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Home › Articles › Life Circumstances and Challenges During Pregnancy › Guess What, Boss?

Guess What, Boss?

Telling Work You're Expecting

By Katherine Bontrager

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Telling her boss she was expecting was downright nerve-wracking for Janet Hodur. "I found out I was pregnant six weeks after starting my new job, so telling people in the office was a little scary!" she admits. But Hodur's husband kept reminding her that her boss was a good guy and would be fine with her exciting news.

"I thought about what I wanted to say and how I wanted to impress upon my boss that this didn't diminish my commitment to my job," says Hodur, who works as a media relations manager for a think tank in Washington, D.C. "I waited until I was three months along, during the week between Christmas and New Year's, which was a very quiet time around the office. I prefaced it by saying, 'I want you to know, I'm not quitting!'"

Thankfully, Hodur's boss was excited and supportive. "After I told him, he congratulated me and said, 'It's amazing, the first time you see her, you'll suddenly know who you really work for,' meaning, of course, that priorities will, and should, change," she says. "I feel very fortunate to have had such support and understanding from my employer."

Similarly, Karrie Heartlein was nervous about breaking the news to her boss. But her boss's great sense of humor and their good relationship helped quell any fears. "When the time came, I walked into his office, sat down and began to babble," says the director of public relations in Galesburg, Ill. "I fidgeted and made mention that my husband and I were thinking about 'making some changes.' I went on for a few minutes as I watched his face pale. He went very still; I could tell he thought I was planning to quit."

Heartlein finally said, "So we're having a baby!"
 
"My boss let out an enormous sigh," she says. "I thought he would faint! He was so relieved! He knew immediately what I'd done to him, and it was hysterical. We laughed and laughed. He congratulated me and was one of the first to visit after my son was born. Ironically, a few years later, he used the same technique to tell me he was leaving the company. This time, I was the one who paled. When I took his place, my staff used it on me, telling me they were 'planning to make some changes' when they came to tell me they were having babies. And it worked every time!"

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