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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Husband keeps making digs about my weight

57 replies

Whackavole · 15/09/2024 20:01

I’m just about at the end of my rope tonight with husband’s comments about my weight. I’m 20 weeks pregnant for context.

He’s had a few drinks today after not drinking for a while (health kick) and he was being mildly tipsy and annoying, plus I’m pregnant and hormonal and I said “what happened to your new lifestyle?” and he snapped back “well you’re not one to talk about healthy lifestyle” and I’m absolutely furious. This isn’t the first time he’s made comments along the lines of “wow you’re getting massive” “careful not to stack the weight on” and other thinly veiled digs since I’ve been pregnant. There was some of this before I got pregnant as well, and once in an argument he outright called me fat, which he later apologised for and it hasn’t been that blatant since.

Since I know it will be asked 😂 he is pretty good looking and fit himself, although doesn’t have the six pack he did when we met. I’m about the same as when we met (aside from the pregnancy) at a size 14. We eat a pretty healthy diet with plenty of fruit and veg, however I’ve been eating more in quantity and first trimester was pretty unhealthy due to morning sickness.

He’s a good husband in all other ways and there’s no other signs of nasty behaviour or comments.

I’m just so hurt and fed up with it and I don’t know how to fix it or what to do next. We have our 20 week scan tomorrow and I feel like I don’t want him to come as I don’t want to have to get my belly out which I think repulses him :(. Any advice welcome.

OP posts:
Cupooee · 15/09/2024 23:16

Abuse often starts in pregnancy, but he has been nasty before but you chose to go ahead and get pregnant.

You already know who he is and he is just upping his nastiness.
Keep your family and friends close, I suspect you are going to need them.
Protect yourself.

rainbowlou · 15/09/2024 23:21

He sounds like my ex and he got worse after I had my baby, she was 2 weeks old and he kept asking when I’d stop looking like I was still pregnant.
I just wanted to enjoy my pregnancy and my newborn and he made it all about my size and how it affected him.
Please look after yourself, he is showing you who he really is

BitOutOfPractice · 15/09/2024 23:25

CordeliaNaismithVorkosigan · 15/09/2024 20:08

Have you told him his attitude is making you not want him at the scan?

He sounds like the sort of man who will tell you not ti be silly and you’re overreacting.

op he sounds like a dick.

Opentooffers · 15/09/2024 23:28

Next time he has a dig about your weight give him the side eye and say " people change over time, you had a six pack when I met you". 😉

HazelPlayer · 16/09/2024 00:07

I think it is incredibly sad that you feel self conscious about revealing your pregnant tummy for an ultrasound scan in front of your husband.

It's totally totally off/not right.

Also feeling, while you go through the pregnancy, aware of being assessed & critiqued fur how much weight you put on ....and that you'll be put under pressure to lose weight after the birth. Not right.

This is the gratitude and consideration that you get for growing, carrying and birthing his child, eh.

Pregnancy should be a time when you're focused on the health and well being of you and the growing baby. Physical and mental health.
It's not a time for weight watching.
(Unless a medical professional is concerned for some reason of course).

A lot of women bloat/get puffy during pregnancy - even slender women. It's what happens. Are you going to be criticised for that too.

After a birth, it takes quite a while for your abdomen etc to return to its original shape. But aside from that, post birth is, again, a time when you are focussed on yourself (recovering from the birth) and your baby's health and well being. Just feeding, winding, dealing with colic, making sure the baby is gaining weight, dealing with sleep deprivation etc can be incredibly incredibly demanding. Your focus is on the baby, and any focus on yourself should be about your mental health (even if you're lucky enough not to get pnd).

The dynamic in your relationship sounds incompatible with this.

A man watching through a pregnancy to see how much weight a pregnant woman puts on, and her feeling self conscious about it.

A man focusing on weight loss soon after the birth, when the first year can be an absolute shit show ....

Just NO.

It is obviously horse, stable door to say this, but you should not have stayed with him and "moved on" fron it when he called you fat. Now you're pregnant by him and feeling like this ... It sounds justifiably.... When your focus should not be on your weight.

From an entirely pragmatic/realistic point of view - saying nothing about his views - he, likewise, should not actually have continued in a relationship with, and made the huge step of bringing a child into the world with a woman whose weight/figure is not really what he wants. Because he's apparently snarky about it, ongoing. And now he's fixated on weight gain during pregnancy; what that's the last thing he should be thinking about. He's got the mother of his child feeling self conscious about showing her tummy in front of him, at what should be a lovely, wonderful occasion that's about the baby, your family etc.

It is also a fairly common phenomenon for people to get heavier as they age. Very few people are getting lighter, so again don't make your ife with someone who's weight you're not happy with.

Since you are expecting a child with this man (using the word loosely) who chose to be in a serious relationship with & impregnate a size 14 woman, even though that's apparently at the upper limit of acceptability for him ...and is now torturing her re.weight gain through her pregnancy ... and she suspects (it seems correctly) that that will escalate soon after the birth, and no sign don't want to separate; I can only suggest that you read him the fucking riot act now and do not tolerate any of this through this pregnancy and afterwards.

You could tell him that;

Most women out on weight during pregnancy.
Most women get bloated during pregnancy.
The focus during pregnancy is the health of the Mum and baby. Not the Mums weight.
After the birth, it will take some time for a pregnant woman's abdomen to return to pre birth.
After the birth, the focus will be on caring for the baby, adjusting to parenthood, your mental health, not your weight. New parenthood, and the baby and toddler phase can be like a war zone. No extra pressure or stress whatsoever will be needed.
If he is not happy with a size 14 woman, he has made a major mistake in staying with one and having kids with her; you are not suffering for his mistake. He can cut the pressure and abuse (it is abuse) or he can move on.

Don't ever be self conscious about your pregnant body. It's miraculous.
My child's father, who is very far from Me Perfect, used to smile in a delighted way at my grieving bump, and in the ultrasound, his focus was on the baby bring healthy and on seeing the image on the screen. Correct priorities.

The fact that his behaviour, past and present, makes you feel this way ..... I would seriously consider whether you want him stay with this man long-term. The scan thing s one of the saddest things I've read on MN, and that's saying something.

HazelPlayer · 16/09/2024 00:15

*growing bump, obviously

I wrote such a novel, I didn't get the chance to correct all the typos.

Saytheyhear · 16/09/2024 00:18

Since I know it will be asked 😂 he is...

Why do you think it will be asked? To compare an adult male with a woman growing a baby inside her?

Why would it matter what he eats? He's not needing to focus on what's best for the baby growing inside you?

How did he support you during morning sickness? If he's usually a nice man in other ways?

What about when you're in labour, will he be supportive of your decisions or will he be more interested in getting your child out at the expense of your health?

You have been making great choices around foods that you enjoy all your life, now you have a man watching your normal life and derailing you when you need to focus on your nutritional health.

Can you live somewhere else away from him? Perhaps until the child is, aged 21 years and over?

HazelPlayer · 16/09/2024 00:22

I think the only sadder thing I've read on this subject was a post on here when women were talking about abusive relationships and a poater said her ex had been fixated on her weight, and went off the deep end about it when she fell pregnant.

She, in his thrall, did everything she could to keep her weight & size down and gained hardly any weight. She says it was just lucky that the baby was born healthy.

But that could just as easily not have happened; he was essentially abusing that baby (alongside her) in utero, before they were even born.

I would call this a type of abuse too. I know you're saying he's ok in other ways, but that doesn't change that this being abusive. You should not be feeling like this and thinking about things like this during what's supposed to be a happy, wonderful time.

HazelPlayer · 16/09/2024 00:32

he is pretty good looking

Well he certainly ain't "pretty on the inside".

SkiingIsHeaven · 16/09/2024 00:42

Tell him that you can lose weight but he will always be an arsehole. You can't fix that.

QueenBitch666 · 16/09/2024 00:52

Another one advocating losing weight by dumping his body shaming abusive arse

HazelPlayer · 16/09/2024 00:56

Opentooffers · 15/09/2024 23:28

Next time he has a dig about your weight give him the side eye and say " people change over time, you had a six pack when I met you". 😉

Or "when you're growing a new human inside you, you'll get to comment on this".

HemingwaysDog · 16/09/2024 01:15

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Neverneverneveragain · 17/09/2024 09:47

Very sad and very wrong that he should make you feel this way. Definitely a red flag.

ML42 · 16/01/2025 12:07

Just to say as others have about vulnerablity and abuse starting at pregnancy. my ex made similar comments when I was pregnant.

He presents himself as a great partner in many ways. 10 plus years and 2 kids later I see this as one of the first major signs of his covert narcissistic abuse which sadly got much much worse.

Not saying this is the case but please be on your guard. I hope you and your child are well.

Bumblebeestiltskin · 16/01/2025 12:15

I'm sorry, he's not a 'good husband'. Being a good husband/partner/father and being abusive are mutually exclusive.

username299 · 16/01/2025 12:17

Whackavole · 15/09/2024 20:05

Thanks, I have tried and he doesn’t seem to understand that it’s offensive and making me sad.

I find this difficult to believe. Your husband doesn't understand how calling you fat and criticising your weight whilst pregnant is offensive?

Apart from calling you fat he's lovely?

DemonicCaveMaggot · 16/01/2025 12:17

He sounds ignorant. Does he not understand that you will be putting on the weight of a full term baby, the amniotic fluid and placenta, and the fat you will need to support breastfeeding. You need to put on a certain amount of weight so that you and the baby are healthy. Also the size of your abdomen will change depending on the baby's position.

Pre-eclampsia caused me to put on about 10 lbs over the course of a week and I truly hope you don't have that to deal with but he'd better prepare himself.

How an adult male can father a child while being ignorant of basic reproductive facts is mind boggling and annoying.

Force him to read 'What to expect when you are expecting' at the very least.

Stupid man.

neverputabetterbitofbutteronyourknife · 16/01/2025 13:21

Next time he says something say.
"right, you are seriously pi55ing me off with the fat shaming, im pregnant with your child by the way, not fat. Carry on and you can be a weekend dad"

Nanny0gg · 16/01/2025 14:02

'I'm pregnant. What's your excuse?' Flat stare

OP - I hope you don't have a girl - what will he be like with her when she's growing up if she's not what he expects?

Devilsmommy · 16/01/2025 14:16

HazelPlayer · 16/09/2024 00:32

he is pretty good looking

Well he certainly ain't "pretty on the inside".

Good looking on the outside but ugly to the bone. I don't know how you stand being with him OP. My DH loved my baby bump when I was pregnant, as do most real men. So sad that he's made you feel so self conscious about such a beautiful thing. Consider your options because he's not going to change

Kneidlach · 16/01/2025 14:20

I just constantly feel my body isn’t good enough and the pressure I feel to lose the weight once I’ve had the baby is immense.

This is really concerning and looks to set you up for an awful time post birth. Pregnancy is a massive change for your body, it will take months or possibly more to recover, and your body will never to exactly as it was beforehand. Your shape changes, your ‘baseline’ weight may well change as well.

Not to mention the fact that sleepless nights and looking after a newborn will mean that - quite frankly - you will sometimes look like shit and this should not be an issue.

Dealing with a new baby is hard enough, adding in some unrealistic expectations from your partner is a recipe for disaster.

Hollietree · 16/01/2025 14:24

“what happened to your new lifestyle?” and he snapped back “well you’re not one to talk about healthy lifestyle

This first example I don’t think he has behaved badly. You started it by criticising him. He just replied with a “well you’re not one to talk”. I’d be a bit snappy if I’d been having a spell of healthily lifestyle, then one evening I’d had a couple of glasses of wine and my husband made a snide comment about it.

However the other occasions are not acceptable. He should never call you names.

You asked how to deal with it - I would have a calm chat about it at a moment when all is fine. Say “hey there’s something I’m feeling upset about and wondered if we could chat about it now?………. It really hurt my feelings when you said x,y,z recently and I’ve been feeling down about it since. Could you please not call me names in the future as I don’t find it acceptable and I never call you names or say hurtful things like that about you.”

StormingNorman · 16/01/2025 14:38

His “concerns” about your weight are nothing to do with being pregnant as they pre-date the pregnancy.

The pregnancy may be exacerbating them though if he doesn’t like the idea of you putting on weight…and the post partum belly is going to horrify him. He needs to man up and learn about how women’s bodies change.

To be honest though, this may be a LTB situation as he is not going to adjust his opinion on your weight after pregnancy either. The pressure to lose will be unreal.

mathanxiety · 16/01/2025 16:18

So, drinking to the point of being tipsy, and making cruel digs about weight to a pregnant woman?

And this cruelty about your weight isn't even a new habit of his?

You've got a real prince among men there.

Stop looking after this man who has stopped respecting and loving you. If you have a spare bedroom, move into it. If theres a couch, he needs to sleep on it. Don't cook for him or do any laundry. Look after yourself alone.

Find someone who is respectful and kind and whom you feel safe with, psychologically and emotionally, to accompany you in labour. You could hire a doula.