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Things you should never say to a very pregnant woman

Kristen by Kristen Young Parent(December 2006) (rank 159th)
Speaking from experience, here they are...
  • I never had morning sickness.  Good for you/lucky for you.  However, if someone is talking about their morning sickness, they don't want to hear about how you didn't have any.  This is the equivalent to being in a major breakup
    because your boyfriend left you for a college cheerleader and your friend mentions that they have NEVER been broken up with before.  In their whole life.  And they still wear the same size they wore in high school.  That's bad too. 
  • Wow, are you sure you are only 8 months pregnant?  You look like you are going to go at any second.  Not many of us feel comfortable walking up to someone and saying "Wow, you sure added a good 10 pounds over the holiday, huh?" so what makes anyone think it's OK to insinuate that a pregnant woman resembles, I don't know, the side of a barn. 
  • I never had heartburn.  See Morning Sickness above.
  • Are you having twins?  If someone is having twins, they will tell you.  I promise they will tell you. 
  • You should get as much sleep now as you can, because when that baby comes, you'll never get a chance to sleep.  You should never say this for one simple reason--it is extremely difficult to get comfortable the last month or two before you give birth.  And if you have heartburn, you have more troubles that you can imagine.  It's not that very pregnant people DON'T want to sleep.  It usually means that they can't.  If you find someone who is saying things like, "I would love to sleep but I just have too much to do" because they are handpainting a mural on the baby's wall or staying up to all hours of the night knitting 40 pairs of baby booties, they don't need sleep anyway and will be the kind of person that is repotting the plants when the baby takes naps. 
  • Just think, it will all be over soon.  Unless you are one hour from giving birth, "soon" is not soon enough. 
  • Just think.  After you have that baby in your arms, it will all be worth it.  This is a horrible fallacy.  When your baby SMILES AT YOU for the first time, then it is all worth it.  Until that moment, you will have to go through 24 hours of labor, give birth to a baby with the head the size of a bowling ball, recover from said delivery, try to figure out how to feed this helpless child, realize how complicated feeding said child is, come to the realization that you can read every book on the market and you STILL can't figure out if that is the "I'm hungry" cry or the "I'm tired" cry or the "I'm wet" cry, realize that you don't know what the heck you are doing, spend sleepless days and sleepless nights filled with not-so-great parents giving you not-so-great-parenting advice on everything you are doing wrong and slowly losing your mind.   Then your baby will smile at you and it will all be worth it.  Even if it is a gas-induced smile.
Feel free to add any others that come to mind.  I know there are a million more out there.
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babysblues
February 2009 | babysblues
Re: Things you should never say to a very pregnant woman

I am currently 30 weeks along and I really hate it when people I know have a kid that is screaming and crying and they are like, look at what you got to look forward to, or they say, you better get use to it. This just drives me crazy.



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karleigh
November 2008 | karleigh
Re: Things you should never say to a very pregnant woman

When i was pregnant with my daughter i didnt get big at all you couldnt even tell i was pregnant now i am 7 months into my second pregnancy and my belly is huge, i also get people looking at me strangely and sometimes people just walk straight up to me and put there hands on my belly which i find very intrusive.

also you must never say to a pregnant women with two or more babies "WOW YOU JUST KEEP POPPING THEM OUT DONT YA" first of all if you could JUST POP THEM OUT it would be a hell of a lot easier then being in labour and pushing for countless hours everybody needs to give mothers and pregnant women more credit



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emmie
January 2008 | emmie
Re: Things you should never say to a very pregnant woman
great article
love it
cheers
emz


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hermy
January 2008 | hermy
Re: Things you should never say to a very pregnant woman
awesome.....well done....lol.......regards Sandra xxx


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mumof2b
January 2008 | mumof2b
Re: Things you should never say to a very pregnant woman

PMSL.......I loved it.......Well done

Amanda xxxx



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Ravenheart
5.00 (Excellent) | January 2008 | Ravenheart
Re: Things you should never say to a very pregnant woman

this made my day :)

xoxoxoxox



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franni
5.00 (Excellent) | January 2007 | franni
not just words
im 35 weeks and youwouldnt believe the stars i get from older weman, omg.fair enough i look young but they shouldnt just asume im 16 and having a baby, im 21 god. one woman came up to me and said omg your having another baby your ganna have your hands full and your so young to have kids when do you turn 18 love, do you live with your parents? i said excuse me iam 21 (i was just so insulted), how dare you asume im that young. i didnt mean to be so rude to her but i was just so fed up.(sorry just letting of some steam lol). do you guys get people thinking they have a right to feel your tummy say in the supermarket or somethink complete strangers have done that to me before, i think its rude they dont even ask, it make me feel uncomfortable. with my first pregnancy i got told so many bad labour stories it scared me that much i was so worried.
my sister 4 months in a week and she is quite big for 4 months and god she cops it so much they say things like youll be bigger then your sister soon (meaning me shell be bigger then me )your putting on weight so fast.


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violeta
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2006 | violeta
totaly agree

oh dear. I was proud of my belly and didnt mind people commenting but some went overboard. my sisters mother in law lived in a building top level (7) no lift she kept saying come over oh you women now days you think you are the firdt one to have a baby or how weak we are. and when my son was born she came to hospital even before my mom (this is my sisters mother in law not mine) and she said oh I am glad its a boy because if it was a girl your perents will love her more than the other 2 (my sisters and her sons 2 boys) I cryed for days over that.

 there were others as well



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      Kristen
December 2006 | Kristen
totaly agree
and she wasn't even YOUR mother in law?  Oh, dear. 


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onlychild
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2006 | onlychild
a fear
Have your say! I am 28 weeks along at the moment and a  friend of mine has just had a  difficult labour with complications and she and her new son almost died.  So the horror stories of childbirth are something that I would never tell a heavily pregnant person.


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      Kristen
December 2006 | Kristen
a fear
How scary for her!!!  The bad labor stories are never ending.  I think you are right about not telling anyone those. 


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ShellyT
4.00 (Good) | December 2006 | ShellyT
i agree
this sounds so familiar. LOL. i had heaps of people tell me this, and it annoyed me soooooo much....


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Britt
4.00 (Good) | December 2006 | Britt
true true
so well put


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Norby
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2006 | Norby
I dont ask

As a young mother of 2, I was always interested in other peoples condition. I asked a woman who came into the shop, when she was due.  She looked venomously and stated "I had my baby 4 months ago".  OOPS .  Did not ask anyone that dangerous question again for 10 years.  Then overcame with curiosity, I asked another woman.  She gave me a reminiscently venomous look, and stated "I had my little boy 3 months ago !!!" OH *censored*. 

With my first son, I was carrying well and had suffered 6 and a half months of constant, 24 hour, debilitating morning sickness. I was actually 5 pound lighter then when I first fell pregnant (and I was a size 8 then).  I had a work colleague come up to me, take me by the hand, sit me down and say "OH sweetie, I know what you are going through,  I miscarried two children.  Its hard isnt it.  If you ever need to talk, just come and see me."  I had to gently explain that I was, in fact, still pregnant.  I don't think she believed me until I had Michael two weeks later.

 



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      Kristen
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2006 | Kristen
I dont ask
I did the same thing to a woman who had had twins the week before.  In my defense, what mother of a toddler and a 4 year old who had twins last week would be out and about, all cheery????

If it makes you feel any better, my sister has this happen to her a lot and she just tells people that her uterus is hanging off the front of her body. 


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           cacnotcam
May 2007 | cacnotcam
going out after pregnancy
Excuse me? I am due "any day now" and CAN"T WAIT to get out and act "all cheery" without being pregnant. Am I supposed to remain housebound???????


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                MadMel
May 2007 | MadMel
going out after pregnancy
haha nope
but with a 4 year old... a toddler and new born twins its not common :P

I was homebound with my first for about 2 weeks. My second I was out of the hospital in a few hours and out at the shopping centre the next day!


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llmunchkin
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2006 | llmunchkin
Awesome - You Rock!
Here's one - don't ask, "When are you due."  This didn't happen to me - though it could have, I was a fatty - however it has happened to 2 of my girlfriends about 6 weeks AFTER they gave birth


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      Kristen
December 2006 | Kristen
Awesome - You Rock!
I'm thinking about making a "Recovering from Giving Birth" tshirt or something like that.


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Bethdyl
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2006 | Bethdyl
So true

I even get at work 'use the lift not the stairs' - I am not an invalid!!

Or 'why are you still working, you should be at home with your feet up' I have 6 weeks to go for pete's sake.

It's good to see that no matter where you are in the world the same comments go around.  I get the twin thing all the time because I also carry big.  When I say there is only one, I get "the other one is hiding behind him/her"



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      Kristen
December 2006 | Kristen
So true
I'm sorry, but I will not be tolerating a twin hiding behind this baby.  One only, please!!!!


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monyq83
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2006 | monyq83
I love this advice

Because its so true!

Another thing Ive learned, because I tend to carry really big like Im having twins even though Im not, is never to tell a pregnant woman she is small for however many months she is. She will then worry non stop until she delivers, that her baby is too small and is unhealthy.



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      Kristen
December 2006 | Kristen
I love this advice
that's a great point.  Although if someone tells me that at 8 months I don't look 8 months, I'll take that compliment. 


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OzBinky
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2006 | OzBinky
to add to the list
That is just so true.....

My dil is 6 months pregnant I even I get upset for her when I hear people say , 'oh my god really? You don't look 6 months' I admit she is carrying really well and she isn't that big but she doesn't want to to hear it every time someone finds out.

The other day she was asked this and then straight after her reply the person asked when he due date was, then sat there working her dates out replying 'No, you really are 6 months' ......


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      Kristen
December 2006 | Kristen
to add to the list
maybe that person wants to come over when she goes into labor if they think she is making it up or can't do the math properly.  Sheesh!!!!


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nell18-3
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2006 | nell18-3
Things not to say to a pregnant lady
I went long over due with all my children and I used to hate the 'jokers' who would come up to me saying
"Have you not had it yet!!! Obviously that is why I am wearing odd socks I can't see my feet!!!!
"Are you sure its not wind!!!" I wish the wind would blow you away!
"Oh still here then" Am I supposed to be somewhere else??
"Are your due dates right"   Oh come on really!!!!


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      Kristen
December 2006 | Kristen
Are your due dates right?
Nah, the doctor and I just took a stab at it.  We went to Las Vegas and picked a number on the roulette wheel and called it a due date.  The things people will say...


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