Posts by Laura Barnes42

Lawrence Doyle5 said:Back to what I was saying... honestly, it’s starting to get on my nerves how much I'm struggling to actually get comfortable enough to sleep. My back feels off, my hips are acting up—it's just constant, little annoyances everywhere... grrr. And the kicker? This is only six months in. If I'm already dealing with this, I can't even imagine what the rest of the year is going to look like.

If I'm being completely honest, it’s probably only going to get more intense from here.😁

By the way, I was actually laughing so hard while reading through some of these posts yesterday—this whole thread is just pure chaos.
I won't even dare list out all the things I have to do every day, mostly because I don't want anyone calling social services on me for being a whirlwind of activity. But if it helps anyone feel any better, at least we'll have our little ones to look at.
🤣

Brian Williams4 said:I had to jump on this thread because my mother-in-law pushed my buttons so hard today I thought I was going to have a breakdown.😁
Maybe I’m just not wired right, but I refuse to put the crib right next to my bed. Who has the energy to keep getting up all night? I also told her I don't want the baby seeing me the second they open their eyes, otherwise, I'll never be able to move them to their own room later. Right now, our spare bedroom is basically a storage unit, but if it weren't for all that stuff, that's where the baby would be sleeping.
And then she has the nerve to ask why I'd use diapers on such a tiny baby. Apparently, I should just buy a hundred cloth diapers and then boil them every single day after they get soiled. Honestly, she already tried handing me these cloth diapers that are thirty years old from when her son was a baby.🤣
To top it all off: once the baby arrives, she expects to move into our guest room for two weeks.😱She thinks she’s going to help with breastfeeding, diaper changes, cleaning... I think she forgot I have my own elderly parents to look after first. We live about fifteen minutes apart, so we definitely value our space.

My situation is actually the complete opposite; whenever I mention using disposable diapers, my family loses it laughing. And when I bring up my hopes for breastfeeding, my sister-in-law starts comparing the struggle of nursing to the pain of childbirth, basically asking why I'd put myself through that extra effort. Honestly, my mom is planning a move soon, and I have to admit I'm a bit of a homebody who really values my privacy and doesn't love the idea of having more people under our roof. We'll see how it goes, though. On top of that, they have these incredibly outdated views on childcare; for instance, my mom is insisting I should be slathering the baby in lotions every single day, whereas I'd much rather just use them as needed. It's exhausting dealing with these generational gaps.

Dana Brown8 said:Right. And it's our fault for getting pregnant, isn't it? :P

Look, I’m always the first one to admit that being pregnant doesn't make me an invalid or anything, but does it really matter that they don't seem to care at all? We’re sitting here, visibly exhausted and sweating through this heat while we wait endlessly... what you guys are saying is true—you really should just speak up and ask for help.
I was actually at the clinic for a routine urine culture, and there was this guy ahead of me in line who, the second he saw me approaching the door, practically sat down on the handle just to make sure I didn't accidentally barge in ahead of him. ☕
By the end of it, the doctor seemed like he wanted to just ignore me entirely, but I made sure to be heard—I was breathing heavily, muttering under my breath, and rolling my eyes pretty noticeably, so eventually, he had to see me (right after dealing with the guy who was hovering by the door). 🤣

Honestly, if I saw a dad sitting down while his pregnant wife was forced to stand there, I’d make sure to voice my disapproval loudly enough for everyone to hear. They should feel just how awkward and disrespectful that is. 😁
I remember being at a Target once and noticing a few dads just casually reading the news while their wives stood right next to them, totally unsupported 🤷. I didn't say anything at the time, but they really had no one to blame but themselves for that kind of behavior.

Jonathan Wright4 said:Ugh, don't even get me started on the checkout lines. The lack of basic manners is just unreal. 🙄

They basically just stare at their own stomachs and then fixate on the ceiling. They just totally ignore you. Fine, you saved yourself maybe seventeen seconds of life by not letting me through, so make sure you spend those precious seconds wisely! ☕
I had a moment today where a young (and quite handsome 😁) guy stood up for me on the bus. He offered his seat, and I was genuinely thankful. But honestly, that feels like the absolute peak of civility—someone standing up on a bus. When it comes to doctors' offices, grocery stores, or any other everyday situation, people seem to have zero manners left.

Sam Baker6 usually only hears that kind of stuff from women who are well over a hundred years old, clinging to those old-fashioned, traditionalist views. (It reminds me of that one comment an uncle made to a little girl—just completely inappropriate. 😂)
Personally, I find the whole thing pretty hilarious; I don't let it get under my skin.

Dana Brown8 said:Watching how much he adores our daughter—how they click and how she’s already his little princess (even though she isn't even two yet)—is actually pretty sweet. He's clearly counting down the days until our son arrives, too. He’s constantly checking in on me, asking if I need anything, giving me massages. I'm only ten days out from delivery.

What really gets under my skin, though, is the constant poking and people asking if I'm "still in one piece." People just don't get how incredibly irritating that is. They're also being dense; they don't realize that if things actually start moving, my family is going to be the ones handling the logistics for everyone else. :P

I’m honestly worried about that too, though I’m banking on the fact that since most people will be away on summer vacation in August, they might actually forget to ask for a few days.☕

Jonathan Wright4 said:Honestly, I couldn't care less about all this drama, and I really don't get why everyone is freaking out over these spikes. It’s just nonsense. The only thing that actually matters to me in this world is having a healthy, happy kid.

That’s true, though people still ask me if my dad is happy with his girlfriend. He isn't. As soon as he heard she had moved away, he just handed over the divorce papers.🤣

Chris Kim16 said:I got so annoyed today by a comment saying, "Now the dogs will just take a backseat!"
As if—obviously they were just temporary placeholders until the baby arrived, right? Now I'll just toss them out in the yard and hope they're happy if I bother to feed them once in a while. 🙄

There are endless variations on this whole "animals vs. babies" debate, and they’re always so grating. It honestly feels a bit like asking someone who is planning for their second child what’s going to happen to their first one.

Elizabeth Baker4 said:What gets under my skin more than anything else is how, the second people find out I'm pregnant, they immediately hit me with this one question:
"So, when's the wedding?"
Because obviously, getting engaged is just the standard next step on the checklist right after seeing those two lines on a pregnancy test, right? Just common sense...
🙂

Hehehe, when I announced my engagement about a year and a half before the actual wedding, everyone assumed I was already pregnant—can you believe that? They basically expected me to hold off on the ceremony until the baby was six months old, which is just absurd. People can be so strange sometimes.

Someone else mentioned that people tend to get teary-eyed around them, but honestly, I’m constantly forgetting that it's just my belly making me cry; I'll spend ten minutes worrying that I have chocolate smeared on my face or that my mascara has run. But for now, I've mostly had positive experiences where people just smile. It's almost like seeing a pregnant woman genuinely brightens their day.😁

So, here we go. I’ve officially entered the second stage of being poked—the "Oh my gosh, how far along are you?" phase. It’s funny because it’s usually not even the people wearing slim-fit clothes who ask; it’s always the ones who look like they’re dressed for a baby shower. At this rate, I’m just waiting for phase three to kick in, where people start asking if I’ve given birth yet or when the big day is coming.
I have to admit, I’ve actually gotten somewhat used to the belly touching by now. Honestly. The only thing that really gets under my skin is when someone I see every single day decides they need to touch my stomach every single day, too. But then again, once the bump reaches a certain size, people stop asking where the baby is hiding because it’s pretty obvious (that was more like the first phase). Plus, people have finally stopped giving me unsolicited dietary advice, too.🤣 I guess they’ve realized there isn't much anyone can do to change things at this point.😍

Aaron Brown7 said:Honestly, I’m just sitting here fuming. I’m eleven weeks pregnant and I’ve been dealing with this constant, dull ache since the very beginning, but whenever I try to talk about it, people just give me that patronizing look and say, "Oh, don't worry, it's totally normal until the baby actually starts kicking." Like, excuse me?? It’s incredibly frustrating when people try to dismiss physical discomfort just because it doesn't fit their little timeline of milestones. It drives me absolutely insane.

I’ve definitely had my own share of breakdowns over comments like that, especially when I was just trying to change my hair color or deal with other small things.
The older generation tends to use that phrase about waiting for the baby to "wake up" as if they mean when the movement starts, but I think it’s just because they didn't have access to monthly ultrasounds like we do now—back then, I bet they only had maybe three checkups during their entire pregnancy. For us younger moms, that kind of terminology feels almost scary. To me, my baby has been alive from the very first second, and I could already see movement on the screen by week eight. 😁
So, you either have to get used to it, or just stop asking the older crowd for their advice.😁

Brian Williams4 said:I saw something hilarious yesterday. I happened to overhear this pregnant woman chatting with a friend of hers. The friend was rubbing her belly, and then out of nowhere, the pregnant lady reaches over and starts petting her own chest. The friend just stood there completely stunned. 🤣 The woman tells her, "That’s actually how it feels when you rub my stomach. I'm not a fan." Total boss move. 😁

queen🤣🤣 Honestly, I feel like people should stop touching my chest too, since they've already gone up three cup sizes by now. Maybe I should start handing out chocolates just so everyone can experience what I'm going through. 😁 It would be a real eye-opener.
Fortunately, that doesn't happen very often because I've made my boundaries pretty clear from the start. It’s kind of like how I’ve been joking with everyone lately that my little girl isn't going to be wearing anything pink. 😁 Now, all my family members are actually looking for stuff to buy, knowing full well that pink is completely off the table.

casualmoose14 said:Honestly, I’m being driven absolutely crazy by all the unsolicited advice and "horror stories" people love to share... It’s always the same thing: "Oh, once you have a baby, your life is over. There's no more sleep, there's no more freedom, there's nothing left except the child..." It’s like they’re implying that my entire existence—and everyone else’s around me—just ceases to matter the moment a baby arrives. GOOD GRIEF!!... As if we're welcoming some sort of cosmic miracle that demands total self-annihilation!

I couldn't agree more. It’s honestly exhausting. My mother-in-law is currently lecturing me with these constant warnings about how I won't get any rest and my personal life will vanish. She even went as far as suggesting I should be using cloth diapers and doing everything the old-fashioned way until I'm completely burnt out.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about how we approach these little daily hurdles, and it really strikes me how much our environment shapes our perspective. I remember one afternoon back when I was living in the Midwest—just a quiet, slow-moving period in my life—when I realized that most of our frustrations aren't actually about the events themselves, but rather the mental framework we bring to them. It’s easy to get caught up in the noise, but there is such a profound sense of peace to be found when you just take a step back and breathe. It isn't always easy to maintain that level of composure, especially when things feel chaotic, but I truly believe that if we can cultivate that inner stillness, the external world loses its ability to rattle us. It’s a practice, really, much like anything else worth doing. kaže:
It’s honestly really encouraging to hear that there are some positive examples out there to look up to.

Here we go again today.🙄
I honestly find that specific time of the month so incredibly draining, especially when I have to spend my days running errands between the local DMV, the post office, and the Social Security Administration just to make sure all my reimbursements and checks get distributed properly.🙂
I found myself standing around for hours again today, just hovering aimlessly. Honestly, there were moments where I felt like being completely rude—just to snap at some random person sitting comfortably in a chair and tell them to get lost.

I ended up having my hands completely full of shopping bags again today. 🙂

I’m honestly a little shaken up by this. I’ve always been the type of person who instinctively makes room and offers my seat to pregnant women whenever I see them, so this feels quite unsettling.

I remember another instance early on in my pregnancy when the morning sickness was absolutely brutal. I had to head out for a checkup and some paperwork at the local Social Security office, and of course, everything was located on the far side of town. Looking back, if I could have just sat down for a moment, I think I would have felt much better and managed the nausea a bit more effectively. While I was struggling, this elderly man walks right up to me and actually tells me to get up, implying that I'm not disabled or anything. I just looked him in the eye and told him, "No thanks, I'm not disabled, I'm pregnant—maybe you can find someone else to stand up for you, but please, try asking nicely first."
No worries at all. People can be pretty strange sometimes.

Rachel Brooks4 said:I didn't marry into California, but my mother-in-law spent her 18th birthday out there, so clearly 35 years in the Midwest wasn't enough to teach her how to make normal comments during Easter lunch... 🤣
The whole idea that a baby "takes" all your beauty is just something I've heard from women before, but I don't get how my face is supposedly "preparing" for birth... like, sure, the body prepares—hips widen, Braxton Hicks, whatever—but the face?? 😕 😕

Honestly, just let them babble on. Ever since I became pregnant, I feel like I've been a magnet for nonsense. It started with people asking where my bump is, then suddenly they’re telling me my belly is sitting too high, or even looking at my face to try and guess the gender. I'm just bracing myself for the final wave of comments: "Oh my gosh, you're so big" or "When is the baby coming?" 😁

And don't even get me started on the "well-meaning" advice.

🙂urbantinker8> People can be such jerks, and I honestly find it hard to believe that nobody ever stands up for anyone. To be fair, my only real experience with this was when a woman actually sat right on top of me on a subway once. Though, lately, I haven't even seen a bus because I've been wearing my heavy jacket, so I haven't had much chance to test that theory. Aside from that one bad encounter, I haven't had many positive experiences either.

Rachel Brooks4 said:I mean, I’m not exactly shocked, but honestly? This just makes my blood boil...

1. So, my mother-in-law recently dropped this absolute bombshell on me (right after I got home from the hospital) claiming that my face was starting to "prepare itself" for childbirth. Like, can someone please explain what that even means? I’m still totally lost, especially since I was only 24 weeks along at the time.

2. Then—and this has nothing to do with being pregnant, I assume—she goes out of her way to say I act like some hardcore, old-school Southern extremist. Again, totally nonsensical, but definitely not exactly a compliment.
IBM says she's originally from some tiny rural town in the Deep South, so I guess that's why she keeps making these weird, outdated comparisons...

Hahaha, a Southern extremist?! That's a new one on me. Why don't you ask her if there's any distinction between different types of extremists in her neck of the woods? 🤣🤣🤣 I'm actually cracking up here. It sounds like you might have married into a family from a similar region as mine.

As for the face thing, people told me my features changed around week 14. I have no clue what that implies to anyone else, but apparently, everyone can tell just by looking at me that I'm having a girl. According to that old superstition from my dad's side of the family, if you're carrying a girl, she takes all your beauty away and you end up looking a bit rough, but if it's a boy, you stay looking picture-perfect. 🤣
So, I'm guessing when they say they can tell it's a girl, they really mean you look like a total mess right now. 😂

I had mentally braced myself for this moment, but I honestly didn't expect it to be quite this grating. It’s such a strange, awkward sensation to deal with—people just reaching out to touch my stomach and trying to strike up a conversation with the baby.🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

And then there's the hair loss on top of everything else. 🙂

wanderinghawk said:I wouldn't risk it. A lens could slip out of place, and you'll end up needing an eye doctor to fish it out because you won't be able to do it yourself...😉

People are still giving me grief about my dog (because dogs bite kids) and calling me selfish for working instead of resting, claiming my kid needs me to de-stress...🤷 🙄

Well, I’m not sure if I believe it, but there’s this idea floating around that it isn't just dogs to worry about; apparently, even rabbits can be a problem. Some people claim they actually go after small children, or at the very least, a kid might end up getting sick just from the shock of seeing one. I don't know, it sounds a bit far-fetched to me, but you never know what kind of stories start circulating these days.🤣
I felt like everyone was giving me these strange, judgmental looks because I’m being kept on such close watch—literally, my test results were just barely above the threshold, so there doesn't seem to be any clear rule for why they're treating me this way. It makes me wonder if my little one is just feeling the stress of it all, since we've been stuck inside the house all day long.🤣

I honestly get hit with such a ridiculous barrage of silly questions lately, like people asking if I’m planning on having a royal baby just because I’m on a specific diet. It’s wild. I suppose I get it, though—people generally have no clue how to actually talk to a pregnant woman, so everything ends up being this overly anxious "how are you feeling?" check-in (and frankly, I'm still a little stunned by how much everyone seems to care about my physical state) or they start pointing at my stomach or asking invasive things like whether I drink or smoke. Personally, I might indulge a little here and there, but that's about it. What really gets under my skin, though, are those unsolicited pieces of "advice," like telling me I absolutely need to eat a mountain of bananas or that I must avoid certain foods at all costs. I’m talking about the kind of suggestions nobody even asked for, usually coming from women who have already had kids and suddenly act like they're medical experts. One lady even tried to tell me I needed to take extra Omega supplements just so the baby would be smarter. Seriously? Gaaaah.

It honestly gets under my skin when I'm fourteen years old and people start asking me where my stomach went, and what’s worse is that it’s usually people I actually respect and consider intelligent. It's just frustrating. I guess I just left it at home today, but maybe I'll bring it along for the family reunion. :-