Can you help me think up a creative way to announce my pregnancy to my small, close-knit office?

June 4, 2012 2:22 PM

Can you help me think up a creative way to announce my pregnancy to my small, close-knit office?

Tomorrow I will reach 14 weeks of pregnancy (!) and have decided that now is as good of time as any to break the news to my coworkers. My boss and HR have known for a while now and the people I work closest with have already been made aware of what's going on so they can think ahead.

What I really need is a way to reveal this to the rest of our small office. I work with lots of women and it seems like every time this event comes up, the announcement is a surprise - made in a fun or creative way. It usually involves treats and guessing who the mother-to-be is (although neither of those is a hard and fast requirement). We are all friends in the office, so it's normally a happy occasion.

The problem is that I am experiencing a total blank. I have been thinking about this since I learned I was pregnant at 8 weeks. I just can't come up with anything. I have Googled over and over again but most ideas I have found are old and tired or just plain suck.

So I'm hoping you can help. I don't want my announcement to suck.

Important details:
-Our office is divided between two separate floors.
-My office is tucked away in a corner and is not somewhere people will walk past regularly.
-These types of announcements aren't usually made at meetings, so that is out.
-There are too many people and too many varying schedules to try to get everyone to go somewhere out to lunch, or anything like that.
-I don't believe that gender should be defined by a color, so I am not a huge fan of using pink and blue to represent babyhood.
-This is my first pregnancy.

I just asked two coworkers in the know for past examples and they couldn't think of any, much less their own. So maybe in the end it doesn't really matter. But these people are like my family, so at least right here, right now, it does matter to me.

Thanks in advance for any help!

posted by bristolcat to Human Relations (19 answers total)

Perhaps a series of balloons in varying colors, running from one floor, down the stairs, through your floor, ending near or at your corner with one of those "Coming attraction" movie-theatre frames, maybe with an ultrasound printout (doesn't have to be yours) or a generic birth-certificate in it?
posted by FlyingMonkey at 2:35 PM on June 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

Make a Bat Signal with a pacifier or other baby type emblem.
posted by advicepig at 2:37 PM on June 4, 2012 [4 favorites]

What if you used an easy bake oven, or a diorama of one with, complete with a bun inside situated in a common area with a sign that says "guess who?". That should pique curiosity quite a bit and get people asking about who it could be. Then you serve sweet buns or something?
posted by Bohemia Mountain at 2:40 PM on June 4, 2012 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Ha! Fun ideas so far. I should mention that the floors are 1 and 3, so unfortunately, no going down steps.
posted by bristolcat at 2:42 PM on June 4, 2012

Could you put up a lame notice (ideally printed on brightly colored paper and written entirely in Comic Sans) in the break room(s) that talks about coffee pot etiquette or how to cut down on microwave beeping noise by bringing your own down parka to work and smothering the microwave with it -- you know, something very office-y inane and obviously a joke of some kind -- and put in a tiny font at the bottom "P.S. Watch this spot," then do a different one the next day with "P.S. Stay tuned for news on a small expansion of the X Company family," then on the final day, "P.S. Bristolcat is expecting! Woo hoo!" Or some variation on that theme....

By the way, congratulations!
posted by argonauta at 2:45 PM on June 4, 2012

Baby themed cookies/cupcakes?
Change default screen saver for everyone announcing your pregnancy?
Congrats!
posted by travelwithcats at 2:58 PM on June 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

How about putting a dish of custom fortune cookies on each floor, in the break room or other public place? The messages could begin with "We're fortunate to have a new mom-to-be at XYZ Company!" Then follow that up with a different clue on each (or however many messages you choose with the custom cookie company) such as "She works in a corner office on the third floor." "She's been with her partner/husband for X amount of time." etc. Then the women would have to get together and share clues as they guess who the mom-to-be is.

Congrats!
posted by weeyin at 3:02 PM on June 4, 2012 [2 favorites]

Best answer: In my office I'd send out an email saying "I have some personal good news to announce - join me for some celebratory donuts in the lunchroom at 10 am!" Optional to simply announce it in the email if you like:)
posted by lizbunny at 3:05 PM on June 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

Animated e-card? Cheesy, but effective!
posted by emjaybee at 3:19 PM on June 4, 2012

Best answer: "After much deliberation, we've decided to expand our line of products (or services) to include clothing! Our 2012 line will feature this #organization onesie, to be debuted in December 2012 by BristolKitten!" followed by a pic of a cute onesie decorated with your organizational logo, or some other in-joke.

It sounds like you're a tight-knit group of women -- who knows, the idea might actually take off! We made one as a joke for a colleague and then everyone wanted one for their own babies.
posted by barnone at 3:25 PM on June 4, 2012

I did an all-office intercom call when I announced my wife's pregnancy to my co-workers. It was a small office situation, too. BUT, I worded it, and voiced it very seriously and somberly, like I was about to announce something dire...like I was resigning or something. The second I said we were pregnant, you could hear screaming throughout the building. No one saw it coming.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:58 PM on June 4, 2012 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Serve pickles and ice cream at a team meeting.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 6:01 PM on June 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

Although you aren't a fan of pink and blue, it could be fun to bring in a tray of decorated cupcakes, and add some announcement-type letting in there somewhere in icing ("knocked up!"; "preggers!"; "baby bristolcat!" or whatever seems appropriate).

Congrats!
posted by missmobtown at 6:27 PM on June 4, 2012

i agree to passing out mini-cupcakes-- just take a few minutes to walk around and pass out the goodies.
posted by calgirl at 6:40 PM on June 4, 2012

Seconding travelwithcats idea of baby themed cupcakes. Bring some pink cupcakes and some blue cupcakes and simply say "I brought some cupcakes."
posted by gt2 at 8:58 PM on June 4, 2012

oh I just saw you aren't a fan of pink and blue.
posted by gt2 at 8:59 PM on June 4, 2012

My coworker brought cupcakes to people, each one decorated with the date. People had to guess the significance. A surprising number of people didn't get it.
posted by knile at 12:21 AM on June 5, 2012

I like the idea of a movie poster "COMING SOON AT [DUE DATE] TO A [LOCATION] NEAR YOU: BRISTOL KITTEN!" on your break room door or wherever it's likely to be seen. You could serve popcorn in little bags with your due date on them as well - gets away from pink/blue and is slightly less common than serving cupcakes.

Congrats! :)
posted by sonika at 5:55 AM on June 5, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! I'm going to combine a few ideas here, I think!

Lizbunny's comment reminded me that we regularly all get together in the same room for birthdays sometimes. And whose birthday is next? Mine! Only two weeks away. I'd have a captive audience.

And since we get to pick a treat for our birthdays, I think requesting pickles and ice cream like ThatCanadianGirl suggested is perfect! It will be a fun surprise.

Also, I really love the idea of an [organization] onesie. Once the baby arrives, you can bet I'm having one made.

Finally, the BristolKitten references made me smile so much. I love that!

Thanks, everyone!
posted by bristolcat at 10:25 AM on June 5, 2012