What were your biggest pregnancy surprises and pet peeves?

Jerry Bailey47 said:I certainly haven't gotten any more attractive—I’m up at least 35 pounds, though I haven't stepped on a scale in about ten days 🙄—but everyone keeps telling me I'm a "glowing" pregnant woman. Apparently, my face hasn't changed at all, no breakouts or blemishes, and my legs aren't even swollen yet, despite being practically in the home stretch... carrying a boy. 😉 But here’s my actual secret: I haven't stopped doing my makeup, painting my nails, or coloring my hair—and I still dress like I'm not even pregnant (aside from just buying a larger size). So, if you ask me, the real trick is realizing that no matter how far along you are, you can always choose to look put-together.

Are you saying I didn't take care of myself, which is why I got a bit chubby?🙂

This thread is honestly my favorite part of this whole site 🤣

If I actually sat down and wrote out a full list of everything that gets under my skin, it would be huge. But right now? The absolute worst thing is when people try to lecture me on what I should or shouldn't be doing. Like, "Are you really drinking a Coke?" or "Why are you eating so little? You need more calories!" or even "Don't run for the bus, you're pregnant." Look, don't get me wrong—I value advice from actual doctors or women who have actually been through this recently. But most of these unsolicited comments come from people whose last experience with pregnancy was basically back when they were still in their own moms' wombs 🙂

And as for people touching my belly... honestly, once it gets bigger, I care less about it, but if anyone tries to lift my shirt up? I might actually bite their hand off 🙂

Roger Grant84 said:This thread is honestly my favorite part of this whole site 🤣

If I actually sat down and wrote out a full list of everything that gets under my skin, it would be huge. But right now? The absolute worst thing is when people try to lecture me on what I should or shouldn't be doing. Like, "Are you really drinking a Coke?" or "Why are you eating so little? You need more calories!" or even "Don't run for the bus, you're pregnant." Look, don't get me wrong—I value advice from actual doctors or women who have actually been through this recently. But most of these unsolicited comments come from people whose last experience with pregnancy was basically back when they were still in their own moms' wombs 🙂

And as for people touching my belly... honestly, once it gets bigger, I care less about it, but if anyone tries to lift my shirt up? I might actually bite their hand off 🙂

😂😂 my mother-in-law was constantly leaning over and kissing my belly🤮😱🙂

I won't even get started on how much she was touching me, and then, around the ten-week mark, she claimed that just a little longer and she'd be able to tell me if we were having a girl or a boy—as if by some sort of magic or divine prophecy...🤣 She would hover her hands near me, almost like she was walking across my stomach, circling my bump with her palms and insisting, "Oh, it's definitely going to be a boy"...🙂 😂

For a moment, I was actually quite annoyed because she "guessed" correctly, which just made her feel incredibly wise and smug about her own intuition...🙂 🙂

Peter Adams58 said:🙂
If you aren't feeling nauseous, then maybe it's a guy.
🤦

Hahahaha... honestly, it just turns out however that little sperm decides it’s going to be 😁

And even that theory doesn't really hold water... my godmother and my sister-in-law both tried those old wives' tales and they both had boys, while my friend tried them and ended up with a girl.😁

Pregnancy stories... I honestly haven't had any morning sickness at all, even though I'm carrying.

People have actually started getting on my nerves lately with those constant questions like, "So, when is the big day?"

I was at a wedding this past Saturday, and it felt like every single relative there—living or otherwise—asked me that exact same question a million times. And of course, there was all that inevitable judgment about why I even bothered showing up to a wedding in the first place, since it's winter and I chose to wear a short dress... and I'm only about ten days away from my due date.

I mean, what am I supposed to do? Just lock myself in the house until the baby arrives? 🙄

slybadger99 said:I honestly just wear men's clothes because I end up throwing up my own 🙄

and when it comes to being ugly, I’m just as unattractive myself 🤣

I was actually reading some things online and hearing the exact opposite lately... apparently it's not always the case that women carrying boys deal with nausea, and in my own experience, that turned out to be spot on—I haven't had a single bout of vomiting, even if I have dealt with a whole host of other pregnancy hurdles...
yet, I have a close friend who is constantly sick to her stomach while expecting a boy, just like an acquaintance of mine who is having twin boys and is also dealing with constant nausea....
The takeaway here: it's all just a bunch of old wives' tales and nonsense...🙂

Charles Moore49 said:😂😂 my mother-in-law was constantly leaning over and kissing my belly🤮😱🙂

I won't even get started on how much she was touching me, and then, around the ten-week mark, she claimed that just a little longer and she'd be able to tell me if we were having a girl or a boy—as if by some sort of magic or divine prophecy...🤣 She would hover her hands near me, almost like she was walking across my stomach, circling my bump with her palms and insisting, "Oh, it's definitely going to be a boy"...🙂 😂

For a moment, I was actually quite annoyed because she "guessed" correctly, which just made her feel incredibly wise and smug about her own intuition...🙂 🙂

Are we sharing the same mother-in-law?

It’s all waiting for me. Before she even dared to lay a hand on me, she went out and bought these little baby figurines. She bought two, because that's just how she is. Known. Twins are on the way. People are bragging about how they’ll be raised by German grandparents and talking about their future connections. Now, she's suddenly pivoting to wanting a boy. She thinks it'll be better that way. Of course.It’s just being a grandson—that's all there is to it. He just knows..

I’m ready to end it all. I can't stand these nauseatingly sweet, overly sentimental outbursts from some ultra-sentimental Western mother-in-law.🙂🙂

She started calling me at all hours of the morning just to check in. I was seconds away from telling her that if she rings my phone one more time before sunrise, I'll track her down and make her eat that damn cell phone.🙂🙂 She still hasn't accepted that I don't spend my entire day hunched over a toilet bowl. She acts horrified every time I head out to a cafe in downtown Chicago, yet she had the nerve to call me just to ask if I’d bring her an umbrella so she wouldn't get soaked walking to her place. It's exhausting. Truly pathetic.

Angela Davis74 said:Are we sharing the same mother-in-law?

It’s all waiting for me. Before she even dared to lay a hand on me, she went out and bought these little baby figurines. She bought two, because that's just how she is. Known. Twins are on the way. People are bragging about how they’ll be raised by German grandparents and talking about their future connections. Now, she's suddenly pivoting to wanting a boy. She thinks it'll be better that way. Of course.It’s just being a grandson—that's all there is to it. He just knows..

I’m ready to end it all. I can't stand these nauseatingly sweet, overly sentimental outbursts from some ultra-sentimental Western mother-in-law.🙂🙂

She started calling me at all hours of the morning just to check in. I was seconds away from telling her that if she rings my phone one more time before sunrise, I'll track her down and make her eat that damn cell phone.🙂🙂 She still hasn't accepted that I don't spend my entire day hunched over a toilet bowl. She acts horrified every time I head out to a cafe in downtown Chicago, yet she had the nerve to call me just to ask if I’d bring her an umbrella so she wouldn't get soaked walking to her place. It's exhausting. Truly pathetic.

Ugh, she really needs to get it together... especially since it's my first grandchild... at first, I didn't mind it too much and let her be a bit affectionate because, you know, a woman should be happy, and I didn't know how to tell her that I wasn't going to let her touch my son🙂
I think I mentioned this before, but once she actually told me, "Let me see the grandson," and there I was, lying there in the middle of winter in just a camisole and a t-shirt, tucked under a heavy blanket... and she actually expected me to show off my bare stomach🙂🙂 so I just lifted the blanket slightly and said, "Here he is"...
Goodness, I feel like I'm being a nuisance to everyone by constantly venting about my mother-in-law, even though I've been pouring my heart out here on this forum for months now...
In the end, she just wouldn't leave me alone, constantly dropping by or buzzing my phone—I couldn't even pretend I wasn't home because I spent most of my pregnancy just resting—and she was already making all these grand plans for when I give birth, insisting she'd come over every single day to help me, watch the baby, change diapers... blah, blah, blah... I feel like I'm repeating myself for the hundredth time... eventually, I just snapped, but that's a much longer story... truthfully, our issues ran much deeper than that... and I believe we've finally moved past it for good...

Honestly, ever since I found out I was pregnant, it’s been driving me crazy how people tend to brush off my symptoms like they aren't a big deal. They act like the nausea, the vomiting, the killer headaches, the back pain, the hemorrhoids, and the total exhaustion are just minor inconveniences rather than actual struggles. Of course, I tell myself it’s all worth it because of the baby, but man, sometimes I just want someone to actually coddle me and show some sympathy. Because let's be real: when I feel like I'm going to barf, I feel like I'm going to barf—whether it's because of pregnancy, a stomach flu, or just eating too much at a buffet. It doesn't matter why, it still sucks. 🙂

The only thing that gets to me is the constant mental noise... this overwhelming surge of energy and drive I carry inside. Unfortunately, my aging body just can't keep up, and it ends up messing with my head in a hundred different ways. 🙂

As for everything else—people, events, circumstances, all the chaos happening around me... none of it touches me. It simply DOES NOT reach me. 😁

Michael King said:Pregnancy stories... I honestly haven't had any morning sickness at all, even though I'm carrying.

People have actually started getting on my nerves lately with those constant questions like, "So, when is the big day?"

I was at a wedding this past Saturday, and it felt like every single relative there—living or otherwise—asked me that exact same question a million times. And of course, there was all that inevitable judgment about why I even bothered showing up to a wedding in the first place, since it's winter and I chose to wear a short dress... and I'm only about ten days away from my due date.

I mean, what am I supposed to do? Just lock myself in the house until the baby arrives? 🙄

Charles Moore49 said:I was actually reading some things online and hearing the exact opposite lately... apparently it's not always the case that women carrying boys deal with nausea, and in my own experience, that turned out to be spot on—I haven't had a single bout of vomiting, even if I have dealt with a whole host of other pregnancy hurdles...
yet, I have a close friend who is constantly sick to her stomach while expecting a boy, just like an acquaintance of mine who is having twin boys and is also dealing with constant nausea....
The takeaway here: it's all just a bunch of old wives' tales and nonsense...🙂

Of course it's nonsense. For the first four months, I practically died in the bathroom, spent two weeks in the hospital on IV fluids, and I'm also expecting a boy. And just when I thought the worst was behind me—yesterday, at 27 weeks, I was retching even harder than I did in the first trimester. 😲

And as for mothers-in-law... look, take them or leave them, they are what they are. You’re going to need help with the baby eventually anyway, so just pick and choose what works for you and ignore the rest.... basically, just use them when it's convenient for you. 😳

Charles Moore49 said:Ugh, she really needs to get it together... especially since it's my first grandchild... at first, I didn't mind it too much and let her be a bit affectionate because, you know, a woman should be happy, and I didn't know how to tell her that I wasn't going to let her touch my son🙂
I think I mentioned this before, but once she actually told me, "Let me see the grandson," and there I was, lying there in the middle of winter in just a camisole and a t-shirt, tucked under a heavy blanket... and she actually expected me to show off my bare stomach🙂🙂 so I just lifted the blanket slightly and said, "Here he is"...
Goodness, I feel like I'm being a nuisance to everyone by constantly venting about my mother-in-law, even though I've been pouring my heart out here on this forum for months now...
In the end, she just wouldn't leave me alone, constantly dropping by or buzzing my phone—I couldn't even pretend I wasn't home because I spent most of my pregnancy just resting—and she was already making all these grand plans for when I give birth, insisting she'd come over every single day to help me, watch the baby, change diapers... blah, blah, blah... I feel like I'm repeating myself for the hundredth time... eventually, I just snapped, but that's a much longer story... truthfully, our issues ran much deeper than that... and I believe we've finally moved past it for good...

In our family, the first grandchild is everyone's priority on both sides. It's strange; my family cares for me, but nobody hovers over me or tries to touch me. No one tells me my belly looks too big for how far along I am—even though it hasn't changed much. But she insists she knows better.
Everyone tells me the same thing: "Just let her be, look how happy she is." 🙂

Now she’s claiming she’s coming to the hospital with me. God knows what other plans she has. She’s even hysterical with my father-in-law about how she won't get to be a grandmother every single day.😱 Thank God we don't live with her.🙏🙏
I want to distance myself from her gracefully before the baby arrives. If I don't, she will destroy my mental health. I don't need someone watching me nurse, bathing the baby, or hovering all day. I refuse to let her turn my child into some creepy little weirdo just because that's her worldview.😠

Whatever happens, I'll end up being the villain who won't let the poor woman see her grandchild. As if I got pregnant just to provide her with a new toy.😢

Peter Adams58 said:Are you saying I didn't take care of myself, which is why I got a bit chubby?🙂

Don't give yourself too much credit—you weren't bragging at all. ☕ 😘

Jerry Bailey47 said:Don't give yourself too much credit—you weren't bragging at all. ☕ 😘

Okay, I guess you've won this one. 🙂

Angela Davis74 said:In our family, the first grandchild is everyone's priority on both sides. It's strange; my family cares for me, but nobody hovers over me or tries to touch me. No one tells me my belly looks too big for how far along I am—even though it hasn't changed much. But she insists she knows better.
Everyone tells me the same thing: "Just let her be, look how happy she is." 🙂

Now she’s claiming she’s coming to the hospital with me. God knows what other plans she has. She’s even hysterical with my father-in-law about how she won't get to be a grandmother every single day.😱 Thank God we don't live with her.🙏🙏
I want to distance myself from her gracefully before the baby arrives. If I don't, she will destroy my mental health. I don't need someone watching me nurse, bathing the baby, or hovering all day. I refuse to let her turn my child into some creepy little weirdo just because that's her worldview.😠

Whatever happens, I'll end up being the villain who won't let the poor woman see her grandchild. As if I got pregnant just to provide her with a new toy.😢

you'll see once you actually go through it 🧐 😁

To be completely honest, it would actually be easier if she lived nearby so I could head back to work after six months and have her watch the baby since she's retired—my mom works, and she pulls some pretty insane shifts. It wouldn't even bother me; if anything, since this is my first kid, I'm going to be clueless about how to even hold them or change a diaper properly, so I'll actually need the help, at least for a little while.
What I'm saying is—take what you need when it's offered, but ignore everything else and do things your own way. Period. 😍

Nathan Kelly said:you'll see once you actually go through it 🧐 😁

To be completely honest, it would actually be easier if she lived nearby so I could head back to work after six months and have her watch the baby since she's retired—my mom works, and she pulls some pretty insane shifts. It wouldn't even bother me; if anything, since this is my first kid, I'm going to be clueless about how to even hold them or change a diaper properly, so I'll actually need the help, at least for a little while.
What I'm saying is—take what you need when it's offered, but ignore everything else and do things your own way. Period. 😍

My mother is a nurse, and one of her friends is a home health nurse who will likely be assigned to me. That should provide enough guidance on the basics, like bathing the infant. 🤷

Since I am not working, I won't need anyone to babysit while I'm at the office.

It is better to keep her at a distance. You can never tell if someone is being sincere or just lying to your face. I know she will try to interfere in everything. I am not used to people inserting themselves into my life. You can't simply ignore her; she is the ultimate drama queen.

Look, you shouldn't be quite so hard on her. At the end of the day, she’s just an old lady, much like your own mother 😉

Nathan Kelly said:Look, you shouldn't be quite so hard on her. At the end of the day, she’s just an old lady, much like your own mother 😉

I don't want to push her away, but I need her to actually act like a grandmother. She needs to stop trying to play mother; that's clearly her obsession. I just want her to enjoy being a grandma—take a walk, hang out, and do the fun stuff. I won't have her usurping my role. Furthermore, she needs to realize that we aren't interested in her constant sentimentality. I'm tired of her endless stories about how emotional everyone was back when she was in the delivery room. It’s not just cliché; it’s genuinely exhausting. Disgusting. Absolutely revolting.She doesn't concern me; she just keeps moving. Look, she gave birth to my three children. She raised them exactly how she saw fit. Now she thinks she can dictate my pregnancy, my family, and my entire life. It isn't happening.

Reasoning won't work with her. You'll have to fight her tooth and nail to settle this.

Angela Davis74 said:I don't want to push her away, but I need her to actually act like a grandmother. She needs to stop trying to play mother; that's clearly her obsession. I just want her to enjoy being a grandma—take a walk, hang out, and do the fun stuff. I won't have her usurping my role. Furthermore, she needs to realize that we aren't interested in her constant sentimentality. I'm tired of her endless stories about how emotional everyone was back when she was in the delivery room. It’s not just cliché; it’s genuinely exhausting. Disgusting. Absolutely revolting.She doesn't concern me; she just keeps moving. Look, she gave birth to my three children. She raised them exactly how she saw fit. Now she thinks she can dictate my pregnancy, my family, and my entire life. It isn't happening.

Reasoning won't work with her. You'll have to fight her tooth and nail to settle this.

😂

And honestly, what can I tell you? Everyone has their quirks. My wife drove me up the wall a million times with her rigid attitudes and constant jabs, but what are you supposed to do? You aren't going to go in and remodel a sixty-year-old woman. Just try to tune it out and do your own thing as much as possible, and keep her at a reasonable distance emotionally. 😉

My mother-in-law lives states away, so I’m dodging those specific headaches, but this topic still totally struck a chord with me.
It drives me nuts when I answer a question about what we're naming the baby (and let's face it, I'll be sick of that question soon enough 😁), only to get a reaction like, "Oh my god, nooo, that was the name of some girl in my middle school who always had a runny nose!" Seriously, who cares about their random childhood memories when it comes to picking a name?!
Big thanks to everyone for all the "constructive" advice you're so generously showering on a poor soul like me who clearly hasn't a clue. 🙄