The stereotype of the over emotional, irrational pregnant woman sobbing at the supermarket checkout because they didn’t have the ice cream flavour she wanted is not so much a gross representation as a fact of life.
Pregnant women cry.
A lot.
About crazy things – and pretty much everything.
Here are some of the most common examples:
Pregnant Women Cry #1: An Advert That Has Anything To Do With Babies, Children Or Pets
Television adverts selling anything from nappies to dining tables can send a pregnant woman from normal to weeping in less than five seconds.
Adverts showcasing unwanted pets will require at least an entire box of tissues.
And there simply aren’t enough tissues in the world to mop up the tears caused by one women watching a Christmas advert showing an adorable child giving gifts to his loving parents on Christmas Day.
Pregnant Women Cry #2: Being Offered A Seat On Public Transport
The first few times you are offered a seat on public transport, you are likely going to find yourself fighting back the tears.
Partly because, all of a sudden, your pregnancy feels very real, and partly because a total stranger has made you realise that you probably look huge and uncomfortable.
When in reality, they are just being kind and caring. And you’d only ever admit to yourself that you are indeed feeling huge and uncomfortable and you REALLY want that seat dammit.
Pregnant Women Cry#3: Not Being Offered A Seat On Public
There is nothing worse than try to balance on moving transport when you are a heavily pregnant woman in desperate need of a wee.
The good news is that the loud weeping will draw attention to you, which increases the chance of someone noticing your bump and offering you a seat.
Pregnant Women Cry #4: The Price Of Prams
Seriously, how much?!
Pregnant Women Cry #5: Being Asked If You’re Having Twins
Or whether you’re due any day now, or whether you’re having a very big baby.
Basically, anything that is a masked way of someone saying, “OMG, YOU’RE MASSIVE,” is probably going to leave you in tears.
It’s not just the hormones making you cry, it’s the thought of having to give birth to a giant baby, and the fact you’re simply not physically able to chase the asker down the street and hit them with your umbrella.
Here is a list of 10 more things you shouldn’t say to a pregnant woman.
Pregnant Women Cry #6: Stretch Marks
Four in five women end up with stretch marks during pregnancy, and most of these women will have at least a snivel about them.
Yes, they will fade, and no, they’re not the end of the world, but being confronted with stretch marks can be a bit of a shock (especially when you forked out a small fortune on an expensive body cream to avoid them).
Pregnant Women Cry #7: Baby Clothes
Impending motherhood feels all the more real when you are staring at a teeny tiny onesies adorned with an adorable giraffe pattern.
When you go to a department store, even if you’re supposed to be buying forks, you will inevitably find yourself wiping away tears in the baby clothes aisle.
Whenever a well-meaning friend or family member brings you some baby clothes, you will sob as you hold them in your hands. In those final few weeks, you will cry into the sink as you hand wash each of those adorable little baby vests.
You will then sob again as you fold them neatly into the brand yet wardrobe in the freshly painted nursery.
Pregnant Women Cry #8: Trying To Get Comfy
Nobody said pregnancy would be comfortable, and thank goodness they didn’t, or you’d probably be hunting them down to give them a piece of your mind at 3am.
Every. Morning.
You haven’t slept well for, oh, months, and you know that you won’t be able to sleep when the baby arrives. You spent most of your waking hours being told to ‘rest while you can’, and your entire night waddling to and from the toilet for another wee.
Your partner will probably be woken by your loud sobs at least once a night, as you battle with your bump for just one decent night of sleep.
Pregnant Women Cry#9: Being Served The Wrong Food
Heaven forbid the waiter who muddles up your food order, or the supermarket who fails to have the correct brand of peanut spread, or your husband who arrives home with the wrong type of chocolate biscuit.
Nothing can make a pregnant woman sob faster than a dissatisfied craving.
Pregnant Women Cry #10: Mama Moments
Anything that makes you feel like a mum will have you blubbering in seconds.
Setting up the cot, decorating the nursery, even signing for delivery of the pram is enough to have you howling about how real it all feels.
The first time you feel your baby kicks will be both amazing and terrifying in equal measure, and will probably have you in tears.
Pregnant Women Cry #11: Crying
Nine months is a long time, very long if you’re pregnant. You will definitely sob, at least once, because you are fed up of crying all the time during those long 40+ weeks.
Something else will set you off, and you’ll become immediately frustrated and end up wailing because you are so sick of crying all the time. Luckily (for them), the sound of you yowling will drown out the laughter of everyone stood in your vicinity.
Pregnant Women Cry 12: Not Having Any Clothes That Fit
At around 12-13 weeks of pregnancy, you hit an infuriating stage where your belly no longer fits into your normal clothes, and on top of that, you’re not big enough to fit into maternity clothes.
The worst bit is that people can’t even work out if you’re pregnant or just carrying a few extra kilos. Somebody call the waaaaaaambulance because this isn’t going to be pretty when you go clothes shopping.
In fact, the thought of going is just pretty darn depressing.
Pregnant Women Cry #13: Not Knowing What You Want To Eat
Another infuriating scenario is not being able to work out what you want to eat.
So many things make you feel nauseous or don’t sound the tiniest bit appetising, but you can’t work out one thing you actually feel like eating. One thing you can work out though, is how to sit on the sofa and sob, because it’s all too hard.
All you want to do is eat some nice food that tastes nice and you can actually enjoy it – is that too hard to ask?!
Pregnant Women Cry #14: Not Being In Labour Yet
Once your due date arrives, expect an onslaught of tears as you battle against the growing frustration that you are STILL pregnant.
You should pre-warn your loved ones that they are likely to find you sobbing in dark corners around the house as your ‘guess date’ passes (after all, only 2-5% of babies are born on that elusive due date).
With each new day, expect an increase in the amount of time you spend wailing.
Trying to distract yourself and get out for short daily walks is the best bet.
Pregnant Women Cry #15: Realising That You Are Actually In Labour
This. Just. Got. Real. You’re about to meet your baby!
