What were your biggest pregnancy surprises and pet peeves?

So, I’m officially, very early pregnant 😍—but honestly, the comments are already getting under my skin—mostly from family, too—about how things "used to be done" or how they handled their own kids back in the day.
I mean, I’m only five weeks along and I’m already getting "advice" claiming that breastfeeding isn't enough once a baby hits three months. 😲

I would honestly give all the money I have right now to have someone install a chip in my brain—one ear in, one ear out—because I don't think I'll ever learn how to tune this stuff out on my own. 🙄

If they're starting this much now, goodness knows what happens after the baby actually arrives. 😲

Oh, and yeah, people around me constantly point out that I'm "too informed" or that I "read too much." 🤷 Great, so I guess I should just stay miserable and blindly accept advice that is, well, at least 20 years outdated? Because apparently, it's "stupid" to follow the modern medical consensus that breastfeeding is perfectly sufficient for a three-month-old. 🙄 I have no idea why anyone thinks that's even worth mentioning. 😠

I’m almost looking forward to when the hormones really kick in, so maybe then I can finally learn how to snap back at these comments without feeling guilty about it. 😁 ☕

Eric Fowler3, regarding the whole rabbit situation—everyone's already on us, but seriously, everyone is asking what we’re supposed to do about the cats once 😠

Up until now, I've been explaining how everything is going to work out—and reassuring people that our cats aren't some kind of serial killers.
From here on out, I might just start telling them that they won't just be sharing the crib, my pillows, and my favorite sweater when we bring the baby home—I'll probably be dressing them up for family photos too. 😁 I mean, I'm half-joking, but I might actually start answering like that with a totally straight face.
I'm half-expecting Child Protective Services to show up at my door any minute now. ☕

So, I was back at the hospital on Thursday for my rib surgery, right? And this male nurse—can you believe it?—is 🙄 getting me all prepped for the procedure and just casually asks, "So, how far along are you?" I told him, "Look, I'm nine months in." Then he goes, "And how much weight have you put on? My sister's in her first trimester and she's ALREADY gained all that weight too..." He starts going on and on about what I should or shouldn't be doing, and I’m just sitting there thinking, "Whatever, man... just get in there and cut this thing out already."
Then, literally two hours before the surgery, while I'm grabbing my paperwork from the doctor's office, my physician looks at me and goes, "Lord, you've really packed on the pounds, haven't you?" ... 👍 Yeah, I did! So what?!! ☕ I lost them!
And then, to top it all off, I run into this woman later that same day and she tells me, "Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in forever! You've really filled out..." meanwhile I'm standing there holding my coat right in front of me so she can't even tell I'm pregnant... 😠
I mean, seriously, in just one single day, they took turns making comments about my pregnancy weight like it was some kind of sport... honestly, I am so over it...

jadejackal11 said:Everything is just getting on my nerves lately... ugh...
Before I went sober, I used to enjoy a few 🙂
Now, my whole outlook has flipped 180 degrees. It doesn't bother me personally, but I honestly wish the same thing would happen to everyone else. I wish everybody was pregnant!!!
I feel like such a party pooper now, constantly nitpicking everything. It's Christmas, my dear would be out celebrating and calling people... while I just want to curl up on the couch and watch a movie...
ugh...

I feel that on a visceral level. Honestly, it’s the constant unsolicited advice and people constantly overstepping boundaries—whether it's poking around my business or making comments about my physical appearance—that really gets under my skin. But if I’m being truly honest with myself, the most frustrating part is my own nature. I am a perpetual idealist and a romantic at heart. I find myself constantly believing in the inherent goodness of people and holding onto this vision of how things should be, only to be met with the same old disappointments from the exact same people, over and over again. It feels like a cycle I just can't seem to break, no matter how many times I get burned.

Peter Doyle2 said:So, I’m officially, very early pregnant 😍—but honestly, the comments are already getting under my skin—mostly from family, too—about how things "used to be done" or how they handled their own kids back in the day.
I mean, I’m only five weeks along and I’m already getting "advice" claiming that breastfeeding isn't enough once a baby hits three months. 😲

I would honestly give all the money I have right now to have someone install a chip in my brain—one ear in, one ear out—because I don't think I'll ever learn how to tune this stuff out on my own. 🙄

If they're starting this much now, goodness knows what happens after the baby actually arrives. 😲

Oh, and yeah, people around me constantly point out that I'm "too informed" or that I "read too much." 🤷 Great, so I guess I should just stay miserable and blindly accept advice that is, well, at least 20 years outdated? Because apparently, it's "stupid" to follow the modern medical consensus that breastfeeding is perfectly sufficient for a three-month-old. 🙄 I have no idea why anyone thinks that's even worth mentioning. 😠

I’m almost looking forward to when the hormones really kick in, so maybe then I can finally learn how to snap back at these comments without feeling guilty about it. 😁 ☕

I feel your pain. It’s especially draining when it comes from my own mother—who also happens to be my mother-in-law. Their lack of basic awareness is genuinely maddening, but the most frustrating part isn't even the ignorance itself; it's the inevitable defense mechanism. Whenever I try to point out why they're wrong, I just get hit with that classic, "Well, this is just how we are, so what's your problem?" attitude.😠
I told my husband that if things continue this way after the baby arrives, I’m simply going to lock the door. No one is getting in. And when the inevitable fallout happens? I'll just blame it on the postpartum hormones. It’s a foolproof plan.

It honestly just leaves me feeling completely unsettled. It’s especially irritating because I’m not even overweight—I haven't gained much weight at all, and my stomach is barely even showing—yet I still have these older women constantly commenting on how I’ve "filled out" or how my face looks "so much fuller" and pretty now. Honestly? F*** off, everyone.😠

I totally lost my cool today 😠 at this family reunion where—of course—the main topic was pregnancy. This one lady starts questioning why we pregnant women need so many checkups, acting like she knows someone who’s being sent for an OGTT and wondering what on earth the point is, or why I even bother with ultrasounds... just the usual nonsense. She basically thinks because back in her day, like 20 years ago, they didn't go to any doctors and just showed up to give birth, we should be doing the same. 🙄
It gets even more ridiculous, though, because she’s actually telling her own daughter to wait longer to have sex and that there's no reason to see an OBGYN since a woman should just "know" by her symptoms if something is wrong, and why bother with an annual Pap smear 🙄 in the first place. She hasn't even seen a doctor in 12 years... honestly, it's just depressing.

Linda Ward312 said:I totally lost my cool today 😠 at this family reunion where—of course—the main topic was pregnancy. This one lady starts questioning why we pregnant women need so many checkups, acting like she knows someone who’s being sent for an OGTT and wondering what on earth the point is, or why I even bother with ultrasounds... just the usual nonsense. She basically thinks because back in her day, like 20 years ago, they didn't go to any doctors and just showed up to give birth, we should be doing the same. 🙄
It gets even more ridiculous, though, because she’s actually telling her own daughter to wait longer to have sex and that there's no reason to see an OBGYN since a woman should just "know" by her symptoms if something is wrong, and why bother with an annual Pap smear 🙄 in the first place. She hasn't even seen a doctor in 12 years... honestly, it's just depressing.

I actually witnessed a nearly identical scenario yesterday 🤣

Honestly, I'm already over it—now I can just laugh about it. 😁

Ugh, I am seriously losing my mind tonight after listening to Michael Barrett11 and his brother—basically his brother-in-law—going at it. They’re obsessing over what to get for the baby once it arrives. Like, okay, fine, what should we buy? But then my husband just shrugs it off like, "Hey, don't sweat it, it'll be fine," and suddenly Michael Barrett11 starts playing the victim card. He’s all, "You don't get it, I'm already $10,000 in the hole, I have no idea how I'm gonna afford anything, things are brutal right now..." And the worst part? My husband is actually falling for this whole guilt trip act. Seriously, who even asks him for anything? If you're gonna vent about being broke, maybe don't do it to people who aren't even asking for a dime, otherwise it's just embarrassing. 😠 It’s such a joke because I haven't asked him for a single thing lately... especially since he literally just treated himself to a brand new car a few weeks ago.

Harold Cook2 said:Ugh, I am seriously losing my mind tonight after listening to Michael Barrett11 and his brother—basically his brother-in-law—going at it. They’re obsessing over what to get for the baby once it arrives. Like, okay, fine, what should we buy? But then my husband just shrugs it off like, "Hey, don't sweat it, it'll be fine," and suddenly Michael Barrett11 starts playing the victim card. He’s all, "You don't get it, I'm already $10,000 in the hole, I have no idea how I'm gonna afford anything, things are brutal right now..." And the worst part? My husband is actually falling for this whole guilt trip act. Seriously, who even asks him for anything? If you're gonna vent about being broke, maybe don't do it to people who aren't even asking for a dime, otherwise it's just embarrassing. 😠 It’s such a joke because I haven't asked him for a single thing lately... especially since he literally just treated himself to a brand new car a few weeks ago.

Those are the heavy hitters, I suppose—the ones who spend all their time whining. 😠
My future brother-in-law is stuck in that same old cycle of having absolutely zero cash to his name. He still hasn't managed to pay back the money he owes his buddy, yet I keep hearing him brag about how he and his girlfriend just went on shopping sprees in Chicago and then over to Milwaukee. It’s honestly a bit much—every single time I see him, he’s rocking some new gear or a different pair of sneakers. And let's be real, they aren't exactly high-end brands, either. $33It isn't just about the Euro, though—it’s also about us being stuck in a place like the Midwest.😠😠
That’s his business, I suppose, but... look, if he actually owes him money, then he isn't really funding his lifestyle through his own means—he's basically living off my dear friend's pocket, at least until that debt is settled.😠

It seriously drives me up the wall when this guy starts whining about being broke. Like, dude, you pull in $6,000 a month and work crazy overtime hours every single day—you’re basically glued to the job, out in the field from sunrise to sunset. Then he has the nerve to complain about how his schedule messes with driving the kids to school and all that. His wife makes the exact same salary, but she actually pulls more because of her night shifts, yet they just sit there moaning about it. And then—get this—he actually had the audacity to tell us, "Since you decided to have one kid, just stick with that. Don't make the mistake I did and have two." He literally said our second child was a mistake we shouldn't have made. Can you even imagine saying something that heartless? It’s absolutely sickening...😠Every time I think about it, my blood starts boiling. So many couples spend years, literal years, praying for a baby and doing everything humanly possible to conceive (I know, because I was right there in the trenches with them, dealing with IVF and all that hell...) and then he just acts like it's some burden. He’s acting like he isn't even happy the baby came naturally, just brushing it off like it happened by chance or whatever way God intended. Honestly, I don't even want to dwell on it; it just gets me worked up every single time I remember.

The fact that he actually said that is what really gets under my skin.
Is having two kids some kind of mistake? I mean, let him try telling his youngest child they were a mistake—let’s see how much that kid thrives after hearing that.
But for him to say that, and to be acting like he’s giving advice, after everything you went through just to conceive...😲😲
Honestly, it's probably better not to give people like that any headspace at all.
It’s always been this way, though; the ones who already have money are always the first to complain.

My mom raised me on her own (my dad pays child support, but it’s nothing substantial) and she works for U.S. Customs. She used to get constant grief from people who would pick up extra night shifts and holiday overtime to pad their paychecks just because they had kids.
She eventually just snapped and asked them, "Oh, so I don't need money? I've got plenty of mouths to feed at home, so I guess I don't need anything, right?"
They all lived off those two paychecks, while we were just making do on one.

It honestly drives me up the wall how primitive and just plain stupid some people can be...😛 It’s not even worth responding at this point. Like, if he’s losing his mind now because there are two kids, why wasn't he thinking about that when things went down? If he didn't want more and his wife was lying to him about taking birth control when she actually wasn't, then fine—that's on them. How does he think he has any right to barge into someone else's life like that? I would never dream of being that harsh to anyone. When I had my miscarriage, my mom told me it was nothing special, just that she'd clean herself out with a procedure and move on. To her, it wasn't a big deal since she could just get pregnant whenever she wanted... but for others, it's not that simple. What kills me most is that Mom is actually listening to my older brother's "philosophy" instead of just telling him, "Look, we'll have whatever God gives us. If we're meant to have one child, we'll have one, and who knows, maybe we're destined for another one later."

Those who complain aren't necessarily being foolish—not at all. I have a personal example of this. Michael Barrett11 and I never spend our time whining, even though we’re just renting right now and dealing with various other pressures. We stay incredibly disciplined about our finances; as he often says, we make sure we have enough of a cushion to cover whatever unexpected expenses come our way. But we don't vent about it. And you wouldn't believe how often people try to hit us up for money just because they see us staying composed. It seems like everyone—friends, family, anyone—acts as if we’re the local Chase Bank, simply because we aren't constantly broadcasting our struggles.
No one stops to consider that we’d much rather be putting that money toward buying our own home than lending it out to everyone else... (though clearly, they don't grasp how heavy the burden of a mortgage can actually be). So, it turns out that those "complainers" aren't actually mindless; sometimes, airing your grievances is actually a very smart survival strategy.

Jesse Evans85 said:Those who complain aren't necessarily being foolish—not at all. I have a personal example of this. Michael Barrett11 and I never spend our time whining, even though we’re just renting right now and dealing with various other pressures. We stay incredibly disciplined about our finances; as he often says, we make sure we have enough of a cushion to cover whatever unexpected expenses come our way. But we don't vent about it. And you wouldn't believe how often people try to hit us up for money just because they see us staying composed. It seems like everyone—friends, family, anyone—acts as if we’re the local Chase Bank, simply because we aren't constantly broadcasting our struggles.
No one stops to consider that we’d much rather be putting that money toward buying our own home than lending it out to everyone else... (though clearly, they don't grasp how heavy the burden of a mortgage can actually be). So, it turns out that those "complainers" aren't actually mindless; sometimes, airing your grievances is actually a very smart survival strategy.

I didn't say they were unintelligent, I just said they get on my nerves. I actually agree that their strategy is quite clever, but it's frustrating because everyone treats us like we're clueless, as if we can't handle basic math.
My mother is the same way—she never complains, even though she’s perpetually overdrawn at Wells Fargo and living in a rental. Her brother-in-law thinks she's loaded and swimming in cash just because she spent a little extra hosting a birthday party and trying out some new recipes.
I have a nagging feeling that people are going to start coming to us for handouts pretty soon, too.
The truth is, we live with my aunts and they have plenty of money, but they aren't financing our lives; we live off my husband's small business. When we were just working day jobs, we paid for everything ourselves. It never even crossed our minds to ask them for help, regardless of what they have. We have to learn how to survive on whatever my husband brings home.

Michael Barrett11 said:I didn't say they were unintelligent, I just said they get on my nerves. I actually agree that their strategy is quite clever, but it's frustrating because everyone treats us like we're clueless, as if we can't handle basic math.
My mother is the same way—she never complains, even though she’s perpetually overdrawn at Wells Fargo and living in a rental. Her brother-in-law thinks she's loaded and swimming in cash just because she spent a little extra hosting a birthday party and trying out some new recipes.
I have a nagging feeling that people are going to start coming to us for handouts pretty soon, too.
The truth is, we live with my aunts and they have plenty of money, but they aren't financing our lives; we live off my husband's small business. When we were just working day jobs, we paid for everything ourselves. It never even crossed our minds to ask them for help, regardless of what they have. We have to learn how to survive on whatever my husband brings home.

Oh, believe me, they drive me crazy too!😠
See, that example with your mom proves it—if you don't whine about money, people assume you have plenty! That's how some folks' minds work, and then if you don't hand over a bit of your own, heaven forbid, they act like you're being unreasonable!

Jesse Evans85 said:Oh, believe me, they drive me crazy too!😠
See, that example with your mom proves it—if you don't whine about money, people assume you have plenty! That's how some folks' minds work, and then if you don't hand over a bit of your own, heaven forbid, they act like you're being unreasonable!

Honestly, the best move is to just tune them out when they start asking for money. Pretend you didn't hear a word.
I eventually decided I just couldn't waste any more mental energy on people like that; I would have lost my mind by now if I hadn't.
I personally went through this with my mother-in-law. She's quite ill and needs full-time care in a nursing home, so all the costs for her medication and extra expenses fell squarely on my husband's shoulders.
I mean, what's it to his parents or his brother? They both work full-time and bring in a paycheck; surely they can chip in something. Plus, we're currently expecting a baby.
Thankfully, my husband finally stood his ground🙏 and insisted that all the expenses be split three ways.

So I went to see my doctor today to get that wound cleaned up, and she decided to grace me with her presence by calling me "fat, fat" again... 😢
I’m seriously over it, I swear to God. Like, would anyone else even dare call someone skinny? No way! Or tell anyone else they're out of shape? Not a chance! So why am I the one getting roasted?

And while we're on the subject, all that talk about shots, cold ones, or warm drinks doesn't work on me. I’ve literally downed an ENTIRE Donut Shop soda and felt absolutely nothing... I just end up passed out like a seal. No partying for me tonight 😁

Honestly, I feel like I might actually lose it—and I mean it—if someone has the nerve to tell me I’ve put on weight just because I'm pregnant. I'm not even pregnant yet, but the mere thought of people judging my body is already getting under my skin. 🙂

In my opinion, women are at their absolute most beautiful when they are expecting, plain and simple. 🙂

My throat is killing me, super inflamed, and I can’t stop sniffing... plus my head is throbbing. And my back too. Honestly, everything feels off 😢👎I’m really hoping this isn't anything serious... I was just looking at the news and saw that the flu is making its rounds again. Just great. Seriously, I'm praying it's not the flu because I'm low-key panicking about the baby, and I actually have plans to travel somewhere for New Year's instead of being stuck in bed feeling miserable 😢

The only silver lining is that I don't have a fever yet. For now, I'm just loading up on vitamins, snacking on oranges, and sipping tea with plenty of honey and lemon... It doesn't seem worth going to get tested just to find out I'm fine, especially if it means sitting in a waiting room full of sick people 👎

I was honestly feeling quite frazzled by this—I had such an incredibly sore throat yesterday that I couldn't even manage a bite of food, you know? It was quite distressing. I didn't have a fever, and when my doctor listened to my lungs, everything sounded perfectly clear—no wheezing or anything that would suggest a standard common cold... but, given that I am currently pregnant, she wanted to be extra cautious. She sent me off for blood work and a urine sample, and sure enough, my white cell count and red cell count were through the roof, along with a few other markers being a bit low (I can't recall the exact specifics, to be honest). It turned out to be some sort of bacterial infection. My doctor prescribed some Augmentin, and well, after just three doses—taking one every twelve hours, after a quick and rather frantic call to my OB-GYN—I feel absolutely wonderful. The pain is gone, the inflammation has subsided, and I’m back to feeling like myself again. My doctor emphasized that if I hadn't come in immediately, things could have taken a much darker turn—she even mentioned the risk of a kidney infection. Please, seriously, go see a doctor if you feel off.
I tried the whole "natural remedy" route for four days—lots of oranges, lemons, honey, garlic, and plenty of homemade chicken soup—but nothing seemed to touch it...

So I’m standing there in the middle of a Target checkout line yesterday, waiting for what felt like an eternity—over half an hour, easy. And of course, they’ve got those signs everywhere saying pregnant women and people with disabilities get priority. Suddenly, this guy comes barreling through, leaning heavily on a cane like he’s got some major disability, just shoving his way to the front. They let him right past. And what about me? I’m literally days away from giving birth, my stomach is huge, and suddenly I don't exist? Absolute joke.!!!!!!!!!!!😠I’ve always been the type to step aside for moms with little kids and especially for pregnant women, so seeing this happen... man, it really sticks in my craw.😛