When I found out I was expecting twins, I wasn’t sure how that news would go over with our then 18-month-old daughter, Grace. The thought of introducing a new baby into the already hectic mix of our everyday life of a family of three was scary. Adding two more? It seemed crazy!

I had so many questions racing through my mind! Had we waited long enough? Was our house ready for the upheaval of infant-life again? How would she react to Mama not being as physically active with her? What would she do once she met these new babies?

I know now in hindsight (fifteen long and glorious months of hindsight) that I was being absurd, but the concerns were real, and they shaped how we eventually shared the news with Grace.

Our pediatrician has always been a matter-of-fact, strong, and supportive caregiver of Grace. He saw her, and maybe even as importantly, us, through a rocky premature start, fraught with jaundice, lack of weight gain, and colic. At one of our last appointments with a solo Grace, he shared with me some of the wisest words I had ever heard spoken on the subject of siblings. He said that siblings were the best gift we could give our child. That we should never feel sorry for the fact that she would no longer be an only child. She would adapt as easily to her new life as a big sister as we would allow her, no looking back. It was then that I realized that telling Grace about our new addition to the family was harder on us than it was on her.

I was so thankful for the clear-headed and reasonable advice that I nearly cried. I sat with Grace a few days later and read her a children’s book on having younger siblings.  Grace was overjoyed, and so were we.

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We had literally just decided to start trying the month before I found out about our new baby. I had no idea it would happen so quickly, but boy, was I wrong!

My husband and I were still enjoying our freedom, but we saw parenthood in our near future. So spontaneously, I hopped on a plane and spent two weeks in Germany with my best friend as a bit of a last hurrah. And for the first time in a long time, I had my health and well-being as a top priority. My friends even joked, "You must be getting ready to get pregnant.”

About a month after I had returned home I was attending a boot camp class with my sister. To say I was dragging would be an understatement. It wasn't that I couldn't keep up; I was just so nauseous. I even physically got sick. I foolishly kept going, telling myself it was jet lag. How could it have happened that fast? I'll never forget leaving that class, and my sister saying, "You're pregnant, go get a test.”

I stumbled into the store in disbelief of what I was about to do. I walked down the aisle and became so overwhelmed with the massive pregnancy test selection; I almost turned around and left. I grabbed a couple boxes -- the more the better I thought -- and quickly threw them into my basket, bought some candy and magazines to cover what was in the basket, checked out, and headed home. My local pharmacy was only a tenth of a mile from the gym, and my house was only a half a mile from there. My GPS calculates it as a 5 minute trip, but to me, that drive felt like forever.

I ran upstairs and began the pregnancy test process. In a matter of minutes, my life changed forever. I was actually going to become a new mom. While overwhelmed, I still remember that day as one of the best days of my life.

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Before I even thought of getting pregnant, I knew that when the day came I wanted to surprise my husband with the news in a cute and original way. However, that’s not exactly the way it played out – with either of my pregnancy announcements!

We had only been trying for a month when I became pregnant the first time, and I was completely caught off guard. After a bad workout and some helpful advice from my sister, I decided to take an at-home test. On my way from the store – test in hand -- I called my husband to come home right away. My message must have had him concerned, because he made it in record time!

When he walked in, I had already taken the test but couldn't muster up the courage to check it myself. I'll never forget him saying "Are you serious?" when I asked him to take the first peek. He sat beside me for a second, as if to let it all sink in, and then with a flash, he jumped up and said, "Let's do this". Once he took a look, he immediately began celebrating like he won the Super Bowl – I knew then that we were pregnant!

When the opportunity rolled around for my second chance, I once again dropped the ball when it came to a cute and original pregnancy announcement for my husband. After several months of trying, I was having trouble getting pregnant. I had seen my doctor, and after some testing, he felt I had a good chance of getting pregnant in the following month. So it really wasn't a surprise to my husband when I told him I was going to take a test. After six months of getting negative results, I didn't want to find out alone. And just like before, we sat for what felt like an eternity, until the timer went off.  For the second time, my husband checked the test first, it was positive! We had done it again.

In hindsight, it wasn't the most creative way to make a pregnancy announcement, but it was perfect for us. Being pregnant in itself is one of life's greatest surprises, and I'm glad I got to share that moment with my husband.

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When you've been married for almost five years, your family has a tendency to ask you if you're pregnant on a regular basis. So when it finally came time to make the big pregnancy announcement, I knew it had to be good.

With my first pregnancy, things didn't quite go as planned, but we still were able to have some fun with it. I was really sick one day and on the urging of my sister, I went and bought a pregnancy test. I didn't tell her I was going to do it, but she swears to this day, "she knew" before I told her by just looking at me.

For the rest of our family members, however, I told my husband I wanted to wait until I saw the doctor before sharing any news. So imagine my surprise when, as my mom is walking through the door the next day, my husband just blurted out "Hi Grandma." After her celebration dance, we had to swear her to secrecy and came up with the plan to reveal the big news at brunch on Mother's Day, a month later. I bought all the women Mother's Day cards and signed them from the baby. It took a minute for people to notice, but when they did, it was perfect.

When it came time to make the next pregnancy announcement for our second baby, I had a secret weapon: my 2½ year-old daughter. I purchased her a 'big sister' t-shirt and then took a picture. I really liked seeing everyone's reactions in person the first time, so I literally carried the photograph around and would show it to members of the family. After they'd look at the photo, I'd have my daughter tell them she was going to have a baby brother or sister. She loved getting to be the one who got to tell the big secret!

Though my ideas weren't anything over the top, I truly enjoyed them, because they allowed us to be with the people we loved while sharing some of the biggest news of our lives. Seeing everyone so excited about our new additions to the family let us know that our little ones would be so loved when they arrived.

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