Please don’t hurt him if you hear one of these things! Chances are he think he’s being funny or his brain was temporarily turned off because he’s so happy. Remember how you felt when you saw the positive test—a bit happy, a bit frightened and a whole lot of other emotions. Dad experiences all that too. The only difference is that he doesn’t get the whole five minutes you had before you could read the test.
What You Should Do When You Don’t Get a Nice Reaction
So if you get a response you weren’t expecting, here’s what you should do:
Don’t overreact.Ask for what you need.Talk about how you feel and how the reaction makes you feel.Take time alone if you need it or want it.Don’t panic.If it was meant to be humorous, try to laugh about it.
This type of response is probably not what you were expecting and can be just as bad as the response from other relatives. The good news is that most people who give a negative reaction report being caught off guard. This is one of the things that happens when you surprise someone. This might be something that you take into consideration to planning a surprise announcement. If a good response is most important to you, consider other ways of announcing your pregnancy. When possible, maybe even set the person up for the long notice. You know, “Hey, I might be pregnant.” Or “I’m thinking of taking a pregnancy test.” This can help with reducing the surprise factor for that person. While you may want the surprise, some people are just not that great with them. Which matters most to you? A positive memory of finding out you’re pregnant may be really important to you, if that’s the case, try to steel yourself against what others have to say. Sometimes, this means preparing and giving up a bit of the element of surprise.
