the colour palette or the curtain fabrics. Add in the furniture and the toys and books you want to use to complete the picture.
The big day arrives.
The time of waiting is over and your baby has arrived. It may have been a planned day, an elective caesarean, or your baby may have chosen their own date and time to arrive. Whatever the situation is, you are going to want to share the news with your far distant family and friends.
The whole event will be one of much excitement and you may not be feeling ready to attend social media. Setting up a group for messages is a good idea. It will certainly cut out the possibility of leaving someone out. Attend your group ahead of time and then it is all setup and ready to go when the big day comes. Appoint some of your really close friends to send out the initial messages and perhaps you have a family group already in place for sending the first announcements to your family. People will really appreciate being part of this final milestone.
In today’s world of easy communication, there is every opportunity to send messages and keep everyone in the loop. Gone are the cleft stick runners and the horse-drawn postal services. Everything today can be shared right now. It just takes a little planning and the outcome will be a family that feels blessed by your special efforts.