Pregnancy can be one of the most exciting and wonderful times in a woman’s life. She’s thrilled, and she wants to share her enthusiasm with the world. She wants everyone else to be just as excited too. And they are!
What she may not realize, though, is that her raging hormones, combined with her over-the-top elation, can make her do things that she may not normally do. It’s not that others don’t appreciate all of her cutesy gestures. But sometimes it’s not just one of them, but some combination of them, that makes people want to run for the hills (or log off social media).
Are you wondering if you might be guilty of in-your-face enthusiasm about your pregnancy? Perhaps you find your friends avoiding you lately and don’t know why?
We’re here to help! Here are the top pregnancy trends that women (who asked to remain nameless) wish would be retired.
Look! I’m pregnant!
Before social media—heck, before home pregnancy tests—a woman would have to go to the doctor, get a blood test, wait for the results, and then actually call her friends and family with the good news.
Today, instant gratification is the norm, and one can find out the exact second that they’re pregnant just by urinating on a stick. They can then post it immediately for the world to know. As exciting as it may be to sky-write the news, we feel that urinating on a wand (or anything else for that matter) should be a private matter, and the announcement of a pregnancy more tactful.
Dual Bump Pictures
Pregnancy bellies are natural and beautiful. Everyone wants to see them and touch them because they are a testimony to one of life’s most magical wonders. We love seeing mom’s bellies!
What we don’t love seeing are pictures of her partner’s big, hairy belly (that is not so magical and beautiful) next to hers.
Every…Single…Stage
We were really excited when she posted a picture of her newly pregnant belly. We even toasted to it! We were super pumped when we saw the picture of her in her first pair of maternity jeans. But it started to get old after that.
Every week we’re bombarded with “stage” pictures…in different outfits and different backgrounds. We wish we had a fast forward button and baby Sara were here already.
Empire Waists
Maternity fashion has come a long way! It seems as though every women’s clothing brand on the market wants in on the action, and choices are plentiful. You can get cool maternity clothes like leather pants, hip mini skirts, and fashionably fitting leggings.
So why is clothing still being designed to make a woman’s bump look the most unflattering, as if she were shaped like a tepee? Because some designers think that no clothing will actually fit around a pregnant woman’s waist?
Another Child Kissing Your Belly Pic
We get that brother Jimmy is excited about the baby (and forgive us if we’re a bit jaded), but perhaps a little creativity is in order, because pics of a sibling kissing mom’s belly are so done already (like every other post on Facebook).
As a side note, we did love it the first 80 times we saw it.
LIVE Streaming Births
We all know that one day a woman’s pregnant, and the next day her baby is screaming by her bedside. We also all took eighth-grade health education and know how babies are delivered into the world (and we can’t wait to witness our own baby’s birth). But the interest stops there.
High definition footage of a woman screaming during real time delivery—and everything else that goes along with it—has us begging for it to stop. TMI!
Heart Sign With Your Hands Pics
We know that having a baby is a cute, adorable time but…are we 14 years old on Snapchat?
This has to be one of the most overdone poses in the maternity shoot repertoire. We know you love your baby, and we will too, but a little creativity goes a long way.
Social Media Accounts for Your Unborn Baby
Social media accounts for a baby-not-yet-born ranks up there with fake accounts, pet accounts, and “favorite object” accounts.
There’s something really weird and creepy about it. It’s hardly necessary.
Pregnancy Announcement Cards
In the spirit of defending the Earth, we believe that a couple of trees could be saved by avoiding this trend.
The announcement of such a private and momentous occasion deserves a call to your closest family and friends.
Keeping Baby’s Names to Yourself
This was a big one. If a couple really has no idea what they’re going to name their baby, or they do know and let it be known that they would rather not share it, most people are okay with that.
But things get super uncomfortable for everyone when couples say that they don’t know, and others know that they do know…but they’re keeping it from everyone on purpose.
Sonogram Picture Gifts
Nothing is more exciting than seeing a baby in the womb kicking and playing. Some parents want everyone to share in the excitement and take the baby from the sonogram screen to a silkscreen in the form of gifts with said new baby’s pic in utero.
This is the perfect example of a “you had to be there moment,” and although others love seeing the picture in print, they don’t love looking at it during their morning coffee (on their mug), when they run (on their t-shirt), when they’re washing their faces (on their towels), or when they’re paying their bills (on their pens).
Pics of Paintings on Pregnant Bellies
We know that Picasso may agree that everything should be a canvas for the world’s imagination to run wild, but we must stop short at pregnant bellies.
Hearts, baby rattles, gender signs, and smiley faces are all better served on card stock and hung on the fridge for all to admire.
Gender Reveal Parties
It’s super exciting to find out if you’re having a girl or a boy. We get that! And we know that you’re so excited to tell us that you want to make the act of telling us a big deal. But we want you to know that just telling us is the big deal.
You don’t have to throw a big party with the launching of pink or blue balloons or have us shoot each other with gender color coordinated paint or spend thousands of dollars to have us watch colored fireworks in the sky. Can’t you just text or call us?
Not to mention, any dramatic reveal party has the potential to go awry. Just watch what happened to this couple:
Extravagant Baby Showers
First there was the engagement party, then the bridal shower. Next came the bachelor party and then the wedding. After that, the pregnancy announcements arrived, then the gender reveal party, and finally the baby shower.
It’s not that we don’t love celebrating your milestones, but the whole to-do, along with the demand for an $850 stroller, kind of has us thinking that it’s a bit much.
Giving Birth Parties
Yay! You’re giving birth! We actually know that your sweet baby is about to enter the world because we’ve read your weekly newsletters, seen your daily posts on Facebook, and been to both the gender reveal party and the baby shower.
It’s not that we don’t love to party with you, but the festivities that go along with this kind of party kind of have us a little weirded out. Most particularly the part where we slice into and eat the cake that looks like your baby.
Pregnancy Newsletters
As much as we love letters in the mail and via email, your weekly updates about what you’re eating, how big your belly has gotten, what you’re wearing, what makes you sick to your stomach, and how many hours you’ve slept every day are a bit much.
It makes us view our usual weekly phone chats with you as not only unnecessary, but unwelcome, as well.
