The Challenges
The first challenge that came up during the conversations my wife and I had was how we were going to let my parents know the news. I would like to preface this by saying that we are in an interracial marriage. That means nothing to us but I guess that is what people would categorize our relationship as. My parents understand English better than they can speak it.
The second challenge was keeping the news quiet until we told both sets of parents. We were very worried that if somehow people found out we were expecting, the news would be all over the internet. We did not want to have that happen. We like the people we are "friends" with online but we also are kind of old school and wanted to call our parents first.
The third challenge came in the form of creativity. How could we deliver the news and make it a little bit more special? I believe I am the creative person between the two of us but my wife was of great help on this topic.
Delivering the News En Español
Earlier in the day I spoke with my father and he informed me that his doctor told him his cholesterol level was high. This didn't surprise me but it gave me an idea on how to deliver the news. We decided to call them after my father pick-up my mother from work. This usually means after 9:00 p.m.
We were both very excited as we rested on our couches. I couldn't stop laughing and my wife couldn't stop giggling. We held each other and just laughed. I told her that they probably had no clue what was coming there way. I nervously dialed my father's cell phone and then I heard my mother's voice on the other end, "Bueno." That is how we always answer the phone in our home, till this day I don't know why because it means good.
I made small talk and asked questions about my father's health. My mother answered them as best she could and then she gave me my chance to deliver the news. She said that the doctor told my father that he had to change his diet and needed to lose some weight within the next six months. I asked her," What about nine months from now? Will he need to have lost more weight?" There was silence on the other end. I could sense she was confused. She replied in Spanish,"Pues si en seis meses pierde peso, en nueve meses tiene que aver perdido mas." The English translation is," Well if in six months he loses weight then in nine months he should have lost more."
I started to laugh really hard. She was still confused so I asked again and there was silence once more. However, it was followed by her asking what was going to happen in nine months. Then she said," Que? Un bebe?" Then I answered and she went bonkers!
I could hear my father asking questions in rapid fashion as he drove. My wife and I were super excited to hear their reaction even if it was through a small speaker on a cell phone. We both felt like they were right there with us sharing the joy. Delivering the news to them was probably the less creative way we told our loved ones. However, we will always remember that night until we die.
Delivering the News To Siblings
I have two younger siblings who I love dearly. They were both visiting my parents on one of their college breaks. I specifically told my parents not to tell them the news. We were going to pick them up from the airport and wanted to execute our next idea to see how long it would take them to figure it out.
The idea was to put two pieces of papers with one reading,"Tia" and the other "Tio" on the back of the driver and passenger's seat in our car. When we arrived at the airport they were waiting for us patiently right outside of the exit doors. I walked out of the car and started to help my brother and sister load their luggage into the trunk. My brother made the first comment,"I'm going to be an uncle?" I was very confused because they hadn't sat in the car. The plan came undone when they saw the signs from the back window of the car.
My sister looked inside and then went ballistic! She was very loud and said,"Are you serious!?" We couldn't help but laugh. She was amazed by the news and also amazed that my parents didn't slip. The people around the airport looked at her like she was weird, however she didn't care one bit.
The way we told my wife's older sister was through the use of technology. We decided that we would take a "belly picture" of my wife and then I would Photoshop bubbles coming out of my wife's belly with the words,"Hi Tia, I can't wait to meet you and I will love you a lot. If you buy me stuff I will love you even more! "
We shared our "desktop" with her to see how long it would take her to figure it out. I must say she was pretty quick to pick-up on the news. We saw her face light-up and a big smile was on her face. Her reaction was priceless! She just kept grinning and then said,"Are you serious?" My wife and I laughed and told her that it was true. She just giggled and laughed, so did we.
Delivering the News En Ingles
My in-laws were about to celebrate their wedding anniversary. My wife and I decided to invite them over to our house so that we could "celebrate" with them. Little did they know that our intention was to break the news and "double celebrate!" They came down and we were very anxious and nervous at the same time. My wife's parents new that we were trying to achieve pregnancy and still had not been successful.
My wife's younger sister also came with them at our request. When they arrived we did the usual greeting and small talk thing. My wife then asked them if they could take a picture with her to remember this anniversary of theirs. Little did they know that the words that would come out of my wife's mouth would be,"Smile! We are pregnant!" I set camera mode to video before I snapped the "picture." Their reaction was delayed by three seconds after the words settled into their brains. The whole family turned and looked at my wife with their necks snapping the same direction. They all said the same thing at the same time,"WHAT!?" It was hilarious.
I don't believe I have ever seen my mother-in-law get out of a couch that fast in my life. She was jumping, laughing and hugging everyone around her, especially my wife. I kept the video rolling, this moment was the culmination of months of doubt and letdowns all trumped by prayers and our faith.
Delivering the News Again
The week started like a normal week with the added excitement of knowing we were expecting a baby. If you read the previous post you would know that we had a scary moment after we found out we were expecting. However, due to that scare we were also informed we were expecting twins. This was exciting news and we had to tell our parents that we were expecting one more child.
After we left the hospital knowing that we were expecting twins we called our parents. We were parked in the parking lot of a Chipotle restaurant (if you haven't been there you are missing out) and we decided to call them before we at dinner.
My wife called her mother as I dialed mine. The first thing I asked was my mother was to tell me what she was doing right that second. She informed me that she was driving. My first thought was,"This could be bad!" I told her to stay focused on what she was doing because I was about to tell her something big. She knew that my wife had a bleed so she didn't know what was going to come out of my mouth. I told her that there was another baby in the belly. I heard dead silence and then a big laugh. I could just picture her beautiful smile in my head as she drove her truck. She was even more excited now because our kids will be the first twins in our extended family.
While all the excitement was being delivered to my mother, my wife was delivering the same news to her mother. I knew she was excited because I could hear her screaming through the phone with excitement. The funny thing is that my wife's mother was also driving and she managed to stay on the road while she let out her screams of joy.
Final Thoughts
Delivering the news about the second baby was very different then when we told them about the first baby. It was still amazing the second time though. We also decided not to learn the sex of the babies, which has been an experience in itself.
I would also like to mention that we called some of the most special people in our lives to let them know the news. Some of these people included friends, coaches, professors and other special people in our lives.
I hope you enjoyed this post. I am going to try to write something on this blog a minimum of three times a week. I know tomorrow I will have a very special post, so please read this blog tomorrow.
If you want to send me an email you can do so at thebabiesdad[at]gmail.com.
2 comments:
Aww this is good:) Its Tania btw..
Very exciting times...thanks for sharing the moments with us!
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