Normal to feel murderous at 28 weeks?

[gothgirl77]

I've become incredibly irritable lately and just wondered if anyone else felt the same? It's fine at home - DH and I get on very well and I haven't snapped at him once - but I'm getting the red mist at work loads.

This isn't helped by my 'hilarious' male colleagues engaging in 'amusing banter' about how 'lardy' I've got, how I 'move around like an elephant' or how I'm 'eating for two' by having an apple and a small salad at lunchtime (while they scoff burgers and chips). I spend most of my time fantasizing about knocking them senseless with their laptops.

Is this normal? I'm normally quite an agreeable person I sense that putting Ex-Lax in their teas the day I go on maternity leave may not be friendly, but God knows it's tempting..

Yes, normal! - your DH is lucky to have escaped your wrath IME!

At work, let it show a little bit. You could be a bit jokey and tell them they really don't want to be on the receiving end of one of your preggie bad moods. A well timed "watch it" and evil glare may help. You might find they become more sensitive if they see you mean it.

Oh and maybe you need more food. Never mind what they think - you need carbs when pg and it may help with the irritability too. Brazen it out - if they take the piss and you cower, it won't stop them but if you say "Yes I am having a big yummy sandwich, I'm growing a baby, what's your excuse fatboy?" they'll back down I think.

re: male colleagues - replies like:

well at least I'll be thin again in 6 months time - what about you?

or i've got a baby in my tummy - you just look like you've got lots of pies in there.

or yes the baby is hungry today - can i have your lunch - would you like a salad?

agree re: comment above and the sandwich

might also be worth noting them down and passing to HR because its really not appropriate

otherwise say something like - i know i'm huge but i'm a bit sensitive about it so please don't joke like that i find it very offesive.

don't worry, it'll only get worse. I'm 36 weeks and haven't got a nice word to say to anyone

I get so angry I just snapped a pencil in half during one especially frustrating meeting.. no relaxation techniques seem to be as satisfying as breaking crockery over them might be.

Sadly these guys are sort of clients so HR reports probably won't do anything (I'm currently going through another debate with HR on discrimination which is a lot more serious, but that's another story altogether)

One approach that does seem to work for the more casual 'pass-remarkable' types is a very frosty 'Was that supposed to be amusing? I wasn't aware..' For the ones I have more regular contact with I do like the 'what's your excuse fatso?' approach..

Following an antenatal appointment yesterday, a lovely lady at work (who I really do get on with) asked me if they are sure I'm expecting a baby or have they discovered that it is a small adult?

As I still have 2 months left to go, these type of comments are not at all welcome and no one is more surprised than me that I haven't been arrested yet for GBH...

Those are really harsh comments hoopermummy, poor you! I put the 'murderous' feelings' down to the extra testosterone from making a boy! Sometimes I'd get ridiculously angry last pregnancy. Do you know if you're having a boy or girl?

No - this is our first so we are going for the element of surprise (and I have no particular inkling either way)!

However, if your theory is correct, I am going to be giving birth to a very, very masculine little boy as I have been murderous throughout my pregnancy. In fact, the thing that prompted me to take the first pregnancy test was throwing a mug at my poor DH's head because he dared to tell me it was my turn to do dinner!

As you might imagine, he hasn't asked me to do dinner once since we saw those 2 blue lines...

Poor you, your work colleagues sound like they need a battering with their laptops pregnant or not pregnant! How rude of them! Pregnancy is not all butterflies and rainbows, I feel a bit grouchy at the best of times!

Ouch, Hoopermummy - just read your first post - there must be a 'reasonable provocation' clause somewhere..?

I've no idea / inkling if ours is a boy or girl either, but it sounds like we're in for a mini-Russell Crowe too if the theory is correct.. (or Bruce Lee given its apparent ability to do scissor-kicks - ow)

Funnily enough, what prompted my first pregnancy test wasn't dissimilar - I could smell the remains of the previous night's barbecue and announced very loudly indeed that if I was going to cook anything again we were going vegetarian.
That lasted about a week..

ha ha ha - I'm sure that clause exists! I keep telling my DH about a story I heard about an American woman who got away with murdering her husband because she had given birth within a year of the attack. He just looks as me with an expression of pure horror and panic!

And I think going vegetarian for a week is amazing - I've never craved bloody meat more than in the last 7 months and no meal is complete without a helping of red meat!

No sounds about right to me, I lunge between hugely emotional to wanting to murder everyone I meet.

I get it on the tube and the trains, the absolute rage descends on me....anybody who touches me, or elbows me I just want to kill!

So yes I think the general consensus is....it is perfectly normal!

I am 21 weeks and in the last couple of weeks I have become a nightmare. We had our 20 week scan this week and we got stuck in traffic on the way, I was driving and became really panicky that we were going to be late. My not so DH calmly said "well I would not have come this way had I been driving". Well I lost it at that point, "why the f*k did you not say something instead of being so f*ing smug about it now" etc, etc, etc

Poor DH made no comment.

Every right to feel that way IMO!

I work in a very male orientated, testosterone-laden environment too and had similar issues in the early stages! I do tend to give as good as I get though, which perhaps helped... Towards the end though, they got all paternal and started making me millions of cups of tea, insisting on carrying eveything for me and generally letting me get away with murder, so you might find that it turns to your advantage in the end! Certainly a well timed "twinge" can work wonders...