2 posts tagged with "Pregnant"

We found out Lisette was pregnant at about 2 weeks. A combination of common sense and tradition meant we decided to keep the news pretty much to ourselves to start with. And it's undeniable that we were shocked enough with the news as is without having to deal with other peoples reactions as well. However, keeping the news of Lisette's pregnancy quiet up until this point has proved somewhat challenging. Lisette stopped drinking when she found out and to her surprise a friend, let's call him Chris for now, clearly noticed straightaway (what this says about Lisette I couldn't possibly comment). For Chris truly hates not to know a secret. Subsequently any time we met up with him we would be entertained by the ways in which he sought to know for sure. Various approaches were taken. There were the random questions: - "Are you okay Lisette?" - "Yes I am Chris." - "You're well?" - "Oh yes!" - "So... you're good" - "Yes... good" We found this thread of questioning would roll round with startling regularity. Moving on, there was the night we were drinking at the Eel Pie on Church Street and everyone was chinking pint glasses and "cheers"-ing. Someone randomly asked "are we celebrating anything?". At which point Chris turned to me, fixed me with a look and said "I don't know John... Are we?" Having got no joy with us Chris decided on a different tack... interviewing mutual compadres. Our friend, let's call her Sarah, was round visiting Chris for lunch. As it happened, Sarah was pretty much the only person who had advance knowledge of our news. Whether Chris had guessed this or not I cannot be sure but he certainly used it as his jumping off point: - "So Sarah... do you think Lisette is pregnant" - [Slightly stunned] "Why Chris, what makes you say that?" - "Well, you know... I've noticed that Lisette hasn't been drinking recently. And I was thinking to myself... well Lisette's just glowing right now. Don't you agree?" This about the woman whose spent the last 2 months clutching my hand and saying "John I'm nauseous - I need a ginger biscuit". After we heard that little tale we decided to deny knowledge of the child to Chris throughout the pregnancy and even after the birth. Our resolve on that point did not last long. We cracked and told him at 11 weeks. He seemed delighted; whether he was delighted that Lisette was pregnant or if he was simply pleased to finally been able to scratch his Sherlock-ian itch I couldn't say.

Ladies and gentlemen we have some news for you. The die is now cast. The deed is indeed done. The rubicon has been crossed. Lisette, my lovely wife, is very much in the family way. Yes, On June 13th 2012 we're due to welcome one Farquhar Scopello Reilly into the outside world.... Those of you that know us well will be aware that children (or "screaming brats" as hitherto we have characterised them) are not really our bag at all. So we're a little... hesitant about our news. We're kind of pleased. And we're kind of terrified. When we rationalise we realise that we've been very blessed in life so far - we've done a lot. Maybe this is a good idea? And then occasionally we just hold each other and ask "Have we made a terrible mistake???" It's the fear I wasn't expecting. I'm not sure what reaction I expected to feel to the news that I'm a father but I'm pretty certain that being petrified wasn't on the list. What if the baby isn't well? What if we're rubbish parents? What if he / she doesn't like us? He / she! If he's a boy what if he takes after me and spends the first part his childhood stealing money from family members? (I think it would be better, all told, if the child took after Lisette.) What if they're not happy? Are we going to lose all our friends without kids now? What if, what if, what if. By the way, I do realise that none of these thoughts are new or original in any way. My parents will have had these thoughts. Friends too. Even my siblings. I bet it felt new to them when it happened though. I guess that's the point. Doubtless if you've got kids you've felt these feelings, thought these thoughts and generally got on with it. For my part I feel like I've gone to the cinema to see a film I'm not sure about and I'm being freaked out by the trailers before the main feature. So this is our new tour; parenthood. We're going to a country where the food is at best suspect. Pray for us; we're completely out of our comfort zone now!