What were your biggest pregnancy surprises and pet peeves?

I’m with you on that—if you don’t have anything worthwhile to contribute, just stay quiet.
I honestly can't wrap my head around why people feel this constant, nagging urge to broadcast every single mindless thought that crosses their mind, especially to a bunch of complete strangers online.
🤷

It honestly gets under my skin when people see me and immediately ask, "Wait, where is your baby bump?" with that look of total surprise... even though I’m only eleven weeks along. To be fair, they've been making those same inquiries since I was around six or seven weeks, once word got out.

I mean, seriously, what is that about? Since when does a pregnancy show up instantly for everyone?

And to top it all off, because I have a naturally slender build, people feel the need to comment on that too. They’ll say things like, "How can you be so thin and pregnant at the same time?" Excuse me? Am I supposed to automatically transform into a pig just because I'm expecting?🙂

I’m with Michael King on this one.
I’m 21, and I happen to be one of those people who has a flat, barely visible stomach 🙂 even though I eat plenty. It drives me crazy when people ask stupid questions like, "Are you even eating anything?" or "Don't starve yourself." Honestly, my apologies if I didn't eat a massive feast just so I could fit into all my clothes.
As for touching my stomach—especially since mine is so small—it’s well below my belly button, yet people constantly try to poke me above the navel or near my ribs. Get it together, everyone. Ask first, and then MAYBE you can touch me.

Justin Baker3 said:I’m with Michael King on this one.
I’m 21, and I happen to be one of those people who has a flat, barely visible stomach 🙂 even though I eat plenty. It drives me crazy when people ask stupid questions like, "Are you even eating anything?" or "Don't starve yourself." Honestly, my apologies if I didn't eat a massive feast just so I could fit into all my clothes.
As for touching my stomach—especially since mine is so small—it’s well below my belly button, yet people constantly try to poke me above the navel or near my ribs. Get it together, everyone. Ask first, and then MAYBE you can touch me.

It’s the exact same thing with me! It’s like everyone is just sitting there waiting for me to gain weight so they can finally feel satisfied and happy with themselves 😁 🙄

My belly situation is exactly the same. Everyone’s constantly acting shocked because they can't see anything—but I've got a little bump, and honestly, it's totally fine given how many weeks I am and the fact that this is my first pregnancy.

What really gets me are the people who start a thread and then immediately pivot to the absolute worst-case scenario just to predict it'll happen to you. Like, "Oh, you're still dealing with nausea? You're gonna end up like my friend. She was puking until the moment she gave birth, couldn't eat a thing all nine months, ended up on IV fluids, and actually delivered weighing less than when she started." Wtf?!

Just letting off some steam here, I’ve only got about two weeks left. If people can't just leave me alone from the start, they should at least act normal now that I'm near the end, but instead, everyone keeps grabbing my belly and asking if the baby is moving?? They just stand there waiting and poking... honestly, people, and then they have the nerve to say, "I know you don't like it, but..." It drives me crazy, especially when it's the ladies next door doing it... if anyone is going to touch me, it's my husband, and he's the only one who gets to do it whenever he wants—sometimes I even tell him to help the baby 🙂

It seems we are all cut from the same cloth. 😂
I certainly hope we don't devolve into those obsessive belly-touchers and amateur parenting gurus... 😁

That behavior irritates me deeply. The endless anecdotes about birth experiences: "My friend's godmother's cousin said..."
Or the unsolicited advice on what I should or shouldn't buy—as if the baby won't thrive without some specific gadget. I no longer bother explaining myself; I simply fall silent or change the subject.

Yesterday, after waiting thirty minutes at a Target, the clerk finally approached me and asked: "Why didn't you come earlier? You don't have to wait in line."
It was the first time anyone has offered me any sort of courtesy due to my pregnancy. A rare moment of pleasant surprise...

So I was poking my belly during this pregnancy yesterday and it hit me Tyler Ramos with that whole gut massage thing—it felt exactly like that. I started cracking up, and the other person totally thought I was just melting from pure joy. 😉

^I was actually just sitting here thinking about how many times I’ve thought of this group lately—probably at least three hundred times—because yesterday I finally reached my breaking point.
After I complained for the five-hundredth time about how much that constant "belly rubbing" annoys me, everyone decided to start doing it on purpose just to get a rise out of me.
As if it were somehow hilarious;🙄
May God give them all chronic styes.🙂

😂😂 Tyler Ramos

I actually found myself thinking about you guys again today... specifically regarding this exact topic. 😁

It was one of those moments where someone was clearly trying to get a little too handsy around my stomach area—and there I was, all worked up and "ready" for whatever... 🙂but I just bluntly asked them to stop touching my midsection. Honestly? Maybe I was being a bit rude... 🤣🤷

It really gets under my skin when people start lecturing me about how "hard" it’s going to be once the baby arrives. They love to drone on about sleep deprivation and how I won't get a wink of rest because of the infant's schedule. Helooo? I have a nine-year-old son. I've been through this entire cycle already. Why do they think they need to play expert for me now? It's ridiculous. 😂

Second thing. I'm 28 weeks pregnant and my bump is pretty massive. Everyone assumes I'm due any second, so they look absolutely stunned when I tell them my due date isn't until next month. They act like I'm some sort of victim. Trust me, I'm not a victim, and I actually feel great. 🙄

Thirdly, living on the fourth floor without an elevator is killing me. Lugging grocery bags all the way up those stairs every day is exhausting. Honestly, it was exhausting even before I was pregnant. 😁

And then there's the endless interrogation about what I'm going to do with my two cats once the baby is here. What am I supposed to do? 🤷 It’s not like I’m suddenly going to stop vacuuming; if anything, I'll be doing it twice a day now. Besides, I brought the first cat home when my son was four, and we turned out just fine. Miraculously, we haven't died from cat hair yet. ☕

Also... why on earth am I cleaning every single day while pregnant? 😕 Maybe it's because I can't stand a mess, or maybe it's just an attempt to manage the amount of fur in the house. Being pregnant doesn't mean I'm sick or bedridden.

At the end of the day, I find most of this more hilarious than anything else. A hundred different people, a hundred different opinions.

So, this is my second pregnancy. It’s still way too early to see anything on an ultrasound, so I haven't been bombarded with all those "expert" tips and unsolicited comments yet... though I know they're coming. Right now, my husband, our son, and I are living with my mom and my brother, plus our two dogs. It’s definitely not the dream setup—we’d much rather have our own space and some peace and quiet—but for now, this is just how it is, and it’ll likely stay this way for a while. For the most part, we actually get along pretty well.
During my first pregnancy, the comments were always something like, "Oh, what are you going to do about the dogs?" And honestly? Nothing. We'll just toss them off the ninth floor.🙂I'm just wondering what I should even be doing right now!!!!
The absolute highlight was my old nosy neighbor. Back then, I had a hematoma and had to stay on bed rest for a month. People started noticing something was up because our neighbor would step in to walk the dogs, and since I'm usually out walking all the time, my sudden absence didn't go unnoticed. Word got out that I was pregnant and stuck at home. Then, I ran into this lady, and she goes to me, "Oh, congratulations! That's great, but don't get your hopes up too high because you never know what might happen." I was honestly floored. I wasn't expecting such total nonsense. Sure, anything can happen—I could step out of my apartment and get hit by a falling piano—but I don't live my life thinking about worst-case scenarios. When we see that positive test, we just start celebrating.

As for the belly, people didn't really mess with it much, except for one neighbor who kept poking at it without even asking if it was okay, which really rubbed me the wrong way. Thankfully, my mother-in-law didn't bother me with that stuff at all.

Sorry for the long rant.

Finally, something where I’m not being called a little brat—though I'll skip the whole belly-rubbing debate for now. It was my last day at work, right at the end of September, and this lady comes up to me and goes, "Oh my gosh, you're going to have a fall baby!" I just looked at her and said, "Nope, this is a winter baby, I just really love food!" I mean, sure, I've put on maybe 10 or 15 pounds, but for heaven's sake, I'm not exactly a tank ready to pop right this second. I definitely overdid it during the first trimester, and let's be real, I'm going to eat even more from here on out, but until then, I'm enjoying the ride.🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

I tend to show my bump almost immediately, and honestly, it’s pretty noticeable. I definitely wasn't one of those lucky women whose belly doesn't even start peeking out until the fifth month, let alone staying small and subtle like that.
I’ve been hearing those same kinds of comments floating around lately myself:
So, is the little one almost here? Are we counting down the days now? Just a little bit longer, right?
Not quite yet—I’ve still got about four months to go.
So, what exactly counts as twins?
🙂

So, I ended up getting that silly little starter kit they hand out at the pharmacy for expectant mothers, but since I showed up around my 18th week, it was specifically meant for the third trimester. Honestly, what was the point? Does anyone else feel like those things are just a bit misplaced sometimes?

I just got into a heated argument with a woman at the local Pharmacy. She had the nerve to tell me I won't receive my maternity package until after the baby is actually born and that I'll need to present my hospital discharge papers first. Meanwhile, I see plenty of other women walking away with their pregnancy kits already in hand. It makes zero sense. Shouldn't every Pharmacy be following the exact same protocol here?

It really gets under my skin when there’s absolutely nothing in that RI package!!!

Andrew Martin89 said:It really gets under my skin when there’s absolutely nothing in that RI package!!!

I got some kind of starter kit during my first trimester checkup at the doctor—is that what people are talking about? Or am I missing something else entirely?

You’ll usually get one little pack straight from your doctor, another one through Disney, and then you can pick up a third at places like CVS 🙂

I share some wonderful news with them, and what’s the very first reaction I get? "Oh, so what are you going to do about the cats now?" As if I suddenly can't let them inside, feed them, or give them affection anymore... 🙂

Look, it’s not like I’m fifteen and totally oblivious to the risks—I know how the world works—but these are my cats. There is absolutely no way I'd ever kick them out of my house. 🙂

I was actually speechless yesterday, and trust me—that almost never happens...
Some acquaintance of mine, right in the middle of church after a PTA meeting with about 150 other parents, decides to be "tactful" (aka loudly enough for everyone to hear) and goes, "Oh look, she’s glowing! What happened to you?!" I was just stunned. I didn't even know how to respond, so I just turned around and walked away. Not to mention at least 15 other moms giving me those subtle, judgmental side-eyes...
Jesus, I hate it. I seriously hate comments like that. And every second person asks because they saw what happened. Like, mind your own business—whether it happened or not, it's not like I'm going to explain my pregnancy status to every random person on the street! 🙂