'I was emotionally gutted' Mum opens up about having her pregnancy announced for her on social media

It happened during her first pregnancy...

A mum who had her pregnancy announced for her on social media has opened up about feeling 'emotionally gutted' that someone shared the news without her consent.

Kirsty Mckenzie shared her experience in a blog post, where she described how she had her very first pregnancy announcement stolen from her when someone else decided to shared the news on social media.

The mum-of-two, who's now pregnant with her third child, explained how she and her husband finally had baby news to share after 12 long months of trying to conceive.

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'We've never been ones to wait until the magical 12-week mark to tell our immediate family, so of course; they were privy to our news almost immediately', Kirsty wrote.

The couple kept the news between them and their immediate family until seeing their unborn baby on the ultrasound monitor, when they felt ready to share the news with everyone.

'As time went on, we told those around us as we saw them, and when that moment arrived, to see our little bub on the ultrasound monitor, we were relieved to finally make it to that monumental (or it felt like it at the time) milestone.'

The two weren't in a rush to make the announcement though, feeling content in the fact that the people closest to them knew and shared in their happiness, and decided the halfway mark would be a 'safer' option for the big reveal.

Despite deciding to wait, Kirsty said it was still something that 'both of us very much looked forward to, when the appropriate time came'.

That was until someone else decided to publicly share the news on social media, without their consent.

'Then it happened. I logged on to my Facebook feed to see that someone else had decided to announce my pregnancy for me.

'I was not only emotionally gutted, I was also incredibly nervous. We weren't ready yet. The pregnancy still didn't seem 'solid' enough yet. It was too early. What happened if I miscarried, I wasn't prepared to make that additional announcement down the track.'

Family and friends who were kept in the dark until then started messaging her, but while most was just congratulating her on the happy news, some were disappointed they had to find out from someone else.

This wasn't the couple's only experience with someone else announcing big news for them on social media.

After welcoming their first baby, two separate people announced the news on social media even before they got to tell their close family and friends.

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'The baby we'd waited so long to announce, was announced for us. We learned the hard way. So when the time came to announce the arrival of our second bub, we both not only temporarily deactivated our social media accounts, but we added the caveat to our messages and phone calls, 'Please keep our news off social media until we've announced it'.

The mum advised people in her blog post to be mindful of sharing other people's baby news on social media, or even congratulating them, as there might be a number of reasons they're keeping it private.

'If in doubt, have a quick look at their page, ask them if they've made it public news yet, message them privately, or simply don't say anything at all.

'There may be numerous reasons why people have made the choice not to announce their news. They may have a history of infertility, miscarriage or stillbirth, and the thought of making their precious news so public is unnerving.

'Or they may simply want to keep the news to themselves, to marvel in the wonderment that is pregnancy, the fact that they can finally pick names, or buy those tiny baby clothes. After all, it will become very obvious, rather quickly, so why not keep it quiet for just a little while? Keep it quiet, for them.'

Did you have your baby news announcement spoiled by someone else? How did it make you feel? Let us know in the comments!

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