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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to be be miffed at dh regarding ils

415 replies

NameChangedJustInCase · 10/04/2012 20:31

ok, Iv gone back to the name change in case iabu. This is not about bashing my ILS or DH. I get on perfectly well with them, they are lovely.

I joined mumsnet when i first became pregnant (so just over a year ago) and after reading a few threads on here, i decided to have a big conversation with dh about what was and what was not acceptable to do when baby finally got here ie, birth and just after. I said that if possible i would want my sister and him to be my birth partner but i did not want ANY visitors in the hospital other than the two of them, which he said was alright (he wanted to have his mum and other family members come to the hospital but i said i would not be comfortable with that, he wasn't that happy but accepted it was my decision ) i also made very very clear that i did not want any family to visit for the first few days of being out of hospital, i wanted to slob about in my dressing gown with my boobs out comfortably trying to get breastfeeding established, trying to bond as a family with our new baby, resting when baby was resting. I didn't want to be running back and forth from the bedroom feeding dd, i explained all my reasons why i didn't want family there and made it very clear to him how uncomfortable it would make me feel. we argued a bit about it, he couldn't see why i would be ok for my dsis to be there and not his mum, because it was his baby as well ect but in the end he agreed that he would tell them no visitors for a few days til we got settled.

All good. Anyway, a couple of weeks later after an extremely long and traumatic labour i wake up to hear that dh had spoke to mil and told here that she (and the rest of the family) could come over. he told me that they would either be there that day (of me giving birth) or the next day as they were all excited and couldn't wait to celebrate and meet dd. i was upset, exhausted and defeated so i told him hed really let me down by doing this behind my back (whilst i was sleeping) but just went along with it. I had to go home, deal with this tiny new little person, tidy the house (i know i should have just left it but i really cant do that) when i just wanted to take things at my own pace.

I Know that dh loves me and he didn't do it maliciously or anything (he just got caught up and excited) but I still cant get it out of my mind. i have brought it up with him since but he says (quite rightly) that there is nothing we can do about it now,so i need to just let it go. aibu to still be seething about this months later and actually get the urge to slap him in the face when i think about how vulnerable i felt at the time? AM I????

OP posts:
pictish · 10/04/2012 21:56

Anyway, a couple of weeks later after an extremely long and traumatic labour i wake up to hear that dh had spoke to mil and told here that she (and the rest of the family) could come over.

CocoPopsAddict · 10/04/2012 21:57

I don't think it was fair to try to shut them out for a few days.

So long as their visits were limited, i.e. no one coming to stay, and no one visiting for hours on end and expecting you to play hostess.

CocoPopsAddict · 10/04/2012 21:58

pictish - I think OP means a couple of weeks after their discussion, not a couple of weeks after the birth!

mathanxiety · 10/04/2012 22:03

He was wrong. It was his baby but that is completely beside the point -- it was your exhausted, breastfeeding body that you wanted to allow to rest and he really should have understood that. He should have honoured the agreement the two of you had arrived at. He should have seen your pov about your sister vs his mother and he should have been able to understand that when it comes to having a baby and what happens afterwards, the mother of his baby was the one who needed looking after by him and not his mother.

I hope he was to he one who tidied up and entertained his moronic family. They all had some nerve trying to get away with this and I don't blame you one bit for feeling like slapping him. He owes you a massive apology and a promise never to do this again to you. Agreements made with you should be sacrosanct.

And a big fat poop from me on his squeamishness about you breastfeeding in front of his precious parents. He needs to get over this and decide if he is primarily your husband or first and foremost their son.

I don't think you were one bit U.

Your DH needs to get his act together before you have another baby.

NameChangedJustInCase · 10/04/2012 22:03

ooh sorry Blush no, i meant what cocopops said! it was a few weeks after having conversation with dh. i see the confusion now!

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 10/04/2012 22:05

to he one = the one

skybluepearl · 10/04/2012 22:05

I'm completely with you and yes he needs to know just how much it's upset you. Better to voice your upset and then slowly come to terms with what a tit he was. Your DH changed and ruined what should have been a few days of mother-father-baby bonding. You can never turn back the clock and get that precious time back. He was utterly selfish and thinking only of his parents and his needs - when in fact he should have prioritiesd yours and your babys needs. What a self centred dick! Any good midwife/health visitor worth their salt would tell you that it's most important the mother is happy and in turn this means a happy baby. Those first few days a mother is recovering from birth, leanring to breast feed, on the steep learning curve of motherhood, having had sleepless nights in noisy hospital etc and he should have really been led by what you felt comfortable with. You need to be much firmer with him next time and infact tell his family beforehand so they know what to expect. You could email them and say that you plan to have 3 or 4 days new family time but feel free to pop over after then.

NameChangedJustInCase · 10/04/2012 22:07

Thanks math i definatly agree with alot of your post but i fear that i may have been in the wrong too now. Thanks for support though, to all with nice comments,its good to know im not alone in my thinking (unreasonable or not)

OP posts:
NameChangedJustInCase · 10/04/2012 22:11

im so slow at typing its shocking! thanks sky

OP posts:
skybluepearl · 10/04/2012 22:11

he doesn't want you to bf in front of them or in public? he really is putting everyone elses needs first before that babys and yours!

akaemmafrost · 10/04/2012 22:16

YABU

BUT

I still seethe when I think of how my ex MIL insisted that SIL came to meet my PFB when he was hours old, even though SIL had a stinking cold and didn't think she should. MIL's photo op of entire family meeting ds was more important than him catching a cold when only hours old Angry.

And yes I do know I am BU Grin.

SodoffBaldrick · 10/04/2012 22:23

Wow, am so glad our family doesn't think like some of the more recent posters.

Is it any wonder some of you have bad relationships with your in-laws...

OP - if you hadn't made an unreasonable demand in the very first place, you wouldn't still be seething on it now, months later.

You say yourself in the first sentence that you like your ILs, they're nice and you get on well. So why banish them from their grandhild's early days? I don't get it. You could have had them in on your terms and all of this would have been avoided. I sort of feel like you created this situation for yourself and now you're taking it out on your DH.

SodoffBaldrick · 10/04/2012 22:24

frost - no, I would be pissed off at that too!

igggi · 10/04/2012 22:24

OP I've seen plenty of threads in Childbirth where women have decided to spend the first few days with partner and baby - and no-one seeming to think that was selfish or unreasonable.
Yes it's his baby too as many posters have said - it wasn't his bloody body giving birth though was it? If you imagine you'd had some other kind of surgery - who would you want with you then?

SodoffBaldrick · 10/04/2012 22:27

Why was his family 'moronic', Mathanxiety?

Surely not because they were excited, and wanted to meet the new DGC? Confused

SodoffBaldrick · 10/04/2012 22:32

All reasonable people I know who had a 'baby-moon' (cringe at the term, albeit it nice idea!) when they got home - which is entirely fair enough - at least let visitors in for brief meetings at the hospital.

One or the other - at hospital or at home, for a very brief while - is surely not too much to expect for the new grandparents?

I take it none of you are mothers of sons...

exoticfruits · 10/04/2012 22:41

It all seems odd to me to try and control everyone. For a start I wouldn't have had a sibling there-it is an experience for me and DH (did he get a say?)
After that people can visit or not. Why tidy up? Why not send them off into the kitchen to make cups of tea etc? If they visit in hospital it is hardly arduous to smile a bit-you don't have to do anything.

duckdodgers · 10/04/2012 23:10

mathanxiety "I hope he was to he one who tidied up and entertained his moronic family.*

Now that is just plain nasty. Let me get this right - OPs Mum had the nerve to expect to actually see her sons first baby when it was born and you think this is Moronic? Angry Hmm What a piece of work you must be to think like that.

birthdaygurl · 10/04/2012 23:14

Very similar thing happened to me with DD1 (10 years ago!), I still get pangs of bitterness over it but directed at mil not dh. To cut a long story short, dd2 she didnt meet for 2 weeks (i think() and dd3 nearly 6 weeks.

birthdaygurl · 10/04/2012 23:15

Trying to say I understand. Sad

pictish · 10/04/2012 23:15

I agree.
How awful.

claudedebussy · 10/04/2012 23:15

yanbu

you made it quite clear what you needed and he went against you. i'm not surprised you're annoyed everytime you have to scurry to the loo or a bedroom because his parents are anti-bf. wtactualf????

birthdaygurl · 10/04/2012 23:17

Lots of posts saying let pil have a short visit, that is the point if they are anything like mine will stay for days.

NameChangedJustInCase · 10/04/2012 23:34

exotic it was both our wish to have my dsis there aswell for birth partner, next time after realizing what an ordeal it actually is giving birth, i know that having any member of family in room with us is a huge no no, also i will agree to having them over for shorter visits and have the house all tidy, have tea/coffee/cake in advance! at least this is all good advice for next time!

...and it really does have more to do with me and my personal issues, dh family are really lovely people and we get on fine. i just am quite awkward with people generally anyway, add the fact iv just given birth, its not going to be a very comfortable situation

OP posts:
inabeautifulplace · 10/04/2012 23:36

I don't think it's that unreasonable to say you want 48 hours of space to enjoy being a family for the first time. My wife felt like this initially but on the second evening felt OK enough for my sister to come over.

I think it was wrong for your H to agree and then let them come anyway. I totally agree with the other poster about you being at your most vulnerable and not being fully supported.

As for going forward, clearly you'll have to try and let this go. Have a decent discussion with your H about exactly why you're upset. Perhaps admit that your request might have been a bit unreasonable. But if ever there's a time to indulge someone in that sort of thing, a first childbirth might be it.