Call it superstition or just a gut instinct. Many women choose to keep to themselves, the knowledge of a pregnancy, at least until the first few months are done.
For many women, it is a case of wanting their pregnancy to be well established and being sure that any preliminary problems are ruled out before going public with their pregnancy.
Some women may have the fear (many would call it completely irrational) that their pregnancy may end in a miscarriage and may therefore not want to share their wonderful news until they feel that the time is right for it.
Since a miscarriage is most common during the first trimester or first three months, many women and couples choose to announce their happy news only after that time.
Yet other women want to keep it to themselves because they don’t want family and friends to get their hopes up lest something should go wrong. Some couples just want to keep things under wraps for the pleasure of hugging to themselves their special news. They just want to take their time before they share it with the world.
For many women, it is a matter of wanting to keep it secret because they want to avoid having to listen to all the well meaning (but often irritating) unsolicited advice that everyone seems to want to offer pregnant women; at least until the announcement is inevitable.
Whatever the reason, follow your instinct about this rather than feeling pressured to do something else that makes you uncomfortable. It is completely your prerogative if you should choose to keep the news to yourself for as long as you want.
If people at work are indelicate enough to ask after your morning sickness, fob them off with a vague reference to a food intolerance that was yet to be cleared up.
Most women don’t start to show until past their third, fourth or even 5th month in many cases. So that is not something you will have to answer for in most cases.
However, many women do show early, and if you are one of them, someone may actually be rude enough to inquire about your weight gain. So prepare to answer this one away, by pretending to take offence. And dress strategically to conceal an expanding waistline so that fewer people even notice.
Remember if you don’t draw attention to your early pregnancy symptoms others may not even notice; people are far less sensitive than you may think!
