Family Reactions

My family has reacted very positively to the news of my pregnancy.

Friends and family were aware that I've not been feeling well the past couple of months so it seemed important to let them know that there wasn't anything terribly wrong. We've had 3 deaths in the family around this time in the past 3 years so everyone has been holding their breaths wondering what was going to happen next. One of my sisters is dead and the other has literally descended into madness, so needless to say, my parents are giddy with relief. My step-sisters and my friends have all been supportive and congratulatory.

M got a more mixed reaction from his family.

His father is pleased, his sister is very happy, and his mother is upset. She's had a rough year, economically, and she had to take in her elder mentally-handicapped brother, and she wants her son back home in Canada, someday. Him buying a house here in the States and then getting an American knocked-up puts a damper on that idea.  Hers is a disappointing reaction, but I'm sure she'll come around. Now that he's told her and she's gotten upset, he has a good excuse to stay at his father's house, where he grew up, away from all the cats he's allergic to and the uncle he has difficulty relating to. It's too much uncomfortableness for someone with his level of sensitivity.

Meanwhile, M is a bit of a nervous wreck and can't wait to get home. To me, in the States.

Meanwhile, I miss him. Home isn't quite home without him.

M will wait to tell his extended family and friends until after the amnio results come through in a few weeks. It doesn't make sense to let everyone know and then have to retract the announcement if it turns out we're going to terminate the pregnancy. It could be rather painful, actually. I'm trying not to regret letting most of the people on my side know, since they're all so positive and excited and I'd hate to have to give them bad news.

Ah well.  Telling others about the pregnancy helps the reality of it sink in. I'm still partly in a state of disbelief. How could something that was never supposed to happen to me suddenly happen after 20 years? Life is weird. Life finds a way.