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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

...to ask if any of you thought your babies WEREN'T attractive?

134 replies

DangerGrouse · 08/07/2015 22:00

This is not meant to be a serious or mean post, I was talking to my friend the other day who causally mentioned that when her son was born she secretly thought he was ugly as he was bald with bulgy eyes and sticky out ears.
I was fascinated as I've NEVER heard anyone admit they thought their baby was ugly, I thought we all get slightly 'deluded mum brains' and all think our baby is the most beautiful thing ever to have been born - (when, let's face it some new borns are a bit odd looking). But now I wonder if there's others out there who didnt think that but didn't admit it either?
I'm really curious now!
Again, this isn't a nasty thread just seeing what people think as its maybe even a bit taboo?!

OP posts:
thegreylady · 08/07/2015 22:17

My dd was not a pretty baby! My dh said she looked just like Edward G Robinson. She became a beautiful girl and is a gorgeous woman but gosh she was no oil painting until she was about 18 months.

DangerGrouse · 08/07/2015 22:18

Armysal what's that about being a zapped thread? Am I going to get a rollocking??

OP posts:
DonkeyOaty · 08/07/2015 22:18

Haha at unfortunate hair. Yes one of mine had unfortunate hair. Another one had an unfeasibly large bonce and looked like Mr Potato Head for many months.

sarahandemily · 08/07/2015 22:18

I remember thinking my dd was perfect and didn't look like a newborn at all. Now when I look back at the photos she totally did - hormones!

WoonerismSpit · 08/07/2015 22:19

DD looked like a squashed troll when she came out, with a big forceps cut down her face to boot. And she was so hairy. Not the baby I was expecting!

She's bloody beautiful now though, she takes my breath away

Mamabird3 · 08/07/2015 22:19

Tatty that's pretty much the same situation that I had with my son, took him a few weeks to recover from the birth but as soon as he did he was a little beauty and has been since not biased either Grin

SaucyJack · 08/07/2015 22:19

DD3 was 8 days overcooked, and I did get a bit of a shock when I turned around to look at her. She looked like a goblin cage-fighter.

In all honesty I was a bit upset for her at first, as DDs 1&2 are fantastically beautiful (to me anyway) and I did worry she'd be the ugly sister.

She's a stunner now, natch.

BeaufortBelle · 08/07/2015 22:20

My dd was bald and looked like ET. She is now 17 and utterly gorgeous - all long blonde hair and legs. She was very pretty by the time she was about three - in fact, no, she wasn't, she was beautiful. she would throw something at me if she knew I had typed this

Mummybear8 · 08/07/2015 22:21

My daughter looked like gremlin. A bloody, squashed and cone-headed little gremlin. Poor little thing was so stuck after me pushing for two hours and having emergency episiotomy and ventouse! Luckily it went down remarkably quickly and she was (and still is) beautiful after that...but babies are certainly not "the most beautiful thing in the world" the second they're born. At the very least they need a little wipe down before that happens surely?

CakeNinja · 08/07/2015 22:22

Dd2 was really not a pretty baby.
She was nicknamed Yoda. we still call her Yoda now and she's 9

Bellebella · 08/07/2015 22:23

When babies are newborn, I don't think they are particulary attractive. My ds was swollen, red and had a scrunched up face. He quickly also got baby acne.

It was not until he was around 6 months that he really grew into his features

ElviraCondomine · 08/07/2015 22:25

DD1 was not pretty for a while. Thick black hair, angry expression, very red skin.

At 2 she was curly haired and cute.
She is now 16 and gorgeous.

HarryLimeFoxtrot · 08/07/2015 22:25

DS was an ugly baby - but we still loved him. He's certainly grown into his looks, and is quite cute for a 9 year old.

DangerGrouse · 08/07/2015 22:25

I hope this thread doesn't get zapped you lot are fucking hilarious! 'Mr potato head' 'squashed troll' 'Edward G Robinson'. Brilliant.

OP posts:
Strokethefurrywall · 08/07/2015 22:25

Fuck no, DS1 looked like a tiny quivering 6lb baby monkey, covered in back hair with black eyes, and no eyelashes or eyebrows to speak of.

First thing I thought was "the kid looks nothing like me!" the second was "fuck he's wonderfully monkey looking!" Grin

After he was cleaned up and a few weeks old, he developed baby acne, cradle cap and then all his dry skin was peeling off. Lovely time.

DS2 came out looking perfect, with the exception of his bald hair with hair that grew forward from the back of his noggin. He earned the nickname Garibaldi and now at 15 months has a lovely head full of curls.

I am now blessed with two of the most spectacularly gorgeous boys known to man, but of course we all say that!

Strokethefurrywall · 08/07/2015 22:27

And in fairness, what creature that's been marinating in fluid for 9 months with everything squished up ever comes out looking pretty? Smile

measles64 · 08/07/2015 22:27

My second baby came out hand and arm first so his head was terribly squashed and bruised as was his arm. He was ugly but the scare when we nearly lost him during birth put that out of her minds. Mind you we did not take pictures of him until he was a couple of months old Grin

He did grow into a beautiful baby and toddler.

Lariflete · 08/07/2015 22:28

DD was gorgeous (after an hour as she had turned blue and purple during the birth), so when DS was born I was secretly surprised that he was funny looking. He really was not a good looking baby, but he's now a cute looking almost-two year old. But this is from his temperament as opposed to DD's beautiful features.

HulaHoop12 · 08/07/2015 22:28

My now gorgeous DD was stuck in the birth canal for ages plus ventouse (twice attempted, failed) then forceps delivery, and had had cord round her neck. She was not pretty. My mum said she looked like David Jason (not that he's not an attractive man but not really who you want your hours old baby compared to). I loved her sooo much instantly and couldn't stop kissing/cuddling her so I didn't worry too much about not being bowled over by her beauty Grin

busyprocrastinating · 08/07/2015 22:29

When dd was born and I got my first glimpse I gasped 'it is so ugly' the mw looked at aghast and said that's your daughter. I must admit that I kept looking at the baby in the opposite bed and asking dh why we didn't have a cute one like that. She looked like a boxer and was all wrinkled and puffy. She soon got cute though.

crustsaway · 08/07/2015 22:32

My DS was really gorgeous not one wrinkle or spot (mind you he was a bit early so didnt have time to fully gestate).

Appararently though my dad was so ugly his mum covered his face over with a baby sheet before taking him out :)

Eminado · 08/07/2015 22:33

"I did have a friend who had a eye wateringly ugly baby and she kept on about how handsome he was and comparing him to my ds1. I told her they were both ugly and she cried."

Grin

My DD was absolutely beautiful. Both DH and I were stunned. And confused as to how this fluke occurred. Her skin was light caramel, beautiful bright eyes, a headful of loose afro curls, rosebud mouth. Absolute shocker.

But we recovered quickly Grin

We still ask ourselves HOW?!

TheFillyjonk · 08/07/2015 22:35

When my DS was born it was all very quick and sudden. I couldn't get over how big and bloated he was when they passed him to me - I was expecting a delicate little thing but he really was like a big red blimp covered in downy fluff. A full mop of black hair and a black blistered bottom lip that had been sucked in for so long it was crooked.

He is growing into himself three weeks later with utterly scrumptious features (still bloody hairy, red and flaky though!)

SylvanianCaracal · 08/07/2015 22:40

DS was gorgeous, but DD was not! She was a bit premature (but big), got stuck, born by EMCS and was swollen, squished and crumpled, blotchy and had a massive scowl on her. But I had total doublethink about it. I saw a breathtakingly beautiful baby who I couldn't stop gazing at. But a rational part of me could see that she looked like a very pissed off Alfred Hitchcock. She did quickly become much more objectively pretty but we have the photos!

We did have some well-meaning comments from hospital staff and friends along the lines of "Oh, what a... erm healthy, strong baby! fuck me that's an ugly baby"

Tbf I often have the same reaction myself to newborns. I always have "Awwwww s/he's lovely" ready as you can't go wrong with that. All babies are lovely. Since having DD I have a special soft spot for the less fortunate looking ones.

I remember ages ago in my yoof, a colleague telling me about going to see her newborn niece who was really the first newborn she'd seen up close. She'd been very excited but had to stifle her horror. "Ugh she was all red and scrawny like a bald monkey!" she recalled :o

mimishimmi · 08/07/2015 22:43

Initially I thought DS wasn't. I was expecting the cone shaped head, red skin et c from the birth but he had this squashed in chin which gave him this parsimonious, disapproving look. I wasn't sure if it was a result of the birth and I clearly remember thinking "Oh well, they can't all be beautiful like DD was". He 'grew' out of it within a month and he was actually a gorgeous baby though (huge eyes).

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