Halloween is reputable for its spooky surprises, but Clague teachers Meredith Pelchat and Abby Ruehlmann provided a different kind of surprise on Oct. 31 — their pregnancies. Being close confidants with one another, the disclosure was coordinated for the Clague community to rejoice over the wholesome announcement and brainstorm potential baby names.
“As you know, Mrs. Pelchat and I are both pregnant! The fun part is that we’ve known . . . since the very beginning of the school year,” Ruehlmann said. “Together, we came up with a plan to tell our students on Halloween and to tell other teachers.”
After learning about the exciting news themselves, Pelchat and Ruehlmann kept it under wraps in hopes to share it memorably. They devised a plan to both dress in Halloween-themed shirts that subtly, yet heartwarmingly, passed the message of their pregnancies.
“Ms. Ruehlmann and I are close friends and I found out she was pregnant too!” Pelchat said. “So we luckily have had each other to check-in with and share all the exciting details with.”
Their friendship yielded a safe space for them to communicate with each other as their pregnancies progressed hand-in-hand. That was until Halloween, Oct. 31, where the news was finally announced with beaming smiles.
“We knew we shared a lot of the same students so thought it would be fun to tell everyone on the same day,” Pelchat said. “And it just worked out Halloween was coming up and we found some shirts to help share the fun news! All of my classes seemed so excited — I even already started getting name suggestions.”
With enthusiastic response from the Clague community, Pelchat and Ruehlmann are looking forward to continue their trimesters through to the spring.
“I have an almost three-year-old daughter (Laney) at home right now and she is very excited to be a big sister,” Pelchat said. “My husband and I love surprises so we don’t know if the baby is a boy or girl yet — but will find out when they arrive in April.”
From Halloween to Easter, the surprises are perpetual as the gender of Pelchat’s “pumpkin in her stomach” will be unknown until the due date.
Contrary to Pelchat’s suspenseful approach, Ruehlmann has already discovered the gender of her children — plural. In additon to the pregnancy announcement, it was also shared she was carrying twin boys.
“My husband and I found out it was twins in August, and we found out in October that they were identical twin boys,” Ruehlmann said. “They should arrive sometime in March. We’re very excited!”
