Does this sound mean?

[*Rae*]

I don't think you sound mean or unreasonable at all. You need time to yourself and your family right now. Have you got a family member or close friend that will be willing to take over the responsibility of letting people know how you are doing? Maybe you could sms or email the closer people to you - the ones that are prob bugging you to say "Please contact xxxxx if you need to find out how i'm doing - as i'm having a bit of 'time-out' right now" That way people will prob get the hint and won't even bother to call. Just a suggestion

[Mother Goose]

Tegan - I think it is perfectly fine! I am lucky that our phone has an option for "do not disturb" which means it goes straight to the machine (which plays silently so we don't hear it) and we just get a flashing light to indicate we have a message.

I love the email idea! I've already decided I am changing my voicemail in January to say "If you are calling to find out if I've gone into labour or have had the baby - calling ten times a day won't make it come any quicker! We will call YOU when we have news. If you just want to chat - leave a message and we'll call you back when we're able to. If it's urgent, please SMS the issue and I will call you as soon as I can". Mean and heartless but I don't want a million calls either! And our family and friends will understand (or blame pregnancy hormones!)

MG