r/pregnant

Hiiii everyone. This is kinda hard for me to say even anonymously but I kinda need some advice. So, I found out I was pregnant two weeks ago making me about 7 weeks today. The father n I are not together and never have been. We just sometimes go out of town together for work as we are both business people. (We don’t work for a company just independent). When we are in our hometown we usually aren’t together a lot. I know he’s probably with other women and in the past I have been with other men. But not really, as I do enjoy my celibacy breaks. Anyways. I see his reposts on social media a few of them saying things along the lines of “ women trying to trap men with babies. He doesn’t want babies. And just things of that’s nature “ I don’t necessarily want children either but I had a few abortions in my early adulthood/end of my teenage. And I always felt like i couldn’t get pregnant after. (Multiple miscarriages in previous relationships, trying never working with my ex). I do feel like I want to have this baby I just am so emotional thinking of ruining someone else’s life because I want something they don’t. Or hurting the person inside of me by being born to someone who didn’t want them. I’m extremely conflicted on whether I should tell him or just keep it to myself and do it all on my own. I don’t want money or him or to tie anyone down bc “baby trapping them”. I recently was having a hard time with my depression and falling into substance abuse and the baby has given me a light, and a new ambition to do better for them and myself. I’m really scared. I’m really sad that it’s not how I imagined. I thought I would at least have a baby with someone who loved me. But maybe god has other plans ? I can’t bear the thought of getting rid of the baby and I’m very nervous.

TLDR; do I keep this to myself ?

I'm 17 weeks and eating has been difficult as I am still constantly nauseous and have bad food aversion. But when I tell you I want freakin' corn on the cob so bad, I mean I would probably give up my left foot right now for it.

I would love to know what uncontrollable cravings you guys had.​

I always thought I’d want an epidural but as the pregnancy goes on I feel like I want to explore different pain meds options. I’m not interested in all natural (though I will prepare for one just in case) but don’t want to be completely numb. I like the idea of having control of my body and being able to move around and stuff.

I haven’t done much research 😅 Just wanted to hear about other’s experiences and if you liked or hated the pain management option you chose.

Me (31F) and my husband (36M) are pregnant with our first child. I am 7 weeks and some change along. We are so happy. I have PCOS and struggled to get pregnant. We were able to get pregnant on the third round of letrozole. This baby has been wanted, prayed for, wished for, and hoped for. For years. I want to share this exciting news with our families. I am an only child so this will be my parents’ first grandchild. My parents and my husband’s parents are good and present parts of our lives. However, both sets of parents are very religious. We have political differences too. Our plan is to get the NIPT test and, hopefully, it will come back low risk. If it is, then our plan is to share with them about the baby. If the NIPT is not normal, we would elect for an amnio and if a chromosomal abnormality is confirmed, would likely opt for termination. That will be devastating, but I don’t want my baby to suffer through a horrible chromosomal disability, and we don’t have the ability or resources to care for a special needs child with that kind of serious disability. However, I am mourning not being able to share this pregnancy with who is supposed to be one of our support systems. My mom has mentioned that she believes abortion is always wrong and you should always let the baby be born, even if not compatible with life. I completely disagree. To me, this means she’s not going to be a person that I can share this pregnancy with any time soon. I’m tempted to tell no one until after the anatomy scan. But it’s so sad. All of this feels me with joy and excitement, but also lots of anxiety about this pregnancy. I have friends that would be supportive of me, no matter what. But I’m grappling with whether those friends should know before our families. How long should I wait? Any comments of care, support, or similar situation would be appreciated 💕

TW: Loss of an older child.

I’m a 30 year-old mother who is 21 weeks pregnant with my second daughter. My precious 18mo daughter suddenly passed away right before Christmas 2025 so not that long ago…complications from a virus… I am of course completely heartbroken & taking everything day by day. I do have a close relationship with God and do believe in an afterlife, which is the only thing that keeps me from completely losing it probably. Three months after she passed, I found out I was pregnant. It was a very irrational survival decision…. The thought of not being / mother anymore was destroying me…. I try to stay as strong as possible because I don’t want to hurt my baby girl inside of me. I fight back tears some days and try to calm myself down. Are there any mamas who have gone through intense grief, while carrying their child? I fear that me crying will hurt my baby emotionally and that they won’t be happy. Please help

I have never been great with restrictions and sometimes all I can think about these days is everything I CAN'T do. What are y'all missing?

Just grateful I'm not an elephant whose pregnancy lasts two years. 22 weeks down!

Bro 😭😭😭 this sucks! Last night I had another round of prodromal labor and I really thought it might be time and then once we got to 5 minutes apart they just petered out to nothing once again :( I had a good long sob about it to my husband. I feel like I’m never going to go into labor, I feel totally hopeless, and the suspense and bouts of prodromal labor are killing me :( This is making me so depressed

Edit: Everyone is downvoting my comment about how my midwives use Castor Oil as an induction method and saying I shouldn’t be going to my birth center if that’s the case, but my midwives are Certified Nurse Midwives. They all have medical degrees and at least 25 years of experience. My midwife specifically, the lead midwife at the practice, has a doctorate and has delivered over 2,000 babies and has had only one loss. They work under the supervision of my city’s Maternal Fetal Medicine, one of the best in the country. People come here from other states to receive care from the MFM practice they work under. They would not do anything to put me or my baby in danger. I’m under legitimate medical care

tw: miscarriage

I’ve been on this sub through all of my (unsuccessful) pregnancies and I have read a lot of posts about “how to be a good pregnant friend when my friend is experiencing infertility” but I’m curious about the other way around.

I just had a second trimester loss and it feels like all my friends are pregnant and they all have varying degrees of sensitivity. I want to be a good friend and make them feel supported, but also I’m not always up for it. Sometimes I feel downright angry that Im the only one in my group that can’t be a parent and I need to take some space, but I’m afraid of hurting their feelings.

As people who are living this from the other side, any advice on the best way to support my friends while also communicating my needs in a way that doesnt make everyone uncomfortable?

Has anyone gotten advice from their OB on how to go forward? There is an outbreak of a parasite/infection thay will cause explosive diarrhea and severe GI symptoms. This can last for a MONTH. The meds required to treat it are pregnancy category C and are often avoided in the first trimester and later 3rd trimester.

What guidance do we have at this point? Anything? Does the CDC want to say anything? Hello? ACOG? Do we all need to eliminate fresh produce?

i’ve never made one of these posts before. i’m currently 17w 2d. about 2/3 days ago i got my NIPT test results back, which include the babies gender. i found out im having a little boy!!! i’m so excited to meet him when he’s here. i already have his name picked out. and it’s so unique and cool and i’m jus absolutely in love with it and with him. after my family knew the gender, my boyfriend and i went to his family to tell them. before i continue the rest of this story it’s important to note that a.) this is my first pregnancy. b.) my mom came up with the name so she does infact know the name. c.) i have chosen to keep my sons name private until he’s here. for me personally i just feel like it would be so much more fun to have everyone meet him and then find out his name. it’s definitely not a name you would guess.

we told my boyfriends grandma first. and she wanted to know if we had a name picked out. my boyfriend said yes, and i cut in and said that we’re keeping it to ourselves. his grandma immediately said “well im not waiting that long to find out” “ill text him later and get it out of him” “you might as well tell me because im gonna find out” and my least favorite that really pissed me off and made me cave “well if your mom gets to know then i get to know”. i caved and told her so she would just stop bugging me and im trying to keep peace. i don’t want anyone to think im a bitch and whatnot.

he’s not even close with his family. i’m extremely close with my mom. i’m jus so irritated with myself for caving. i don’t think she’s gonna keep my secret and i have a feeling she’s gonna tell his family. it still won’t be ruined for my family, but this is my son and my moment. not hers. i just don’t know what to do anymore.

Hello! I guess I just want to rant a little also I might be a little dramatic but I have nowhere else to say these things lol, but me and my sister in law are both pregnant, she’s 6 weeks before me so not very far but ever since we’ve both gotten pregnant she’s constantly saying “well when you get farther along __ will happen” and stuff along those lines..like we watched fireworks together and I heard my sister in laws talking about how she was “pregnant pregnant” and I’m not so she deserves the chair to sit in and I can sit on the ground, which I’m fine with sitting on the ground but it’s just starting to get on my nerves because we’re 6 weeks apart and I’m not very far behind her…And I don’t understand why they’re making it a competition anyways cause we’re both pregnant and going through the exact same shit.

Hello everyone! I just found out I’m pregnant. I stopped my birth control pills about a month ago expecting a few normal cycles before getting a positive test (actually took 4 tests and they almost instantly read positive) but here we are. I’ve been dealing with my breasts being huge and achy, but the worst thing so far is the fatigue. I’m normally the energizer bunny but I practically live on the couch now (thank goodness for being a teacher on summer vacation). I’m taking prenatal vitamins and will be making an appointment with my ob, but I have to ask, if you dealt with crippling fatigue, how did you manage? I can’t imagine trying to do my job next month feeling like this. Any advice that can help me get back to being semi-functional at least? Thanks so much in advance!

I am 40 weeks and 6 days officially. I am upset at the amount of calls and texts I have been getting. And the amount of unsolicited advice I have also been given in how to naturally induce labor. But this subreddit has prepared me for that sort of thing. Lesson learned: don't ever tell people your due date.

But the #1 comment that I was not expecting was: "is your baby still moving?"

Do not ever say that someone. Past due or not. Each day my anxiety gets worse. I feel for her everyday. I keep thinking something is wrong with my body, even though I logically know as a FTM that this is normal. I want her here and safe more than anything in this world.

But to basically ask me if my baby is still alive....that is something I cannot handle.

Not So Friendly Reminder: Do not EVER introduce that fear into a pregnant person's brain. Get a fucking clue. And realize they'll tell you if the baby is here or not. It is abundantly clear that these people just want to take their pictures and be in their new roles with the new baby. But its MY baby. And I want her safe and okay.

I'm so tired. And scared. I know everything will be okay. But I just want her in my arms. The anticipation is killing me.

Edit: Thank you to most of you for the validation and letting me rant and not feel crazy lol. While I do get overwhelmed with the calls and texts, I can understand the love that comes from them. And each one has responded in kind to me saying "baby is not here, trust me I will tell you" so I do have good people in my life.

But totally was not expecting 4 different people to ask me if my baby was still moving . This included my mom, my sister, my supervisor, and an old coworker. It just seem incredibly insulting that someone would assume I wouldn't be obsessing about that everyday. Like duh, if I feel even a hint of something being wrong, I will go in. And then the pouring from each after "well are you walking?? are you eating spicy food? are you having sex?? will you get induced?" like my body is defective and I am doing something wrong.

My mom admitted that she took two weeks off after my due date to spend time with the baby. and she is insinuating that baby not being here is messing with her time off.

The selfishness is just shocking lol but what can you do.

My baby IS moving. Painfully but consistently lol! My doc team is not concerned. And I know baby will be here this week. All is well. Just needed a good cry and to silence my cell phone like you all said! I can do this :)

Does anyone else feel like they are waiting for the other shoe to drop when it comes to morning sickness? I am a 37 year old FTM with severe emetephobia (fear of vomitting). I'm 5w4d today and all of the horror stories that I've read about morning sickness "hitting like a train" at 6 weeks "on the dot" is giving me so much anxiety.

I've been feeling pretty okay symptom wise so far. I have had a lot of breast tenderness and a bit of fatigue. I have also been taking b6 3x a day preemptively to try and stay ahead of the nausea. But recently had to switch to just taking a half tab of unisom at night instead when I realized that the b6 was upsetting my stomach a little bit. The unisom has actually been making me feel pretty good I think. But changing up this routine has added to my stress since I'm not sure whether the b6 was actually helping to keep the nausea at bay so far.

I should note that I am prepped with all the usual things people recommend (ginger tea and chews, sea sickness bands, preggy pop drops, altoid mints etc)

Any emetphobia sufferers out there with any advice on how to cope with all of this? Also, has anyone else only taken unisom at night (without the b6) and been fine?

is that your love for your partner increases by like x1000000000000. mine is the handsomest/sexiest man in the world to me and i cry of joy thinking of our girl growing up to be like him. i feel so incredibly blessed to know him. of course i loved him before but now the feeling is deeper in a way i didnt know was possible. he really is the man of my dreams.

idk how long this feeling will last. im sure things will get bumpy again, especially w a newborn, but for now im so in love. feel a rush of oxytocin when i look at him from any angle.

(the one caveat is that while my first trimester sickness was at its peak i felt like his touch and smell were way too much and deeply unpleasant—shoot, even my own smell made me sick. but now that that feeling is diminishing, he is perfect.)

is this relatable to you? are my hormones doing this? is this natures way of keeping the family unit together to help baby survive?

When I was 20, I had an early abortion before 8 weeks using the abortion pill. Everything went smoothly, and I moved on with my life. At that point, I knew I couldn’t continue with the pregnancy.

Now, six years later, I’m almost 29 weeks pregnant with my husband’s baby. It’s been a healthy pregnancy in every way. My husband came with me to one of my first prenatal appointments, and when the provider asked if I’d had any previous pregnancies, births, or abortions, I said no. He doesn’t know about what happened when I was 20, and I didn’t want to have that conversation in front of him.

He’s a wonderful husband in so many ways, but we have completely different views on abortion. He’s very strongly pro-life, and honestly, discussing the topic with him is stressful because he’s very firm in his beliefs. Because of that, I don’t plan on telling him about my past abortion.

What do you all think? Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

Ironically, this pregnancy has made me even more pro-choice than I already was. Going through pregnancy myself has made me realize how hard it is, and I can’t imagine having to do this or raise a child without financial stability, good mental health, maturity, a supportive partner, or a strong support system.

UPDATE

I think a lot of people are assuming I’ve been hiding this from medical providers, and that’s simply not true. I’ve been going to a women’s clinic since I was a teenager, and I’ve always been honest and responsible about my sexual and reproductive health, including this experience. In fact, it was discussed there.

I just didn’t bring it up in front of my husband when my midwife asked because I wanted to keep that part of my medical history private. That’s all.

I was simply looking for advice on how to navigate a conversation like this with someone who has different views than I do—in this case, my husband. And if I ultimately decide I don’t want to share it, that’s my choice. He already knows exactly where I stand on abortion, so my beliefs have never been a secret.

I feel awful typing this out but I guess I’m just hoping for some understanding and advice. This is my fourth pregnancy (third living child) and a very wanted and planned baby. My husband and I were on the fence for a long time (6+ years!) about whether we would have another. During that time, I accidentally got pregnant and we chose to terminate at 8 weeks (about 5 years ago). It was rough, and it’s a decision I felt a lot of regret about for a long time. It caused a lot of marital conflict and it’s taken me a long time to heal emotionally from that period.

Fast forward to about 6 months ago. We decide to try for another. I get pregnant and am almost immediately thrust into the hellscape of the first trimester. I was sick, depressed, passively suicidal, feeling an enormous re-opening of the guilt and pain of the abortion. My husband was extremely supportive and truly so loving during this time, I wouldn’t have survived it without him. Finally the second trimester arrives and the fog starts to lift and I actually begin to feel happy and excited for baby. We find out the sex, the NIPT comes back low risk, we tell our kids they’re going to have a baby sister.

Then the doctor sees something on the anatomy scan. Lots of uncertainty and discussions about worst case scenarios for our baby girl. Within the month I have 2 more ultrasounds and a fetal MRI. The final diagnosis is still uncertain but they’re strongly leaning toward something now that is highly treatable with post-natal surgery, minimal risks of pregnancy complications and a “normal” outcome. All the initial worst-case scenarios have been ruled out. Now I just have repeat ultrasounds every 4 weeks for monitoring.

All this to say, I feel like I should be happier? More grateful? Relieved? And I suppose I do at times, but also feel a lot of sadness and frustration with the universe for making this experience so hard. Part of me wonders if this is a form of cosmic justice for the abortion I had. It doesn’t help that my husband similarly and understandably feels upset about the anatomy finding and since then has expressed doubts at times about whether it was the right choice to have another child. I feel like a huge part of me wants to move on from this major scare and be happy that in the end, we will very likely have a great outcome. But another major part of me is just fixated on the loss of a certain rose-colored future for us.

Has anyone else been through something similar? How do you turn away from the disappointment and fear and towards love and joy? I love my baby and will do whatever it takes to help her through this and anything else that comes her way, but I’m struggling to stay in a positive place.

Thank you ♥️

Edit: thank you all for the comments and kind words of support. I’m sorry that many of us have been or are currently in similar scenarios, but it’s so helpful to feel less alone. Sending everyone love and appreciation.

My wish for all of you is to find the time or have a husband that makes the time for an afternoon nap. I’m 37 weeks and also have a toddler and could not survive without a little rest.

So as the title suggests I am feeling discouraged because as of today I am 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant and have tried everything (except castor oil) to induce labor. This is my second pregnancy and I had to have a C-section with my first due to babies position. Since it was no fault of my own and my body did well progressing and these deliveries will be two years apart my OB is on board with me trying to TOLAC.

The reason I’m discouraged though since my baby is measuring on the bigger side (90th percentile) she really only will let me go to 40 weeks and then wants to do a repeat cesarean. I am obviously going to listen to my OBs advice and have on scheduled for 40 weeks and 1 day but I can’t help but feel defeated IF I have a repeat C-section.

My “selfish” reasoning is I have my toddler and I know recovery can be a bit harder after major surgery, especially the weight restrictions. I don’t have a lot of support. My husband works for family (you’d think they’d offer him some bonus or paid leave WHEN THEYVE BEEN ON VACATION for having a baby, but this is another rant for another day) so he doesn’t have any sort of paternity leave. Last pregnancy he got 1 week off unpaid and then ban back at work. Last time was hard, but I know this time is different since I have to meet the needs of a toddler and a NB. I don’t have a lot of family support on my side, and his side will help me but let’s be honest I don’t want to be overwhelmed day in and out with visitors especially when breastfeeding/recovering.

So my ask is: if you have some crazy advice for how to get the ball rolling on labor, please share OR if I just need to accept baby may not come and how to navigate these feelings of failure after this C-section. Sorry this is a dump of my feelings. I FINALLY am on maternity leave!!! My last shift was this morning so now I have DAYS before my C-section to either get this baby out or cry and accept my fate. Thank you in advance ❤️

I’m currently 27 weeks pregnant and I’ve noticed a side of myself that honestly scares me a little.

Before pregnancy, I was a pretty patient person. My husband and I have been together for 7 years. We’ve had arguments like any couple, but I never had urges to hit him or physically react when I was annoyed.

Since becoming pregnant, I feel like my irritability has gone through the roof. It’s not even just my husband. I find myself getting annoyed with coworkers, family members, and random strangers, much faster than I used to. I literally want to fight everyone.

The reason I’m posting is because I recently had an argument with my husband that really shocked me.
We were trying to meet up with my sister and her family to watch fireworks. They were following us in their car, it was dark, and we ended up getting separated because my husband didn’t have a clear address and wasn’t really communicating what he was doing. I was trying to coordinate with my sister on the phone while also figuring out where we were going.

The more stressed I got, the more frustrated I became because I felt like every time I asked my husband a question, he would either get defensive or answer with another question instead of just telling me the plan.
What scared me was how fast everything escalated.
I went from mildly annoyed to very angry in probably 10 minutes, and then from angry to absolutely raging in what felt like seconds.

I ended up screaming at him at the top of my lungs. I shoved his shoulder and tossed my Stanley cup into his lap. The second it happened I felt awful because that is not who I am. I apologized afterward and he accepted my apology, but I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

The thing is, when I look back, this isn’t the first time during pregnancy that I’ve noticed more aggressive impulses. I’ve caught myself having thoughts like wanting to smack someone’s arm when they’re being annoying or wanting to physically react instead of just rolling my eyes and moving on. I don’t remember ever feeling this way before pregnancy.

I’m not trying to excuse my behavior. I know what I did was wrong and I take responsibility for it.

I’m just wondering if anyone else experienced a dramatic increase in irritability, anger, or aggressive impulses during pregnancy that felt completely out of character for them.
Did it get better after delivery? Did you talk to your OB about it?