The Night Of Truth

Well, last night was The Engagement Party aka The Night of Truth! It went very very well - such an amazing turnout and we both had a really nice night, couldn't have asked for anything better! My feet ached from the minute we got in there, and now I have a bladder the size of a 50p piece, I was not amused that the ladies loos were all the way downstairs!!

It was very hard trying to share your time with everyone that had come to the party, lots of standing up, smiling, showing the ring and telling the same story over and over again, not that Im complaining, but I dont think I realised how being hostess to such a big crowd is actually quite challenging work!

My Mum and Jacks friend Mark ganged up to organise a bit of silence then threw Jack into the spotlight of doing a speech in which he thanked everyone for coming and for the presents and to say thanks to me for saying yes. It was very sweet!

By about 10 o'clock we both realised we had just been enjoying the party and still had to tell the parents our exciting news. We figured it would actually be quite hard getting four of them together as they were all in different areas of the bar, so we decided to get my Mum and Stepdad together first. We took them into another room we had, which no one was in. I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up! I told Jack that he had to tell them, and we got in a little huddle. My Mum asked if there was something we had to tell them, and I said we're telling her as my Mum and not as my boss, then Jack announced "we're going to be parents". My Mums immediate recaction was something like "f**king hell!" but in a good way! Obviously because we're still in the middle of trying to buy a house, she's a very practical person and probably had all sorts running through her mind! Also as she is my boss, probably wondering what she's going to do was also going through her head! Anyway, she said she was very pleased, she promised, and I felt like such a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

We then went off to find Jack's parents, and took them into another room. My Mum came too, and this time Jack said "we wanted to let you know, you're going to be Grandparents!" Jack's Mum asked me if he was lying! Once she realised we were being serious the smiles came along and I looked over to my Mum and she was crying! I went and hugged her and luckily she was smiling whilst crying, not sobbing into her skirt or anything! Everyone seems very pleased and we're very happy because our parents are important to both of us and naturally want their blessing.

We decided that we would both tell our closest friends, and make sure they would keep it a secret. I had four people there that I wanted to tell, Jack had five. Jack told his lot all together, I told mine one by one. They are all very very excited, had a few teary eyes and lots of well wishes. We said not to make the reaction too big because otherwise other people would notice! Another friend of mine (well, a friend of a friend), found out this week she's 6 weeks gone too, so thats nice that I have someone else who's at the same kind of stage to talk to if I need to!

When people were saying congratulations to me I kept thinking "oooh they know", then I had to remind myself we've just got engaged too! So much is going on but it's all very exciting!

We went home and stayed at mine for the night and had champagne (not me!) and cake when we got in and spoke about what had happened and what we were going to do.

It was a very very lovely evening; excellent party and such a relief to have told the people that needed to know and getting a good reaction!

My Mum wants me to find out about maternity pay, and I was just watching the Baby channel on Sky, and there was a lady on there from http://www.maternityalliance.org.uk so that's where I'm off to now!