"You are going to be a daddy!"
These are the most important words any man is ever likely to hear and we have the privilege of delivering them - but the question is, how do we do the moment justice?
I remember the excitement I felt seeing that little blue cross in the small square window of my pregnancy test. It seemed surreal. I was 27 years old and pregnant with my first son. I couldn't wait to share the news with my husband but I wanted to find the perfect way to tell him. We both wanted a baby but I sensed that, like many men, he still didn't feel 'ready'.
Now it was actually a reality and I needed to tell him the amazing news that he was going to be a dad. It felt like my day at work was never going to end but finally we got to sit down together and I told him I had a little present for him. I handed him the badly wrapped gift I had bought (nowadays my wrapping has much improved thanks to all the practise kids parties give me!) He opened it up to find the book I had bought him earlier that day titled 'My pregnancy bible!' I remember feeling disappointed that he didn't show a massive reaction - a big hug with tears of happiness in his eyes would have been perfect but I would have settled for a 'whoop whoop' and a celebratory fist punch into the air. But who am I kidding, this wasn't a mills and boon book and my husband is typically English in many ways. It was going to take a good few days for the news to sink in. After all it's not every day you get told you are going to be a dad now is it?
He may not have given me the instantaneous celebration I had hoped for but after having a few hours to digest the biggest news of his life, he was proud as punch to be telling the world and his dog that he was going to be a daddy. If I had wanted the 'wait until your second trimester before telling anyone' rule, I didn't stand a chance!
It was far easier to tell my husband he was going to be a daddy the second and third time. If I am honest I don't remember how or where I told him because the memory that I have is of him proudly strutting his stuff and commending himself as to how fertile he obviously was!
The fourth time I told my husband our amazing news was a little different to the previous three times! This was a tricky one as I knew that my husband thought we had our hands full with three little boys. He felt well and truly done with spreading his genes. I on the other hand loved the idea of a big family! I planned to wait until the boys were in bed and then sit him down with a nice cold beer in his hand. This was my brains plan. My mouth however had other ideas. 5pm came and as he climbed out of his car door I blurted out the words 'I'm pregnant!' Well, lets just say that his reaction would need to be somewhat censored if I were to write it here! Luckily this outburst was relatively short lived and he soon got used to the idea that we may be needing an extra bedroom! The best part of this new baby announcement was by far telling my three other sons that they had a new sibling growing in mummy's tummy. To them it was like Santa, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny had all come at once!