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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be just as petty as a friend was to me

123 replies

Dollydaydreeam · 10/09/2023 16:27

So im 7 montha pregnant. Told my friend when i found out at roughly 6 weeks, 2 weeks later she also found out she was pregnant. We were excited about being pregnant together and talked of how our children would grow up together etc etc. However she lost the pregnancy at 6 weeks, she is a heavier woman and shes put it down to that. She was upset but she got over it quickly, vowed to look after her health a bit more then try again. Ive been very careful not to rub my pregnancy in her face and just mindful of how she might feel around me. We were out for dinner to celebrate finding out the gender, im not a fan of gender reveals so kept it simple. I invited her but told her i would understand completely if she wanted to sit this out. She came along and everyone was in great spirits. Someone done a toast for me, wishing a happy healthy baby etc as toasts go. After the toast she snarkily said "well something could still go wrong, you havent given birth yet!" i just shrugged and said very true but im trying not to think about stuff like that, im suprised i didnt snap but i was quite taken aback by how brazen it was. I could even see her staring from the corner of my eye, waiting for a reaction. To be honest it did piss me off but i thought ok well shes very hurt and this couldnt have been easy for her etc. We arranged to meet up a few times after this, and she lets me down on the day. Sometimes when im in the car on the way. I decided that i was just going to put this friendship on the back burner for a while as i could just sense a lot of resentment and she was messing me about. Heavily pregnant and getting ready to meet friends that let you down last minute is just physically and mentally exhausting etc. Anyway fast forward to the present day, shes found out shes pregnant again, im so happy for her. But every day shes texting me for reassurance. Shes doing pregnancy tests daily, if the line is fainter than a previous day she has a full blown melt down and i have to pick up the peices. I've also told her not to stress herself out with daily testing, one positive pregnancy test is more than enough and to just wait for the early scan shes booked in. Im a tad annoyed at the whole thing, i can see why shes worried as shes lost a pregnancy once. But i cant help but think pfft, i was basically told by her anything can go wrong at any time until the baby is born! Yet im supposed to say no everything will be okay?! Would you say something like this the next time she needs a shoulder to cry on, or would that make me a total asshole?

OP posts:
bozzabollix · 10/09/2023 16:59

As someone who lost her child at 27 weeks along and had a friend at the same stage of pregnancy who was a total bitch, I’d suggest you don’t remind her that things can go wrong. She obviously knows that. In my subsequent pregnancies I could barely think about them I was so traumatised. Your friend will always think ‘what if’. Have a bit of generosity of spirit and give her some slack.

DrManhattan · 10/09/2023 17:03

You are being a total mug for having this horrible selfish person in your life.

amiboverd · 10/09/2023 17:06

I understand this is here for your friend but she should have just declined the invite to your baby shower rather than be so unpleasant. anything can go wrong yes (I lost a baby at 40 weeks) but what a horrible thing to say to someone who is pregnant and then the way she treated you showed she couldn't handle your pregnancy but she has gone about this the wrong way and that's not acceptable.

I wouldn't lower yourself to her level by being deliberately nasty but I would be tempted to tell her that you're really happy for her and understood how difficult that past few months have been but you're actually still quite hurt by how she's treated you and so you might need some time to get over it.

Callyem · 10/09/2023 17:07

Wow. Nasty.

The original comment as told is nasty too - though you can only guess at her motivations and could have misjudged the tone, especially as she had suffered the loss. Your motivation however you've stated clearly - to hurt.

Ourshoddyhouse · 10/09/2023 17:07

She did not "get over it quickly" hth

sunnydayhereandnow · 10/09/2023 17:08

bozzabollix · 10/09/2023 16:59

As someone who lost her child at 27 weeks along and had a friend at the same stage of pregnancy who was a total bitch, I’d suggest you don’t remind her that things can go wrong. She obviously knows that. In my subsequent pregnancies I could barely think about them I was so traumatised. Your friend will always think ‘what if’. Have a bit of generosity of spirit and give her some slack.

This. As someone who lost early pregnancies and had a very risky pregnancy and premature baby, the experience of pregnancy was totally different, and I did sometimes feel jealous of friends who just got to breeze through without constantly knowing things could end. While she was thoughtless, I think in this situation you could be the bigger person and support her without responding in kind - or take a step back from the friendship if you can't do that. I don't think it's helpful to tell her that her comment was hurtful. If it continues, then bring it up, but a one-off comment from someone who (through no fault of yours!) will always be reminded of her loss when she thinks about your pregnancy, isn't worth being petty over. Fertility issues are brutal, and I think you can cut her some slack even if her comment was not called for.

Dollydaydreeam · 10/09/2023 17:09

"Losing a pregnancy at 6 weeks, while a horrible thing to go through, does not give you the ‘right’ to point out to someone that they could still have a stillbirth or a late loss. Which is basically what the friend did."

Yes, thank you for seeing my point. To be honest this is what probably hurt me the most. If I was still very early on I'd understand. I'm still not going to stoop to her level but I've realised I maybe haven't let that comment go and I just need to step back

OP posts:
Cowlover89 · 10/09/2023 17:09

Take a step back from her x

CherryMaDeara · 10/09/2023 17:17

I don’t think she sounds like much of a friend.

Obviously don’t say anything nasty like she did (anything can happen etc), but I would 100% start to distance myself and meet with her less.

She’s a flake and a sly one, protect yourself and ditch her before your baby is born.

PersephonePomegranate23 · 10/09/2023 17:19

You sound horrible.

"She got over it quickly " no she really didn't

Yeah, you do, OP.
Your friend shouldn't have said that, but perhaps she feels nervous around celebrating too early? Or perhaps she's horrible too and that's why you're friends?

Also, you don't like gender reveals? So why were you having a dinner to 'celebrate' the baby's sex, then? Biggest eye roll imaginable.

Ohthatsabitshit · 10/09/2023 17:20

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Dollydaydreeam · 10/09/2023 17:20

Also thank you for all the comments. I've definitely realised I would have been very nasty and spiteful to say anything of the sort to her. I will just take a step back for now while i have a lot to get through but I'll definitely be there for her. I'll quietly forgive. When I said she got over it quickly, that's just me relaying her own words but I understand it was probably her just sucking it up. And to the people mentioning the gender reveal, I feel if I didn't invite her then it would have been worse. I'm dammed if I do or dammed if I don't in regards to that one maybe. It wasn't one of these over the top ones with balloons being popped to cheering crowds either. Just a meal between friends. I'm going to just put it down to her being hurt and just let it go

OP posts:
CherryMaDeara · 10/09/2023 17:21

She’s probably also getting a thrill from bombarding you with messages that force you to reassure her.

And she also maybe getting a thrill from repeatedly making a heavily pregnant woman get ready to meet her and then cancel when she’s on the way.

The more I think about it, the more I think she is very sly and slightly evil.

Ditch her, OP, and I bet you’ll feel relief.

CherryMaDeara · 10/09/2023 17:23

I will just take a step back for now while i have a lot to get through but I'll definitely be there for her.

You don’t owe her anything. Prioritise yourself and your baby, you don’t need to be there for her, especially as she’s a flake.

Bunnyhair · 10/09/2023 17:28

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CherryMaDeara · 10/09/2023 17:31

@Bunnyhair I think it’s the so-called friend who’s been a massive dick to OP.

It was her who told the OP the miscarriage was down to her weight, so why berate the OP?

squashi · 10/09/2023 17:36

You lost me a bit at the suggestion that your friend's miscarriage was caused by her weight/health. It sounded a bit superior, and I wonder if that comes across in other ways at times. Still, you don't have to be friends with anyone you don't want to be, and her unreliability sounds annoying, so I guess it's right for you to weigh up whether you're getting anything positive out of your relationship with her.

amiboverd · 10/09/2023 17:36

@Ohthatsabitshit i think it would be hard to navigate but then she should have stayed at home instead of deliberately upsetting OP

@Dollydaydreeam I don't think you did anything wrong to invite her to your shower. She had the choice not to come and I don't think you've been insensitive. You may have felt like being petty - and you're only human - but you've not actually done anything so not sure why people are acting like you're in the wrong.

dikwad · 10/09/2023 17:38

Her comment was upsetting and she shouldn't have said it. Her organising to meet you could very well be her attempt at being 'brave' to face her close friend who should be giving birth around the same time as she should, but she isn't and so perhaps gets last minute cold feet.

I can't begin to tell you how bitter I was after many miscarriages and cycles of IVF.

Your comment though about 'one test is enough' is such a crap and thoughtless thing to even think to be honest and is, in my opinion, far worse than her comment at your gathering was! No, one test isn't enough for someone who has previously lost a baby. I must have spent hundreds of pounds on tests because that little piss stick is, for weeks until a scan, the only reassurance you are going to get.

I'm not justifying her comment (however factual it was) but I don't think you'll claim 'best friend award' either.

GiraffeLaSophie · 10/09/2023 17:39

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Yes, I’m an adult. Your comment seemed to suggest you thought the friend’s comment was a normal or expected thing to say to someone in the circumstances, which I personally disagree with. And given the number of posters on here who are being much more negative about the friend than I was, I’m not the only one.

I agree with you that it would have been better to make the dinner family only (or not held one at all) as it must have been very difficult for her friend and she might well have felt obliged to attend. I also agree that the OP should disengage rather than lose her patience and say something hurtful, I said that in my post.

Two wrongs very much do not make a right.

CherryMaDeara · 10/09/2023 17:42

squashi · 10/09/2023 17:36

You lost me a bit at the suggestion that your friend's miscarriage was caused by her weight/health. It sounded a bit superior, and I wonder if that comes across in other ways at times. Still, you don't have to be friends with anyone you don't want to be, and her unreliability sounds annoying, so I guess it's right for you to weigh up whether you're getting anything positive out of your relationship with her.

Did you even RTOP? It was the friend who put the miscarriage down to her weight, not OP.

Ivebeentogeorgia · 10/09/2023 17:43

Id just reply with ‘I’m sorry you feel so anxious. I’m similar, like you said things can still go wrong for me so I’m just trying to get though it one day at a time. I think that’s what you need to do too, one day at a time. X’

SummerInSun · 10/09/2023 17:49

I had a very traumatic loss at 22 weeks. Although I went on to have two wonderful healthy DC, I have never been able to shake the feeling that it is naive of people to assume that because you are pregnant you will end up with a baby. Even after all these years, my feeling is "you are pregnant. Congratulations. Maybe you'll wind up with a baby." Intellectually I know that if you have a good 12 week scan, there is only a 1 in 100 chance that you'll lose the baby, but in my head the odds are 50/50. The idea of gender reveal parties or baby showers seems beyond recklessly tempting fate to me because you are celebrating something - getting a baby - that may not actually happen.

Obviously I don't say that out loud, but I can completely understand your friend in the depths of her grief (thinking she "got over it quickly" is nonsense) could have said what she said. Pregnancy to her was feeling like a random game of Russian roulette and you were celebrating before you had anything g to celebrate.

So if you are a good friend, you'll cut her some slack, and be there for her. With luck she'll have a successful pregnancy and a year from now you'll be having a lovely time with your little ones together - but only if you don't up the ante by deliberately saying hurtful things to her now.

amiboverd · 10/09/2023 17:51

@dikwad I disagree with you. The friend's experience doesn't give her the right to treat OP horribly without any consequence. OP may have reacted differently if friend had not been unpleasant. She dealt with everything badly.

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 10/09/2023 17:53

You could always be very honest and say

'I was really hurt when you told me a few weeks ago that anything could go wrong and I've struggled to feel ok about our friendship since then. I'm so happy for you about your pregnancy but since you made that comment I'm finding it hard to be in the role of the person who reassures you each day as what you said keeps going round in my head when I message uou. I wish you the very best for a healthy happy baby though'