What were your biggest pregnancy surprises and pet peeves?

Brian Jones8 said:I totally feel you! 😢
I’m just as sensitive, and honestly, just as high-strung.

We are hitting these milestones at the exact same time. I feel huge—my legs feel like freaking tree trunks... and then there's the stomach. I hate feeling this heavy, and I am definitely not enjoying pregnancy (this first one has been a total nightmare). I'm basically just white-knuckling it from one checkup to the next, waiting for the Libertarian Party to somehow fix my life. 🙂
I’ve basically given up and just live in oversized tunics and leggings.

Ugh, tell me about it... I feel like my legs are just swollen with water, so tight and tender to the touch. And goodness, when is May 7th actually going to roll around? At this rate, I'll be walking in circles until then!!!!!
Pregnancy just drags on forever; they really ought to invent a shorter version of this experience. 🤣
Even though I've put on quite a few pounds, I'm not even worried about losing them later, because right now I feel so out of shape and unrecognizable that I won't even be catching my reflection in shop windows downtown... so let's just say I'm starting my diet the very second this baby makes its debut!!!

A few days ago, I found out I’m expecting a little girl. It’s my first baby, and honestly, the comments have been relentless. People just chime in with things like, "Oh, well, at least let her be healthy and happy," as if that's the end of the conversation.
Or they start implying there will be a third one soon, or that you need to "try again" for a boy. They even go as far as saying things like, "Your husband would definitely prefer a son."
I mean, seriously. First of all, nobody actually asks for my opinion, and second, they just blurt things out without any filter or common sense... it’s incredibly rude. I have absolutely no desire to get into an argument with fools; I simply want to say that as long as she is healthy and thriving like her mother, I will be the happiest woman alive. It really bothers me how in our society, there's still this lingering idea that a son is the ultimate prize while a daughter is somehow secondary.

Another thing that drives me up the wall is when people comment on baby names. Again, no one asks what I think, yet everyone feels entitled to weigh in. It feels like the older generation would be perfectly content if every single child was named Anthony, George, Edward, Mary, or Kate... and when they reach that level of predictability, I lose my patience and feel compelled to snap back.🙂🙂🙂

Peter Price3 said:A few days ago, I found out I’m expecting a little girl. It’s my first baby, and honestly, the comments have been relentless. People just chime in with things like, "Oh, well, at least let her be healthy and happy," as if that's the end of the conversation.
Or they start implying there will be a third one soon, or that you need to "try again" for a boy. They even go as far as saying things like, "Your husband would definitely prefer a son."
I mean, seriously. First of all, nobody actually asks for my opinion, and second, they just blurt things out without any filter or common sense... it’s incredibly rude. I have absolutely no desire to get into an argument with fools; I simply want to say that as long as she is healthy and thriving like her mother, I will be the happiest woman alive. It really bothers me how in our society, there's still this lingering idea that a son is the ultimate prize while a daughter is somehow secondary.

Another thing that drives me up the wall is when people comment on baby names. Again, no one asks what I think, yet everyone feels entitled to weigh in. It feels like the older generation would be perfectly content if every single child was named Anthony, George, Edward, Mary, or Kate... and when they reach that level of predictability, I lose my patience and feel compelled to snap back.🙂🙂🙂

I almost lost it this Sunday over name suggestions. For starters, we don't even know the gender yet, and besides, my husband and I are the ones deciding. We share what we like, and then the comments start... "Oh, I know someone with that name and they're terrible!" Who cares? If we choose it, it's our choice. You raise your own kids and pick whatever you want. Am I being too sensitive??

It honestly gets under my skin when people ask, "But what about your dog?" Like, what do you mean, "what about him?" He’s a full-fledged member of the family—he’s coming with us, period...

It has become quite aggravating when people insist on telling me how difficult boys can be—implying they are inherently troublesome—while claiming girls are more docile and affectionate. They even have the audacity to offer their pity because my son is 🙂
.
Furthermore, I find it tiresome when people assume I will rush back to work the moment my maternity leave concludes simply because my husband is currently between jobs. They look at me as if I am completely out of touch or irresponsible just because my intention is to remain on leave for a full year.

During the early stages of pregnancy, I was also rather bothered by the hair growth on my abdomen, which seemed to appear around week six, along with the constant exhaustion.

It is evident that one's nerves are somewhat more sensitive during pregnancy, as I am generally not an easily provoked person.😁

Dana Brown8 said:I almost lost it this Sunday over name suggestions. For starters, we don't even know the gender yet, and besides, my husband and I are the ones deciding. We share what we like, and then the comments start... "Oh, I know someone with that name and they're terrible!" Who cares? If we choose it, it's our choice. You raise your own kids and pick whatever you want. Am I being too sensitive??

We haven't decided anything, so that is how we handle inquiries. When people ask if we have any ideas, we simply say no and end the conversation there. I highly recommend adopting that same approach.
In fact, we likely won't reveal the name to anyone until after the birth, assuming we decide before then.

Arthur Thompson11 said:It honestly gets under my skin when people ask, "But what about your dog?" Like, what do you mean, "what about him?" He’s a full-fledged member of the family—he’s coming with us, period...

in the middle of winter
🤣 Questions like that are everywhere.

Nothing gets under my skin more than unsolicited advice... Suddenly everyone thinks they've got an MD and a specialization in OB-GYN... when they don't have a clue what they're talking about 😳

Indeed, the question remains: did the child actually come back to life?🙂🙂

Honestly, I’ve been getting sick of this from day one... everyone is obsessed with asking nothing but the baby's gender, what I'm planning to name them, and how many damn pounds I've put on...

Apparently, those are the only things that actually matter to people...

I don't hear a single soul asking if I'm doing okay, or if the baby is hitting all its milestones and developing properly... no, not at all... it's just the gender, the name, and how many freaking pounds I've gained, and that's the end of it. 🙂

Yeah, and my mother-in-law, she’s relentless, just every single time:
I mean, did I start getting up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night? No... well, how could I not... she's always there...
Next time, it’ll be more of the same... 🙂

Honestly, the whole "is it a boy or a girl?" obsession drives me nuts, but then you get those people offering unsolicited advice like, "Oh, you gained 50 pounds during your first pregnancy, so maybe watch what you eat this time." Like, excuse me? Why do they even care? I’ll worry about dropping the weight once the baby is actually here, not them. They should probably just focus on losing their own extra pounds instead.

neonrider40 said:Honestly, the whole "is it a boy or a girl?" obsession drives me nuts, but then you get those people offering unsolicited advice like, "Oh, you gained 50 pounds during your first pregnancy, so maybe watch what you eat this time." Like, excuse me? Why do they even care? I’ll worry about dropping the weight once the baby is actually here, not them. They should probably just focus on losing their own extra pounds instead.

And it’s always the same group of people asking—usually the ones who are the most heavily built themselves...
Just mind your own business and stay out of mine... 🙂

First, I was just poking at my stomach when it was barely even visible 🤷

Now, what’s really getting to me is that I can't even sneeze or cough normally if my bladder is full without having a little accident. It makes me feel pretty pathetic 🙈

And don't get me started on how everyone reacts when they hear it's a boy. They all go, "Oh, that's great!" or "Congratulations!" Like, if it were a girl, would they suddenly stop being happy? Whatever...

I am honestly losing my mind with people constantly recounting their long, agonizing, traumatic, and complicated labor stories. I’m only eight weeks along.
I actually had to cut off a coworker the other day—"Look, I'm sorry, but I really don't want to hear the gory details of your delivery. Sorry, but I just can't listen to this."
She took offense. 😢

And don't even get me started on the superstitions. "Don't step over those power cords, or the umbilical cord will wrap around the baby's neck" 😢 and all that nonsense.

Yesterday, at 7 plus 2 weeks, I was hit with my first in a long line of those "helpful" little nuggets of advice that you just never quite forget...
By Julkina Majka: "Please, just go to church this week and thank God for that baby—otherwise, I don't know how your pregnancy is going to end up."
It goes without saying that I’ve already dealt with one miscarriage—which I suppose was also blamed on my lack of church attendance—and that I'm an agnostic, a fact everyone seems to be well aware of...
🤦

And honestly? This is just the beginning... who knows what else is waiting for me around the corner...

Everyone keeps asking me if I’m dealing with morning sickness, as if my stomach being a disaster zone is somehow the most critical metric of pregnancy. Look, I feel pretty lousy, hellooooo 😛 , but my BMI is fine.

mellowranger16 said:Everyone keeps asking me if I’m dealing with morning sickness, as if my stomach being a disaster zone is somehow the most critical metric of pregnancy. Look, I feel pretty lousy, hellooooo 😛 , but my BMI is fine.

Yeah, no vomiting here either, but every single afternoon through the night, the nausea is just driving me crazy. If you aren't actually puking, people think you're fine, but it's not like that at all. 😬

It really gets on my nerves being the party pooper lately. I can't stay out late anymore because I'm crashing by 9 PM. 😢
It looks like I'm just blowing everyone off, but the truth is cigarettes smell gross to me right now, I'm basically sleeping standing up, and my stomach bloats so much at night that nothing I wear fits comfortably. 🤷

The surroundings!!! It is always about the surroundings. Without them, pregnancy would be a remarkably lovely and tranquil period. So, let us begin:

- You want to use cloth diapers?? Are you actually sane? We literally drove to San Francisco just to stock up on Pampers, and now that they are available at every single corner, you refuse to use them (I am convinced the troops liberated San Francisco specifically for the sake of Pampers 🙂)! You will inevitably realize that cleaning baby feces out of cloth is a nightmare, and you'll be switching back to Pampers within forty-eight hours (not to mention that the prospect of participating in the wonderful tradition of everyone huddling over a changing pad to stare at someone else's child's mess makes me question my future role as a mother)

- You are going to put the crib RIGHT there? There will be a draft! What if you put it over THERE instead (on the other side of the room)? There is no airflow there!! 🤷

- Why did you buy a changing pad (not the whole dresser, just the pad itself) when you could have sourced one from somewhere else?? (Of all things, buying a changing pad from $50 to stick onto our existing dresser is a stinging indictment of our extravagance 🥳 )

- You are going to change the baby in the bathroom?? (It is a source of universal shock and disbelief, because why would I change a baby in a heated bathroom when I could do it in a cooler bedroom or simply tackle the diaper in the living room? Not to mention the obvious fact that I have running water right there)

- No, you absolutely cannot dress the baby in short-sleeved onesies in the winter, regardless of how many layers you pile on top! (We ended up with a small collection of slightly used short-sleeved onesies that we can only use during the warmer months. Generally speaking, my family and company maintain that if they are short-sleeved, they are useless in winter, no matter how many layers follow) 🙂

- Why did you buy onesies? How are you going to pull them over the head? You clearly don't realize how difficult or fragile a baby can be, or how much they resist being dressed.....!! (My child will be a Hulk who wears nothing but tank tops)

- Cotton wool and water? Are you planning to clean the baby with cotton wool and water?? Who even does that anymore in the era of Pampers! (Refer back to point one and the story regarding the liberation of San Francisco for the sake of diapers. 🙂 Specifically, the white, sensitive kind)

To be clear, this is merely something I am saying off the top of my head 😁 I am currently 38 weeks and 2 days along, and I am eagerly anticipating the moment everyone repeats these exact same critiques once the baby arrives, so I can launch them all straight to Mars thanks to my hormones!

Whatever you listen to during pregnancy is nothing compared to the advice they throw at you once the baby actually arrives. 🙂

brighttiger6 said:The surroundings!!! It is always about the surroundings. Without them, pregnancy would be a remarkably lovely and tranquil period. So, let us begin:

- You want to use cloth diapers?? Are you actually sane? We literally drove to San Francisco just to stock up on Pampers, and now that they are available at every single corner, you refuse to use them (I am convinced the troops liberated San Francisco specifically for the sake of Pampers 🙂)! You will inevitably realize that cleaning baby feces out of cloth is a nightmare, and you'll be switching back to Pampers within forty-eight hours (not to mention that the prospect of participating in the wonderful tradition of everyone huddling over a changing pad to stare at someone else's child's mess makes me question my future role as a mother)

- You are going to put the crib RIGHT there? There will be a draft! What if you put it over THERE instead (on the other side of the room)? There is no airflow there!! 🤷

- Why did you buy a changing pad (not the whole dresser, just the pad itself) when you could have sourced one from somewhere else?? (Of all things, buying a changing pad from $50 to stick onto our existing dresser is a stinging indictment of our extravagance 🥳 )

- You are going to change the baby in the bathroom?? (It is a source of universal shock and disbelief, because why would I change a baby in a heated bathroom when I could do it in a cooler bedroom or simply tackle the diaper in the living room? Not to mention the obvious fact that I have running water right there)

- No, you absolutely cannot dress the baby in short-sleeved onesies in the winter, regardless of how many layers you pile on top! (We ended up with a small collection of slightly used short-sleeved onesies that we can only use during the warmer months. Generally speaking, my family and company maintain that if they are short-sleeved, they are useless in winter, no matter how many layers follow) 🙂

- Why did you buy onesies? How are you going to pull them over the head? You clearly don't realize how difficult or fragile a baby can be, or how much they resist being dressed.....!! (My child will be a Hulk who wears nothing but tank tops)

- Cotton wool and water? Are you planning to clean the baby with cotton wool and water?? Who even does that anymore in the era of Pampers! (Refer back to point one and the story regarding the liberation of San Francisco for the sake of diapers. 🙂 Specifically, the white, sensitive kind)

To be clear, this is merely something I am saying off the top of my head 😁 I am currently 38 weeks and 2 days along, and I am eagerly anticipating the moment everyone repeats these exact same critiques once the baby arrives, so I can launch them all straight to Mars thanks to my hormones!

God, it feels like I'm reading my own family chat. Can we just collectively put everyone in the top 😉 😁

I also have to add my two cents about waiting for news—like that group of aunts gathered at Walmart around my belly, when the ultrasound tech tells us it's a girl, and they immediately start trying to soothe you with stuff like "Well, as long as they're healthy," or "Oh, don't worry, I had daughters too, it's no big deal," etc. No. Just... no. I simply cannot. 🤦 😕