What were your biggest pregnancy surprises and pet peeves?

I’ve been feeling incredibly agitated because my half-sister had the audacity to insist we grab coffee in the smoking section of some local pub.😲

And then, as if she weren't being difficult enough, she starts lecturing me on how much easier it is for non-smokers to endure a smoke-filled room than it is for smokers to refrain from lighting up in a non-smoking area.😳
But here is the thing: I don't smoke, and more importantly, I am seven months pregnant.🙄

So, I finally just laid it out for her straight—I told her quite bluntly that I have absolutely no intention of stepping foot in that part of the bar, period. If we want to sit together, we are either sitting in the non-smoking section or we are sitting outside. No compromise there.

Thankfully, the weather was actually decent and sunny while we were out there! I honestly can't imagine what's going to happen once the temperatures start dropping; at this rate, we probably won't even see each other again.🤷

It honestly gets on my nerves when everyone keeps checking in to see if I’m doing okay—not in a bad way, mind you, but with that overly cautious, gentle tone people use when they think you’re actually sick.

I mean, I feel fine, for the most part (though I mostly just feel heavy right now since I haven't really connected with the pregnancy yet; there hasn't been any movement from the baby to make it feel real).

And the potholes around here are driving me crazy whenever my partner is driving. He tends to go a little too fast, and every time we hit one of those cracks in the road, I feel this sharp jarring sensation deep in my lower abdomen, right where my ovaries are. It’s incredibly uncomfortable.

Honestly, it drives me absolutely insane when these older women constantly harp on about how huge my belly looks for being only 23 weeks along. I mean, sure, it sticks out more when I see some girls posting photos of their bumps online, but good grief, I was actually starting to panic thinking maybe I was having twins or had just let myself go completely... I even ended up breaking down and crying to my husband once because I genuinely feared something was wrong with me... even though I know I haven't gained more than the recommended 13 pounds, and I’m certainly not overweight, nor am I some supermodel.
I guess since I'm only 5'3" and have pretty narrow hips, the bump started showing way earlier than it might for someone taller or with more curves... but seriously, for God's sake, aren't pregnant women actually supposed to have a bump?
If it were men making these comments, I could probably brush it off, but it's always these women who have been through it themselves and know exactly what an average pregnancy looks like, yet they still act so shocked???? It’s a good thing they don't ask me how I even managed to get pregnant, because if they did, I swear I would have absolutely lost it!

...how much weight have you put on so far? give me all the variations!
I gained about 18 pounds in five months...so what?
From here on out, my answer is going to be "2 pounds"...let them keep asking if they want to see a side of me they won't like.

And just so we’re clear...I feel fantastic, I’m doing great, thank God, and the baby is doing wonderful too...thanks for asking! ☕

Honestly, my day started out with such a ridiculous moment right downtown. I ended up tripping and landing right on my butt, and this absolute gentleman was there to help me up. He even stood up for me on the subway, but since I was only going one stop, I just gave him a quick thanks... then he gets off at the same stop as me, and there I am, juggling two heavy grocery bags and sprinting for the bus, and he actually offers to carry them for me too.🙏
I made sure to tell him how much it warms my heart to see that there are still decent, kind people left in the world, and he just smiled and said, "Well, we still have a few old-school types left,"👍.

Then, of course, the bus pulls up absolutely packed with teenagers and college kids, and I scramble on, only to have everyone staring at me like I just dropped in from outer space. They can clearly see I'm pregnant and loaded down with bags, yet not a single soul even thinks about standing up to give me a seat.😠😲👎
My back is absolutely killing me today because, look, usually if I'm only traveling a couple of stops, I'm the type who might actually lose it if someone doesn't offer me a seat, but what happened on that bus today really set me off. It just made me think back to that gentleman and his genuine, old-fashioned manners.👍

And here we are, pretending we belong in the European Union when we clearly lack even the most basic sense of decency. Who would even want people like us among civilized society? We act like a bunch of uncultured peasants who just want hand-outs and entertainment, expecting money to fall from the sky without lifting a finger, all while having zero respect for actual culture or etiquette.😕

It honestly drives me up the wall when my girlfriends—who, by the way, have never even been pregnant—start acting like experts on my life. They’ll be like, "Oh, really? How hard can it actually be to slather on some body lotion? Stop kidding me, you're just being lazy!" Or they'll hit me with that classic, "Don't just sit there all day, you need to move more," when I'm definitely not just lounging around, though I'm certainly not out running marathons either 🙄. And don't even get me started on the insomnia comments: "How can you suffer from sleep issues? You probably just stay up too late, no wonder you can't sleep"
. 🙂
I swear, there are days when I genuinely wish I didn't have to see any of them again for the rest of my life 😠

placidwalker6 said:It honestly drives me up the wall when my girlfriends—who, by the way, have never even been pregnant—start acting like experts on my life. They’ll be like, "Oh, really? How hard can it actually be to slather on some body lotion? Stop kidding me, you're just being lazy!" Or they'll hit me with that classic, "Don't just sit there all day, you need to move more," when I'm definitely not just lounging around, though I'm certainly not out running marathons either 🙄. And don't even get me started on the insomnia comments: "How can you suffer from sleep issues? You probably just stay up too late, no wonder you can't sleep"
. 🙂
I swear, there are days when I genuinely wish I didn't have to see any of them again for the rest of my life 😠

And just wait until you hear the stuff coming from the friends who actually gave birth in the last couple of years. That’s a whole different level of annoying. 😠😠🙄

And honestly, this stupid Forum is driving me absolutely insane. It’s slow as hell and I’m constantly getting hit with those damn 503 and 504 errors 🙂

Honestly, so much has been getting under my skin lately, and let’s be real—it’s probably just these hormones hitting me like a freight train right now as I approach the finish line 🤷 I’ve been wishing my man would just drive me to the hospital in the next city over every week, but since he just started this new job, 😢... and honestly, I’d much rather just drive myself because I hate feeling like a burden, but he won't let me, so we end up constantly begging someone else for a ride instead.
When I was at the clinic yesterday, oh my god, I spent the entire morning waiting because there were these pregnant women with "VIP status"—you know, being escorted by nurses and kitchen staff and all that—cutting right in front of me, and I was absolutely fuming 😠 Now I’m just sitting here praying I didn't pass anything on to the baby so I don't have to end up back at the hospital every other day; those fears are just eating me alive, they're incredibly irritating, and they honestly just drag me straight into a depressive funk 😢😢😢

So, I finally lost my cool yesterday and cut ties with this so-called "friend"—more like an acquaintance, really. He decided to comment on Facebook about how pregnancy is cruel and unnatural, how it just "deforms" women, and how hormones turn us into complete wrecks. Since I couldn't reply directly to his comment on that specific post, I just hit him with a status of my own, telling him he was dead wrong and that pregnancy is honestly one of the most beautiful things a woman can experience. Well, that triggered him. He started launching insults at me, my baby, my husband—everything. And get this: some random 25-year-old girl was actually liking his status. Like, seriously? What is wrong with people? It makes zero sense to me. As for him, I guess I finally see why everyone used to warn me about him. People always said he was unhinged, totally insecure, and emotionally unstable. He’s obsessed with steroids and spends all his time at the gym, which is clearly just making his personality even more distorted. He’s spiraling, losing friends left and right, and honestly, those kinds of posts just make him look desperate for attention while everyone else moves on. He's just pathetic, really... truly pathetic. He's officially blocked for eternity.

Man, my throat has been killing me since last night 😠, nothing crazy like a bright red inflammation or a high fever—I'm sitting at like 99 degrees—but I've felt a bit off since the start of T.
So, I’m about to go on a total sugar rampage with honey, fried sugar, and whatever lozenges I can find (just gonna see what the lady at the CVS recommends), honestly aiming to get a little hyperglycemic just to fight this off 😁

What’s really eating at me, though, is that I’m only 9 weeks along, so we’re still right in that organogenesis stage, and I can't help but worry about how this might affect the baby 🤷😢

And I'll say it again: it drives me absolutely insane that for every single little thing I want to put in my mouth, on my skin, or whatever, I have to double-check if it's actually safe during T 😠
It wouldn't even be such a huge hassle if companies actually labeled their products clearly, but most don't, so you're stuck scouring the internet or asking people on the Forum...😠

It truly vexes me when people feel entitled to greet me by commenting on my weight. I haven't even gained much, yet for some reason, they seem to believe such remarks are somehow charming or acceptable. If it weren't for my husband's tempering influence, I fear I would have ended up in a heated confrontation with nearly everyone I encounter. Just the other day at the local CVS, an older woman serving me decided to cut me ahead in line, only to snap at me, asking what on earth I wanted, "fatty." My blood pressure shot up to 300 in that moment. Honestly, next time, I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself from biting back.

Ugh, I seriously lost my mind today. What is actually wrong with people lately? Are we just becoming an incredibly rude society or what?
So, I’m sitting on the bus, and of course, at one stop, about fifty grandmas pile in, creating this massive crush, and I’m just sitting there fuming. Look, I’m not exactly shoving my belly out in their faces to demand a seat, but for crying out loud, I am six months pregnant! It isn't exactly a secret!
I’m just sitting there, waiting for one of those poor souls to start something—not even one of the sweet ones, but some loud, entitled woman who decides to be downright obnoxious and snaps, "Are you really not going to get up for me????"
I just stared at her, completely deadpan. NO!!! And she just stands there with her eyes wide like I’ve lost it, asking, "No?!?!?! Why not?"
And I just calmly, almost lethargically, replied, "MAYBE BECAUSE I'M PREGNANT!!!!"

She shut her mouth for good after that, amen!

Just checking in to report: some Grandpa asked me on the subway today if I’d "mind giving up my seat."
I'm 40 weeks pregnant.
Absolutely ridiculous.

So, I’ve been sitting here, stuck in one of those bouts of boredom, just scrolling through—well, let's call it "researching"—some of the older posts on this Forum. And honestly? I’ve read enough to know that some of this stuff is just... questionable. There are certain stories floating around where I would personally bet my life savings that they never actually happened—they feel completely manufactured, just exaggerated nonsense designed for drama. ☕

Anyway, there it is. Just getting a few things off my chest, I suppose. 😁

(Brace yourselves for a wave of honesty)

Not that any of it is getting under my skin or anything. 😛

Tyler Ruiz502 said:So, I’ve been sitting here, stuck in one of those bouts of boredom, just scrolling through—well, let's call it "researching"—some of the older posts on this Forum. And honestly? I’ve read enough to know that some of this stuff is just... questionable. There are certain stories floating around where I would personally bet my life savings that they never actually happened—they feel completely manufactured, just exaggerated nonsense designed for drama. ☕

Anyway, there it is. Just getting a few things off my chest, I suppose. 😁

(Brace yourselves for a wave of honesty)

Not that any of it is getting under my skin or anything. 😛

Damn straight! I don't know much about this specific thread regarding what bugs us during pregnancy, but I definitely know about another one on here where someone (not naming names!) basically made a complete fool of themselves recently... ☕

Honestly, my husband is the one driving me crazy right now! For real! He's been snapping at me constantly for the last three days... then I end up tearing up—which isn't even like me, I don't cry easily—and he just goes, "Why the hell are you crying?" 🙄
Listen, honey, you better watch how you treat me, because if you keep this up, I'm putting a dash instead of your name on the baby's birth certificate!!!!! 😬
But seriously, I actually want him... ☕

Thomas Mendoza12 said:It truly vexes me when people feel entitled to greet me by commenting on my weight. I haven't even gained much, yet for some reason, they seem to believe such remarks are somehow charming or acceptable. If it weren't for my husband's tempering influence, I fear I would have ended up in a heated confrontation with nearly everyone I encounter. Just the other day at the local CVS, an older woman serving me decided to cut me ahead in line, only to snap at me, asking what on earth I wanted, "fatty." My blood pressure shot up to 300 in that moment. Honestly, next time, I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself from biting back.

I’ve already posted a few times about how being called "fat" can drive my blood pressure up so high I feel like I'm actually going to explode...
then I just remind myself that it's just a reflection of how they were raised, which makes it easier to deal with...
actually, look at it this way: the reason it's so shocking to you is because YOU were actually raised with manners! U P B R E A T ! While they clearly weren't! 😉

Edward Rodriguez4 said:I’ve already posted a few times about how being called "fat" can drive my blood pressure up so high I feel like I'm actually going to explode...
then I just remind myself that it's just a reflection of how they were raised, which makes it easier to deal with...
actually, look at it this way: the reason it's so shocking to you is because YOU were actually raised with manners! U P B R E A T ! While they clearly weren't! 😉

It truly grinds my gears as well, this obsession with calling people "fat," because even before I was pregnant, I always had a larger frame, and everyone used to tell me, "Oh, don't worry, it's just a sturdy bone structure," which was somewhat helped by the fact that I'm quite tall, so now, whenever someone dares to ask me "where is the fat on you?", I can almost see them thinking that they can finally say what they really think to my face, provided they wrap it in enough polite cellophane to pass it off as a compliment since, after all, I am expecting... goodness, I've rambled on quite a bit now, but I sincerely hope you all understand where I'm coming from...

I just wanted to pop in here for a second because I really feel for everyone in this thread... I truly do. Back when I was about three months along, I lost my baby during the twelfth week, but honestly, that’s not what I’m here to talk about right now. I just felt compelled to jump into this massive discussion because, well, I have a bit of a similar story regarding body image. You see, I’ve always had more of an athletic, curvy build—not much going on up top, but definitely blessed in the hips and legs area. While I was pregnant, I was working retail, and since it was just starting to pick up for the season, the store was getting pretty busy. I was stationed at the register when my mom's brother walked in, and he actually had the nerve to comment on how much weight I'd put on. It wasn't like anyone knew I was expecting or anything, so I had no idea why he thought he could say that to me. I didn't hold back, though; I looked him right in the eye and told him, "Listen, I have a very good reason for gaining this weight, and if I have to carry these extra pounds for nine months, I will—and unlike you, I actually have a reason for it, even if you are smaller than me!" Needless to say, he hasn't said a single word about my weight ever since...

Look, here’s my two cents on this whole "fat" thing—maybe some people are gonna come for me, but honestly, why should I even care? 🤷 This supposed "weight gain" is only lasting nine months, and besides, those people have been acting like total jerks their entire lives anyway. 🙄 Personally, I actually find it kind of funny when someone tries to call me "fat," because that’s just not how I am naturally, and this is the one specific time where I have a perfectly good reason to be, so why on earth would I let it get under my skin? 😉