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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

He doesn’t trust me with his baby

14 replies

Angharad07 · 22/04/2018 00:04

Just found out I’m pregnant after having a miscarriage in January. Not sure how this one is going yet and am going for a 2nd scan Monday.

The issue is my boyfriend. He keeps ‘reminding’ me to “don’t drink, smoke or do drugs”. I’ve never even done any drugs and I stopped drinking and smoking as soon as I found out I was pregnant. Just like I did with my previous pregnancy. I only ever used to smoke every now and again, anyhow.

When I said that I went for a coffee today with a friend he said “I hope it was decaf”. I told him it was but how would he react if it wasn’t. He said he’d be quite angry.

I feel like he’s watching my every move waiting for me to make a mistake. He also says things like “I hope you’re taking your vitamins”. I’m beginning to find it all very demeaning and patronising. I was very healthy and did whatever I could to give the baby the best start when I was pregnant last time (eg started swimming very day, made sure I ate lots green leafy veg and had a balanced diet). I never did anything to indicate I would happily drink and stuff while pregnant. He was never like this in my last pregnancy. So I asked what has changed. He said he is just worried since last time. I feel like that indicates that he thinks I did something wrong and that it caused the miscarriage.

I confronted him about how his “reminders” are actually quite upsetting for me since I’m doing my best and I would never drink or smoke while pregnant. He said “well you used to drink and smoke when you weren’t pregnant”. I find that even more insulting because he would often encourage me to drink with him. He’s also commented that “you did better last time” with regard to my diet.

Now that I’ve confronted him about this and told him I’m quite upset and explained that it makes me feel like he thought I did something wrong with our last pregnancy which is why he needs to monitor me now, he’s gone back on everything and told me that he was only saying those things in an ironic way. Apparently he said “don’t drink, smoke and do drugs” because he knew that I never would and that I need to listen to his tone and actually recognise humour. Tbh I don’t find it very funny anyway but the annoying thing is that I know he wasn’t saying those things ironically. We had a whole conversation about it before where I was asking him why he keeps saying these things, and he was answering very seriously. He’s telling me now that he will not talk about it and that the discussion is over. He’s blatantly lying about saying those things in an ironic way to get out of having to talk, but equally he’s making out that I’m the mad one for being upset and now he is acting like the upset one.

I feel so disheartened and belittled, I don’t know what to do.

OP posts:
colditz · 22/04/2018 00:06

Tell him to shut the fuck up and stop being so goddamned rude. Who the hell does he think he is, the body police?

ClareB83 · 22/04/2018 01:13

At least it shows he cares.

As much as I don't enjoy being pregnant, I would find it very weird if my DH was carrying our babies and I couldn't check on them all day and see how they're doing. It would be hard to accept having no control st all.

Maybe he feels out of control and this is an attempt to do all he can to keep this pregnancy?

But it is misdirected you did nothing to cause your last miscarriage and this won't help. Maybe you could redirect his energy into reading a parenting book instead of pregnancy dos/don'ts or some general DIY to get the house ship shape for baby?

Didntcomeheretofuckspiders · 22/04/2018 02:21

Totally unacceptable behaviour. If he is usually a loving, caring partner then this may be some kind of anxiety following the miscarriage manifesting itself. However, being this controlling and demanding is a big red flag to me. If there are any doubts about this relationship, I would be very worried about this as a development.

Battleax · 22/04/2018 02:45

At least it shows he cares.

You must be joking. It’s distinctly controlling and not really about her well-being at all. Excusing it as “caring” is a bit creepy.

Topseyt · 22/04/2018 03:00

Of course it doesn't show he cares!! It shows that he is a patronising and controlling are.

He has no right at all to behave like this. I'd tell him that it either stops right away or you will reconsider the relationship.

Topseyt · 22/04/2018 03:01

Patronising and controlling arse. Stupid auto-correct!

DontDrinkDontSmoke · 22/04/2018 03:06

I think he has anxiety. He sounds like a royal pain in the hoop though.

Congratulations on you pregnancy and I hope after your next scan he manages to chill the fuck out.

LaurG · 22/04/2018 09:09

This is really not on. First of all having one coffee on pregnancy (some say two) is fine. So I would point him in the direction of some up to date pregnancy guidelines and tell him to get his facts straight at least.

I hate to think of you feeling guilty about the miscarriage. Nobody knows really what casuals them. There are things you should avoid but The risks associated with them are really quite small. My mum drank four cups of coffee a day, ate shellfish, smoked and drank throughout her pregnancy with me because those guidelines were not highlighted. I’m fine (honest). I’d never advise you to take risks obviously but the fact is that the cause of mist miscarriages is unknown and very unlikely to be associated with you having a cup of coffee.

I’m glad you have confronted your oh. Tell him if it’s a joke it’s not bloody funny and he has to pack it in now. He should be praising you for the effort you are making for the baby. Take the huff.

FirstTimer03 · 22/04/2018 09:24

I'm currently pregnant with my first. My partner also used to do this... "you best not be smoking" "don't have that glass of wine and lemonade" "have you taken your vitamins" and it really started to grate on me so I called him out on it.. he didn't realise he was doing it so much, and that he just cared for the unborn.

I did tell him it was unacceptable... and that he didn't know everything about pregnancy (he had a go saying I really shouldn't be eating runny eggs even though they are now deemed safe).

I also said i was doing my best to keep the little one safe, and healthy and after i'd passed the 12 week mark he really seemed to calm down and now he's much more relaxed and actually trusts me to grow this baby. We did argue and my point was "if you don't trust me to grow this baby, how are you going to trust me to raise them??".

I'd definitely recommend speaking to him.. but be prepared for an argument.

FranticallyPeaceful · 22/04/2018 10:22

Tell him to fuck off.

I’d he wants to help then tell him to crack out the paint and tools and get to work on the house or anything else that you want doing before baby arrives, plus be on crave-duty if you feel like anything he can go get it. Also snuggle duty, if you even feel like snuggling him after that sheer cuntery

bastardkitty · 22/04/2018 10:25

At least it shows he cares.

^ absolutely not. Do you know him well? Does he have other controlling tendencies? Are you married? You have every reason to be pissed off with this and with his stupid and dishonest excuse.

SK166 · 22/04/2018 10:44

Hand him a copy of Emily Oster's 'Expecting Better' and ask him to read it, and maybe some of the studies quoted, so that if he genuinely wants to express concern for any of the choices you're making with regard to your pregnancy, at least he can do so from an informed standpoint.

Make sure you read it yourself as well, and tell him that if he isn't willing to actually do some research in order to inform his opinions, then he isn't entitled to express those opinions to you. Does he know what the supposed risks of caffeine actually are, and how the evidence is skewed by the issue of first-trimester nausea? Does he know the mechanism by which alcohol is metabolised by the body and which compound within that process is the one that potentially poses a risk to the baby? Does he know which bacteria likely to be found in certain foods can cause illnesses that affect the development of the baby, and which would just cause food poisoning for you but leave the baby unharmed? No? He doesn't? Well then either learn or pipe down.

I have no time for this kind of nonsense. So much pregnancy 'advice' is, at best, misguided and poorly-evidenced, and at worst is total crap.

In the early days of pregnancy I had a discussion with my husband and said I understood how difficult it must be that he can't take any of the responsibility for growing our baby and ensuring her wellbeing, and that I welcomed his input into how to best manage this pregnancy, so long as he was putting the work in to researching, like I was. We agreed that he didn't have the time to do that in the detail necessary, and therefore I would do that work and subsequently make the choices for both of us. So far, so good.

lovetoomuchfood · 22/04/2018 10:46

What a knob. Miscarriage is NOT YOUR FAULT. It's very sad and its very common unfortunately.

Tell him he should be keeping your stress levels down by treating you like the queen.

Knob.

Coyoacan · 22/04/2018 11:00

That would drive me nuts. However one thing that occurs to me is that maybe he is still upset by the miscarriage and it is coming out this.

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