December 24, 2011
Aaron
and I decided to tell our parents the big news by framing copies of the
ultrasound and giving it to them as a Christmas present. We were fortunate enough that Aaron’s mom
flew out to visit us for Christmas this year, so we could tell both my parents
and Aaron’s mom at the same time. It was
a full house Christmas Eve morning, we were all in San Diego at my parents’
house: me, Aaron, Aaron’s brother Dominick, his girlfriend Sam, my sister
Sharon and her fiancé, and of course, my parents and Aaron’s mom. Aaron and I had been debating on the timing
of giving our special present because we wanted them opened at the same
time. Fortunately, my bladder wakes me
up crazy early these days, so I woke up before everyone else in the house. I decided to set out the gifts to the parents
under everyone’s stockings. When
everyone was up and had had some coffee, I said, “Oh look! Santa came for the grown ups this year!” (I suppose by next year, I may need to amend
that statement since there will be a new generation and my generation will
become the “grown ups” as well – but it worked fine for this year.)
As
we sat there watching our parents open the gifts, I saw their faces shift from
confusion to realization. All of a
sudden, there were squeals of excitement.
My mom kept saying, “Oh my gosh!” over and over again. Then there were lots of hugs and more
squeals. This will be the first grandchild
on both sides, so everyone was very excited.
Afterwards, we opened the rest of our presents, ate breakfast and got
ready for the annual Stevens family Christmas Eve dinner at my aunt and uncle’s
house in Orange County.
The
nice thing about being able to fast-forward by a month in the first trimester
meant that we could tell the rest of the family at dinner. We had been expecting to tell our parents and
then swear them to secrecy and help me hide the fact that I was not
drinking. But we didn’t have to! This would be the first event all holiday
season where I didn’t have to hide not drinking. Let me tell you, being in the early stages of
pregnancy and having to hide not drinking during the holidays is no easy
feat! There were many holiday parties
where I would take a glass of champagne, hold it, and then sniff it as everyone
else took their sips. Then I would
quietly hand off my drink to Aaron when no one was looking. I’m not a huge drinker, but if I turned down
champagne, everyone would notice!
Speaking
of turning down champagne, one of my favorite parts of Christmas Eve dinner is
that there is always a specialty cocktail that gets put in your hand the moment
you walk in the door. Aaron and I
arrived before my parents. I wanted to
wait until my parents got there to tell everyone – if you know my mom, you’ll
know that she would have felt terribly left out to have missed out on the
announcement, even though she knew the big news. As a result, I had to say no to the yummy
looking cocktail: champagne with raspberry liquor. After the third time I said “no” to the
drink, my cousins started to get suspicious.
Finally my parents arrived and we gathered everyone together and made
the big announcement. Again, there were
plenty of squeals and congratulations. I
have to say, now that people know, it’s starting to feel a little more real.
Yay! That was one of the best Christmas surprises yet! Thanks for making it a very special Christmas by sharing your joy with all of us : )
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