Hi, I'm at the same stage you are at and I had my daughter 14 months ago. I told the director of grad students (who I am also probably the closest to in the department), but I didn't really spread the word to anyone else until a few weeks later, except for a close grad student friend.
Mostly I wanted to know my options for maternity leave, the status of my TAship if I took time off, etc., because those things are important to know to plan ahead.
Likely they will congratulate you and tell you you're having the baby at a "good time" in the process. (I've heard so many people say the dissertation period is the best time to have kids. Honestly, there's no EASY time. But getting through exams with a baby was definitely THE PITS.) Good luck!
Literally, I made a blog post, which I knew some of my fellow grad students would read, and let the news spread like wild fire. I did this at around the same time I started telling other people, which was about 13 weeks. Those who I didn't tell I was pregnant eventually figured it out by looking at me once I was showing.
My theory is that you really only need to have an actual discussion with the people who might be affected by any sort of maternity leave, or anyone who you would normally talk to about your personal life. I felt that it didn't REALLY affect anyone else, and thus, I did not need to explicitly discuss it with other people.
I was fortunate enough to have my son during winter vacation. I didn't go to class I TAed for for the first two weeks (which gave me a total of four weeks after the birth), but other than that, I continued as normal. Well, at least, that's how it appeared on the surface ;) It's not that bad, particularly if you can develop an extensive network of babysitters.
I told my committee around 12 weeks. I am not living in residence, so they weren't seeing me, but I sent an e-mail to all of them announcing the news. (Just told them that my husband and I were thrilled to announce we were expecting our second child.) They responded with unanimous excitement. They were 100% supportive throughout my pregnancy, and continue to be supportive now that baby is 8 months old, even encouraging me to take a semester of maternity leave as a way of stopping the dissertation clock in this, my final year... :)
Congratulations on the coming baby and on finishing your qualifying exams! I just took a peak at your journal and it reminded me of an episode of As Time Goes By that I (re)watched a couple nights ago - Sandy's police officer boyfriend couldn't go have fun in the country with them because he had to work extra due to a protest (and later they move to Canada and he goes to work for the RCMP).
Congratulations! I'm at 20 weeks so I'm not all that far ahead. I told my advisor that I was planning to get pregnant because I wanted everything to be clear up front. Once I knew I was pregnant, I told a couple of key people in my department, and I figured the rest of them would find out second-hand over time, which they did.
Mine is not a particularly family-friendly department, but at this stage I figured that as long as I have my advisor's support, no one is going to be a jerk about it.
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Mostly I wanted to know my options for maternity leave, the status of my TAship if I took time off, etc., because those things are important to know to plan ahead.
Likely they will congratulate you and tell you you're having the baby at a "good time" in the process. (I've heard so many people say the dissertation period is the best time to have kids. Honestly, there's no EASY time. But getting through exams with a baby was definitely THE PITS.) Good luck!
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My theory is that you really only need to have an actual discussion with the people who might be affected by any sort of maternity leave, or anyone who you would normally talk to about your personal life. I felt that it didn't REALLY affect anyone else, and thus, I did not need to explicitly discuss it with other people.
I was fortunate enough to have my son during winter vacation. I didn't go to class I TAed for for the first two weeks (which gave me a total of four weeks after the birth), but other than that, I continued as normal. Well, at least, that's how it appeared on the surface ;) It's not that bad, particularly if you can develop an extensive network of babysitters.
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Mine is not a particularly family-friendly department, but at this stage I figured that as long as I have my advisor's support, no one is going to be a jerk about it.
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