When we first started trying to become parents, I thought it would be simple and so I told a few close friends what we were up to (with the minimum of details). When I got pregnant on our first month of trying I told the same friends as soon as the (very faint) line appeared on the stick. Oh, how we laugh about it now! Schools are not the most private of places - open classrooms; nowhere to make personal calls (unless you lock yourself in the disabled loo ;-) - which is up a flight of steps!?); when you're absent your name appears on a board for all to see so that folk know you won't be going to specialist lessons etc. And our staff is a wonderful, lovely, caring bunch of people who know each other really well, look out for each other and are incredibly perceptive about when something is up with someone - and that is genuinely meant, without a hint of sarcasm. So after 6 losses and so many appointments at the hospital that we've payed enough parking money to buy one of the car parks, people know that we have issues. I'm pretty open about it, but it gets to the point where (a) people actually don't want that much detail, and (b) it's too depressing to repeat the pathetic story. So now, when one of my friends or colleagues who are in the know ask what our baby plans are, they get a vague sentence about still trying followed by the line: "You know, we just have to hope for the best".
Of course, there are exceptions. There are a few very special people who get to hear it all (whether they want to or not, on some occasions). If it wasn't for them, I think I'd just be a crumpled little heap in a corner somewhere. So I think my next post will be to introduce them (with names changed to protect the innocent - natch!).
