Sharing my pregnancy with my first grade class has been even more special than I could have imagined. I have decided to share all about it in a three part series. Read the first part of my series to see how I revealed my pregnancy to my staff and students!
Our journey to parenthood was a difficult and unexpected one. My husband and I met in 2002 when we were 19 and studying at Arizona State University. After graduating, we started a long distance relationship. David stayed in Arizona for awhile and I was hired as a Kindergarten teacher at a school I loved. We finally decided that David’s home town of Chicago would be our forever home and I moved up there after our wedding in 2010.
At this time in my life I had a lot of personal goals. I earned my National Board Certification, my second Masters Degree in School Leadership, and began presenting and consulting with districts. I ran a few marathons and always thought when it was time to start trying for a baby it would be no problem.
Oh boy was I wrong. We were met with an infertility journey that was very difficult to walk through. Thankfully the journey taught us SO much about life in general and we met a wonderful doctor who helped to make our dream happen. (PLEASE email me if you would like to hear more about my journey!) I found out that I was finally pregnant on the first Friday of the school year. (So, yes, I have spent the ENTIRE school year pregnant!)
I started feeling sick pretty soon after that. Somehow (I couldn’t tell you how) I made it through the first trimester without taking a sick day. Let’s just say I did a lot of teaching standing by my trash cans which were close to the hallway door and avoided all of the food in the school at all costs!
It was difficult to know exactly when I should “reveal” my pregnancy. With the difficulty we had getting pregnant, I was so very cautious. Around Halloween time I knew that I couldn’t wait much longer. My small frame wasn’t helping me hide things and I was running out of baggy clothes.
I let the staff at school know the night before I told my students. I sent out the letter below and had some special treats in the lounge.
My sister happened to be pregnant two years earlier at a similar time. She had the perfect tank top for me to wear to reveal. In the morning I left a message for my students that I had a special secret for them. I had them write down what they thought I was hiding. I was SO surprised that no one had a guess that was even close! I thought for sure they would have figured me out.
Mrs B’s Halloween Surprise from Sarah Barnett on Vimeo.
My class was SO excited the rest of the day and had SO many questions for me! I sent home the letter below to inform my parents. I knew that my message may have been misinterpreted a bit and wanted to make sure the right information made it home.
How have you revealed your pregnancy? I would love to hear about it!
Stay tuned for part two of my series next week. I will talk about how I have been having my students help me name the baby, some of the funny things they have said, and have a freebie for you!
This is the cutest!!!! What a fun thing to share with your class! My favorite was "I knew it!!" after you shared your big news!
Thank you!! It was so much fun to share with them. Even though they said "I knew it!!" they truly had no clue! Hope you are having as much fun with your pregnancy!!