Ten things NOT to say to a pregnant woman.
So, i figured with my time being pregnant coming to a quick close, I would give some advice to those of you who haven't been pregnant. Before my recent foray into pregnancy, I made most of these mistakes. Thankfully, I know better now, and will never again exclaim loudly to one of my pregnant friends-"You look HUGE!"
1. "Hey, you look great!... You know, being pregnant and all" (Or post-pregnancy "You look great!... You know, having had 3 kids and all")
The best thing to do in this situation is to stop with "Hey, you look great!" or, don't comment at all. Pregnant women know they've gained 30 lbs in 9 months, that they have cankles, that-thanks to raging hormones- they have acne, and that they do, in fact, NOT look great.
2. "That's going to be a HUGE baby!"
Yeah, this is a fantastic one. After having someone tell you daily that you must be carrying Gigantor around in your belly- and then you find out at your sonogram that your child weighs a whopping 3.4 lbs- you tend to start to resent the "huge baby" comments.
3. "You must be carrying twins!"
Nice.
4. "Are you sure??"
Great response after trying to convince a total stranger in Wal-Mart that you are most certainly only carrying one child.
5. "My sister/cousin/aunt/mother/...."
Followed by some terrifying story about what someone somewhere went through while they were pregnant. So maybe this is just a Southern Thing, but I feel like every time someone finds out I'm pregnant, they have a seriously terrifying story to tell about their pregnant friend. I promise you, we're scared enough, there is no need/point to trying to scare us more.
6."You're naming him/her WHAT?"
Ok, so this is a pretty big one in my book. It's becoming more and more popular that people just don't share their child's name with others before the baby gets here. If you do happen to be in the inner circle that the parent's feel are important enough to share the name with before hand, it's probably not a good idea to grimace/laugh when you hear the baby's name. I mean, even if the name would be better for a parakeet or a new fruit drink, it's still the parent's decision, and they didn't pick the name for the heck of it, they really do like it. I mean, even an "Ohhh...." with a half smile is better than " WHY would you name him/her that?!"
7. "You caught up with me!"
If you are a middle aged man who(after partaking of one too many beers in your lifetime) looks like YOU could be carrying twins, PLEASE, PLEASE do not come up to a pregnant woman and make any comment WHATSOEVER about the similarity in size of our stomachs. No matter how funny it seems to you, it is, in reality, NOT funny to a pregnant woman that they are the size of a full grown man.
8. "How much have you gained?"
I mean, really....
9. "You must be ready to pop!"
No, actually, I'm 4 months pregnant. But thanks.
10. "Should you be eating that?"
This will come with either a silent death stare, or a barrage of verbal insults sprinkled with words you never wanted to hear a pregnant woman speak.
1. "Hey, you look great!... You know, being pregnant and all" (Or post-pregnancy "You look great!... You know, having had 3 kids and all")
The best thing to do in this situation is to stop with "Hey, you look great!" or, don't comment at all. Pregnant women know they've gained 30 lbs in 9 months, that they have cankles, that-thanks to raging hormones- they have acne, and that they do, in fact, NOT look great.
2. "That's going to be a HUGE baby!"
Yeah, this is a fantastic one. After having someone tell you daily that you must be carrying Gigantor around in your belly- and then you find out at your sonogram that your child weighs a whopping 3.4 lbs- you tend to start to resent the "huge baby" comments.
3. "You must be carrying twins!"
Nice.
4. "Are you sure??"
Great response after trying to convince a total stranger in Wal-Mart that you are most certainly only carrying one child.
5. "My sister/cousin/aunt/mother/...."
Followed by some terrifying story about what someone somewhere went through while they were pregnant. So maybe this is just a Southern Thing, but I feel like every time someone finds out I'm pregnant, they have a seriously terrifying story to tell about their pregnant friend. I promise you, we're scared enough, there is no need/point to trying to scare us more.
6."You're naming him/her WHAT?"
Ok, so this is a pretty big one in my book. It's becoming more and more popular that people just don't share their child's name with others before the baby gets here. If you do happen to be in the inner circle that the parent's feel are important enough to share the name with before hand, it's probably not a good idea to grimace/laugh when you hear the baby's name. I mean, even if the name would be better for a parakeet or a new fruit drink, it's still the parent's decision, and they didn't pick the name for the heck of it, they really do like it. I mean, even an "Ohhh...." with a half smile is better than " WHY would you name him/her that?!"
7. "You caught up with me!"
If you are a middle aged man who(after partaking of one too many beers in your lifetime) looks like YOU could be carrying twins, PLEASE, PLEASE do not come up to a pregnant woman and make any comment WHATSOEVER about the similarity in size of our stomachs. No matter how funny it seems to you, it is, in reality, NOT funny to a pregnant woman that they are the size of a full grown man.
8. "How much have you gained?"
I mean, really....
9. "You must be ready to pop!"
No, actually, I'm 4 months pregnant. But thanks.
10. "Should you be eating that?"
This will come with either a silent death stare, or a barrage of verbal insults sprinkled with words you never wanted to hear a pregnant woman speak.
hahahaha i look forward to making up my own list one day!!! hahaha to funny!! my favorite is " you caught up with me" ..... who said that to you i have to know??
ReplyDeleteLol I will have to tell you next time I see you, don't let me forget!
ReplyDeleteNice! I got most of those myself! The twins comment I got a lot and oh I still get the "You named him what?" comment often. Actually last week a lady said to me..."Why would you do that to your son?"
ReplyDeleteI almost knocked her out.
Hahahahaha
I think her name is delightful by the way!
Katie I so agree with you on a lot of these. Espically the name thing. We have chosen with both girls not to tell the names we are thinking about. For one reason just so I don't have to hear the stories of how someone knows someone that name or how they like of HATE that name. I really don't care. It only matters to me. Like with Millie we get all kinds of comments on that. We have actaully started saying as a joke that we named her after our favortie band Milli Vanilli just spelled a little different. Anyways sounds like things are getting exciting! Wish ya'll the best!!
ReplyDeleteOk I am just now reading back over my post and I have a lot of typing errors....sorry!
ReplyDeleteKayse I still can't get over the twins comment... and then the insisting afterward that your doctor must be looking at your sonograms wrong.
ReplyDeleteAnd "why would you do that to your child"?!?!?! Maybe it's just the pregnancy hormones speaking, but I believe I would have had a difficult time withholding my disparaging comments for that woman.
Andrea- Ryan and I have decided that we aren't going to tell people what we are going to name our children anymore. They can all just find out at the blessing like everyone else.
lol hahaha...poor thing...i remember when everyones fav game was to guess what weight my cankles match up to!!!
ReplyDeletelove sarahstormant...i had to click anonymous cuz i dont have a blog or such