It still works pregnancy announcement

Paraplegic man, fiancée welcome son after funny announcement

Editor's Note: This story was originally published in February 2017, after Amanda Diesen and Todd Kreig created a funny pregnancy announcement explaining that, although Kreig was paraplegic, they were expecting their first child together.

On August 5, 2017 — six months after their announcement, declaring "it still works" went viral — the couple welcomed Everett Jason Kreig, nicknamed Rhett, into the world.

Diesen told TODAY Parents that although sleepless nights with a 5-month-old are exhausting, parenting has been a rewarding experience for her and her fiancé.

"The tough part for Todd is that he can’t help out as much as he’d like to," said Diesen. "If Rhett gets fussy he likes to be walked and bounced and rocked, but Todd is unable to do that."

"We’re thankful, though, to have learned early on Todd can do a lot more than we originally thought," Diesen continued. "He had been told by someone else in his situation that he wouldn’t even be able to hold his son, but Todd holds Rhett every day. Todd will occasionally feed Rhett, and I even made him change a dirty diaper the other day."

In February 2017, the Ohio couple made the internet smile with their creative announcement of their most recent challenge — their journey into parenthood.

Krieg, a former dirt bike racer, became paralyzed after a biking accident in 2014. After traveling to California for a rehabilitation program, Krieg met Diesen, who worked as a recovery specialist with patients at the facility. The pair fell in love, and after Krieg returned to Ohio in 2016, Diesen followed.

Shortly after, the couple learned that Diesen was pregnant with their first child — an unexpected event given Krieg's paralysis.

"We definitely weren't trying to have a baby — we wanted to get engaged, get married, and then start trying in a few years," Diesen told TODAY Parents. "We found out at the beginning of December and were extremely shocked and overwhelmed. We took a test together and just about freaked out."

"It was au natural, no IVF," Diesen explained. "Doctors had said it was possible, but the chances were very slim — that it probably wouldn't happen without help like IVF or other devices."

Never miss a parenting story with TODAY's newsletters! Sign up here

To announce their unexpected pregnancy to their friends and family, the couple planned a photo shoot, where they decided to have a bit of fun. Diesen says she found pregnancy announcements on Pinterest in which the dad was holding a sign that said, "I did that," and had the idea to include the phrase, "It still works" in their own photo.

During the funny photo shoot, things turned serious when Krieg proposed. Diesen said "yes," and later posted their story on a bridal website, in hopes of winning a contest for a free wedding. This week, a friend shared their story and their pregnancy announcement on Reddit, where millions of people have viewed the image, which shows Krieg sticking out his tongue and giving the camera a thumbs up while Diesen pretends to be embarrassed.

"We are two of the goofiest people together," said Diesen. "(The announcement) is slightly immature and inappropriate, but everyone secretly loves that stuff. I feel our story is very unique and inspiring, and my hope is that it brings hope to anyone else looking for love — that it literally can happen in the most unexpected place with the most unexpected person — so be open to change."

Diesen says humor has been a key part of their ability to cope with the more difficult parts of Krieg's condition.

"Of course there are moments of sadness and we can't joke about it all the time — he truly is in pain constantly — but I'm thankful to do life together and to be able to bring him up," said Diesen. "Todd brings so much joy to my life and everyone around us, and I can't wait to watch him be an amazing father to our son."

Paraplegic man and fiancee announce pregnancy with ‘It still works!’

A monkey in a shearling coat gazing pensively out an Ikea window. A mom in a Chewbacca mask laughing hysterically.

Now you can add this to the list of magical moments that have gone viral: A Northwood High School graduate and her fiancé, super-stoked that “It still works!”

To announce they are having a baby, Amanda Diesen, 25, and Todd Krieg, 24, scrawled “It still works!” in chalk on a brick wall behind them and then had a friend snap a photo of them standing in front of the message. Diesen is laughing and holding an ultrasound snap of their fetus. Krieg, in a wheelchair, is giving a thumbs-up and a big grin.

The couple shared the shot with family and friends on Facebook and Instagram in February. One of Diesen’s former co-workers then posted it on Reddit and — boom.

“It blew up big time,” Krieg says, getting millions of likes and thousands of comments.

As the denizens of the web gobbled up their feel-good story, UsWeekly, People Magazine and Huffington Post came calling, along with the TV cameras.

It turns out their backstory is as sweet as their photo.

Diesen graduated from Northwood High in Irvine in 2010. After getting her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, she waited tables at Fig and Olive in Newport Beach for a year before finding a job at Project Walk Paralysis Recovery Center in Carlsbad.

A few weeks later, Krieg arrived from Ohio for rehab. His dirt bike had stalled mid-jump on a practice track and he landed on his head, breaking two important vertebrae. At the age of 21, he was paralyzed from the chest down.

Diesen was among the therapists assigned to work with him, but it wasn’t until a Halloween house party for Project Walk staff and clients that things heated up.

Someone asked Krieg who his favorite therapist was, and, having had one too many Captain Morgan shots, he blurted out, “Amanda!”

In front of Amanda.

“She’s so hot,” he then slurred.

Wait, what?

Diesen thought he was “a babe.” She had no idea he felt the same about her.

Now that the secret was out, though, the two started talking. Then dating. Krieg told her his backstory.

He had been riding dirt bikes since he was 5, turned pro at 18 and was about to sign on with a Honda racing team when he crashed.

“For some reason I had a sense of calmness,” he remembers of the moment it happened. “I wasn’t freaking out.”

When he woke up four days later in the hospital, he didn’t wallow.

“This is the hand that I’ve been dealt,” he remembers thinking. “It’s time to learn how to deal with it and move on. There wasn’t any ‘Why me?’ ”

Even though he is, to this day, in physical pain.

Diesen had some big decisions to make.

“Sadly, at first I cared about what people would think, being with someone in a wheelchair,” she admits. “But it wasn’t enough to stop me.”

The two became best friends. They talked about the future. And kids. The doctors had told Krieg it was very unlikely he could be a father naturally.

“But with any able-bodied couple, having kids could be an issue,” Diesen says. “It could have been me who had fertility problems. Or if I didn’t take a chance on Todd, I could have ended up with someone who didn’t want or couldn’t have kids.”

They decided they were soulmates, kids or no kids. Then this past December they were at a friend’s house when the topic turned to babies. Diesen told Krieg on the way home she was “late.” Just for fun they stopped to buy a pregnancy test on the way home. And — bingo.

In addition to bumping Diesen’s Instagram following from 900 to 13,000, their “It still works!” photo has flashed on TV screens as far flung as France, South Africa, Italy and Chile. It’s also scored them lots of baby swag.

“Stuff is pouring in like crazy,” says Krieg. “We got clothes, bottles, blankets, strollers, a car seat, a bunch of baby shoes, diapers — a bunch of cool stuff. It was sweet.”

Food Network celebrity Rachael Ray had a Skype conversation with them on her daytime talk show and gave them a $1,000 gift card to Buy Buy Baby.

“I was like, ‘Heck yeah!’ ” says Krieg, who now works in billing at a construction company.

They also got a few offers for their own reality TV show. But then a German TV crew flew here to film them just for one day.

“It was like, ‘Holy cow, that was exhausting,’ ” Krieg says. “It would be miserable to do a TV show. We just want to live our normal lives. We blew up for a week or two; I can’t imagine having that for years and years. ”

What fans of their viral photo might not know is that there was a second photo snapped that day. It shows Krieg surprising Diesen with a diamond ring and asking her to marry him.

The couple now are living in a home near his family outside of Cleveland. But a wedding is in the works for Orange County next summer.

And the couple await the birth of their baby boy, due Aug. 6.

Do they have any big plans for the birth announcement?

Diesen laughs. “No. Just a normal picture.”

LORI BASHEDA is a contributor to TimesOC.

How to report pregnancy in an original way

Are you pregnant? Our congratulations!!! This is really an unusual, exciting and joyful situation that nature has given us, girls, to become a mother. To be the dearest person to another person. Believe me, no one has ever been and will not need you as much as your baby.
Seeing two stripes on your test, even if you wanted and planned a child, will be a shocking moment (in a good way) for you. It will be a surge of a whole range of emotions of happiness, surprise, excitement, perhaps fear.

At this moment, someone will want to immediately tell their beloved husband, parents and relatives about the pregnancy. But don't rush! Make this moment special and memorable! Report that you are pregnant in an unusual way.

If you are on this page, then you are looking for the most interesting way to report pregnancy in an original way. After all, for your loved ones and relatives, this will also be great impressive news. Especially if it's the first pregnancy.
We have collected a small selection of such methods from everywhere (from friends, from the Internet, our ideas), I hope that you will like something.

How to tell your husband about pregnancy

1. In a helium balloon we hide a pregnancy test with a note: “I + YOU = THREE!”. On the ball you can write with a marker "Pop me." To get a gift, the balloon must burst. Hand it to your husband at a convenient moment, for example, in the evening before going to bed! To sleep sweetly (or vice versa not sleep).

2. Buy two helium balloons one pink and one blue. You tie it to a box in which there is a test with a note similar to that in paragraph 1. You can put everything on the bed. As an option: tie the test to the balls at one end and the other and let it fly. Tell your husband that a surprise awaits you in the room!

3. You can arrange a quest. One of the most interesting, in my opinion, ways to announce pregnancy is to arrange a home quest! Tell your husband that you have prepared a surprise for him, but in order to receive it, you will have to pass a small test. Quest scripts can be viewed on our website (quest to find a gift). The final gift will be a pregnancy test in a gift box or envelope.

4. Take a selfie with the test, print it on a color printer and put it in a beautiful envelope. You can put a note with the inscription "surprise" (or a picture of a gift) under the pillow, and on the pillow.

5. We hide baby pacifier (you can tie a ribbon) in a beautiful small box with a note: “ is expected + month and year ”. We hand over, for example, by inviting to a festive dinner in a restaurant. As an option: ask the waiter to take out this box on a tray in advance. Maybe there is someone you know who works as a waiter.

6. Bake (buy) a small cake (muffin), make a plate " Baby " (you can draw and stick to a toothpick, skewer), stick it into the cake. And at dinner for dessert, take it to your husband on a tray! You can also tie a red bow around your belly. You can download an image by clicking on it.

7. Bake a large pizza and write on it with ketchup: “You will soon become a dad!” (or something similar). Serve when the husband is already sitting at the table, ready to eat pizza.

As an option: pizza can be ordered with delivery, it is usually in a box. Open the lid and write news on the inside of the lid.

8. Fast food lovers. Buy (or order at home) a portion of takeaway food at your favorite fast food restaurant (like Mc. Donalds, KFC, or WOK Sushi, etc.). This is usually issued in special branded boxes or packages. We take out all the contents from there and put the prepared children's accessories. For example, a bodysuit that says "I love daddy" (or something similar). And call your husband to the table. Or, as an option, if possible, you can come to the restaurant itself with your husband and there, when you pick up the order at the checkout, change the boxes (that is, take with you already prepared in advance) - that will be a surprise!

9. Sweet lovers . We buy a chocolate egg "kinder-surprise". We carefully open it, take out the toy and put a note “And the Surprise will be in X months” there. Collecting back!

10. Drawing on dishes. Buy paint for ceramics (at any art store) and write a message on the plate. We wait until it dries (preferably a day). We impose food by closing the inscription! Let's serve! At the end of the feast, the news will be revealed)). You can do the same with a cup. There will be a surprise when he finishes his latte or tea.

11. If you have a cat or dog. Make a simple sign (or a note) with the inscription "Congratulations, you will soon become a dad." Hang the animal around the neck and send it to your husband. As an option: a note can be put in an opening pendant.

12. On a birthday or on some holiday ( for example, on St. Valentine's Day, on the day of acquaintances or weddings, etc. ). We buy the corresponding postcard and give it together with a gift during a romantic evening.

As a variant of a postcard with humor. You can download the postcard by clicking on it.

13. Tummy print. We make some appropriate inscription / drawing on the stomach with bright colors, for example, gouache: “I'm already here. Your baby" , or "I'll be there soon, wait", "our Miracle is already in me". "Baby. The download has started. 33% + loading line drawing". We hide our art under a T-shirt until the evening 😉

14. T-shirt with a print. Another way to announce pregnancy in an unusual way is clothing with the appropriate hint! Buy yourself a themed T-shirt and put it on at the right time (hide it under your jacket). Can be found in the online store.

15. One of the cool ways would be to organize a photo session like a love story. And on it to announce the pregnancy to her husband, let the camera capture his face at that moment! During the session, you can quietly whisper the news in his ear or make a suitable inscription with chalk on a slate tablet and show it to him at a certain moment (he writes something on his board for you). Or hand over the box as in paragraph No. 5 (with a pacifier and a note “ expected + month and year ”).

Source: BORDPANDA

16. In a small box (it is better if you take from under the jewelry) we put a note of this kind: on top “8 weeks” in the middle you can glue the pea and sign “ Our baby, below, like peas" (look at the size of the baby's fetus at your term). And on the box there is an inscription: "Congratulations."

17. Board game lovers! We play, for example, "monopoly". The game has cards like "chance" or "question". On one of them we carefully glue (so as not to spoil the cards) an inscription about pregnancy. We put the card with the inscription down first in the deck (prepare in advance). Now we must try to get her husband this “chance”. You'll have to fiddle. 🙂 Download the card.

18. Just tell your husband that today we are expecting a secret guest , you will find out who it is at dinner. Set the table for three people. Sit down to dinner. When the husband asks what the third guest is, what time will he come? And you to him: “He is a little late, will be in 9 months” (corresponding to your gestational age)

soon there will be three! (or similar). Open it on a laptop and close it in this mode. Then tell your husband (if he rarely opens a computer: D) that they say look, something has come to you there. Or he will look during the day.

21. Make a sign with the inscription: “Hurry up and eat it all! I don't want to be alone with a big belly! Congratulations, honey! You'll be a dad soon!" and put it in the refrigerator on a shelf, for example, near the borscht pan. The husband wants to eat, and there is news!)) This option is also suitable for those whose husbands like to look into the refrigerator at night!

22. Glue a picture of a stork on the front door/cake/plate.

You can also download these notes and print them out.

23. Just tell your husband in the morning that you had a dream that you were pregnant. You go to the toilet and kind of do a test there (although you already did it in advance :)). Come out with the test and the news that the dream turned out to be prophetic :).

24. Create QR code with the corresponding encryption on a special website (for example, http://qrcoder.ru/) and send it to your husband's phone. Or print and send / hand in an envelope to your husband. You can read it using any application for reading QR codes.

25. Invite your husband to play the “try it again” game. Tape one sheet of paper to the wall and the other to your spouse's back with adhesive tape. Write on the sheet (the one on his back) letters one at a time, and he must repeat them after you on his sheet (the one on the wall). Try to press harder, otherwise it will be difficult for him to understand what you are trying to write.

1. Order a box of beautiful donuts, cakes (or bake yourself and put them in a suitable flat box with a lid). Write this inscription: "Eat! It's all for you! Mom doesn't want her to be the only one with a big belly!" Stick a note inside, under the lid of the box (you can also add a photo from the ultrasound, if available). The first child hands the box to daddy.

2. Take a picture with your first child, and next to you there are one more slippers (booties), and next to it there is an inscription (with chalk on the asphalt or a sign): “Expected soon” (or “Expected + approximate date (month) of delivery »). Or some similar script:
- Hold hands while the child holds the ultrasound photo.
- One child with the inscription on the sign: "I will soon become a sister / brother."

Here are some unusual ways to tell your husband about pregnancy. If you have any other options (and there may still be +100500, then share them in the comments.

Trade knows when you are expecting a baby / Sudo Null IT News a pile of store coupons received by his daughter.

“My daughter got this in the mail! he shouted. - She still goes to school, and you send her coupons for children's clothes and diapers? How dare you! Do you want to encourage schoolgirls to give birth in this way?

The manager looked at the stack of coupons for mother's clothes, children's furniture - indeed, they were addressed to the daughter of an angry man. The manager apologized.

A few days later he called the man to apologize again. On the phone, my father's voice sounded confused. “You know, I had a serious talk with my daughter, and it turned out that something was happening in my house that I had absolutely no idea about. She gives birth in August. Accept my apologies".

How did Target know that their daughter was pregnant before her father knew? The answer is simple - thanks to the pregnancy prediction system (pregnancy prediction system), developed by company analyst Andrew Paul. Under the cut - everything in order.

The wonders of predictive analytics, or how it works

Predictive analytics has become an essential marketing tool. Many Western companies, especially large ones, have a predictive analytics department that develops a strategy for the effective promotion of goods or services. There is already an interesting article about this on Habré with beautiful graphs.

The question is: how can companies find out how old you are, whether you are married and have children, your income level and even nationality?

It's quite simple. Predictive analytics today has become targeted, to some extent sophisticated. It works not only with shopping habits, but also with behavior in general. Every step you take counts, whether you pay with a credit card, open an e-mail with a discount offer, or call the service line. All this is recorded in the data collection and analysis system; each customer has a unique identifier in such a system. Let's take a simple example. In April you buy a swimsuit. There's a good chance you'll need sunscreen in June, and in the winter you'll want to shed a couple of pounds by spring and summer. So in June you get a discount coupon for sunscreen and in December for a diet book. Predictive analytics will form your need for a product and service even before you realize the need for them. There is a good post on Habré with examples of behavioral targeting.

Fighting for future parents

Let's return to the Target chain stores and the pregnancy prediction system. Scientists have proven that many of our habits (including shopping habits) are quite difficult to change. After analyzing your route through the supermarket while shopping for groceries for the week, you will realize that you are moving along the same trajectory, putting yoghurts from the same manufacturer in the basket, toilet paper from the same brand. But there are moments in our lives when habits lend themselves to tremendous change - and it is these periods that are priceless for marketers. We are talking about graduating from university, moving to another city, changing jobs or planning a pregnancy. Expecting a child is a period when we are not only unconsciously, but also consciously ready to change our habits, and if we are “hooked” correctly, we will turn into loyal customers for many years to come.

So Target challenged the Predictive Analytics team to determine which female customers were expecting a baby before it became obvious. After analyzing the shopping habits of pregnant women, analysts developed a system for predicting pregnancy.

Suppose a young woman walks into a store and buys coconut oil lotion, a walking bag, and a bright blue blanket. The software at Target will come up with its verdict: This customer has an 87% chance of pregnancy. The data is fed into marketers, and now Target will start shaping and managing her habits by sending her a discount coupon for cribs, powder, baby bottles, and more. Moreover, it will look unobtrusive, so as not to cause a wave of indignation for "espionage": discounts on goods for children are placed among discounts on other goods.

It's worth noting that Andrew Paul, Target's head of analytics and creator of the pregnancy prediction system, used to enjoy giving interviews about Target's data mining use and his "brainchild," but management soon put his eloquence on hold.

What about the law?

In fact, as consumers become aware of how much of their personal information a retailer holds, many questions begin to arise about the legality of using that data. On the one hand, the law in the United States allows companies to conduct research in order to get to know their consumers better and promote their products in the most appropriate way. On the other hand, no one guarantees that Target will not disclose personal data to third parties for anything other than marketing purposes. Target is known to share information with other entities that are not directly part of Target's sales network: merchants, business partners, and other companies. In addition, there are few legal barriers to such transfer of data, it only has to comply with the company's privacy policy.

Career prospects

According to some reports, Target spends about $4 million annually to maintain a 50-person analytics department based in the US and India. Of course, not all Western retail chains can afford such teams (and it's not easy to find specialists) and powerful tools for analyzing customer behavior. But it is quite possible to imagine that soon there will be (if not already) pioneers of such methods in the post-Soviet space.

On the one hand, this is the birth of another highly paid profession. For example, according to online sources, the average salary for a data scientist on eBay is $110,000, which is not bad even by American standards.

At first, there will be very few domestic specialists, and a couple of major players will fiercely fight for their talents. This is because such work requires a combination of skills and knowledge of a statistician, business analyst and programmer who can analyze huge amounts of data, reveal hidden patterns, correlations (in our opinion, rules and ratios :) and commercially useful dependencies.

Learn more

• 
  Newborn eating but not pooping
• 
  Cradle cap scab
• 
  Severe calf cramping at night
• 
  How long did it take you to get pregnant
• 
  How to help a child cope with death
• 
  Labor being induced
• 
  How to tell family your child is transgender
• 
  Sit in walkers for babies
• 
  How to drug test your child
• 
  Discharges of a pregnant woman
• 
  At what age should tummy time start