Woman’s co-worker snaps at her for admitting that she didn’t enjoy her pregnancy

Pregnancy experiences vary widely, and this was true for Reddit user u/Street_Blackberry174, who shared her story online, questioning if she handled a situation correctly. The issue began during a lunch with her new co-worker Linda, who had been friendly for three months, which made the encounter even more perplexing. Redditors quickly weighed in with their opinions.

"At my work, we have a tradition where once a new employee successfully completes their probation, we go out for a team lunch," the woman shared. "Linda passed her probation, so we went out for lunch." As everyone was eating, they started talking about the "magic of pregnancy and childbirth." She added, "Everyone was sharing sweet moments from their pregnancy. I enthusiastically joined in but didn’t share any of my own." Linda seemed to notice that and asked, "You had twins, didn’t you? That must have been a wonderful experience.” The mom answered, "I smiled and said something along the lines of how I wished my pregnancy and birth had been as positive an experience as theirs had been. To be clear it was not said sarcastically at all."

"The truth is I hated every moment of being pregnant. I could write a long list of all the ‘magical’ symptoms I had but I’ll just give you the highlights," the woman expressed. "Horrific vivid nightmares. Hyperemesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness). Debilitating migraines. A metallic taste in my mouth." The birth wasn't exactly a pleasant experience for her either. "Honestly I feel like anything that could go wrong (but not be life-threatening) did go wrong. Worst of all, due to some of the complications I ended up being kept in hospital for a while, so I missed the first few days with my girls." She concluded that she hated being pregnant and going through labor and wouldn't describe any of it as "magical."

However, she didn't tell her co-worker about all this, just a simple response. "After my reply, Linda started getting short with me. Later, I asked her privately what was going on. She snapped and told me what I said was ‘insensitive’ and ‘undermined’ their experiences and told me I was an a-hole for it," the mom revealed. "Since then, she’s sort of cooled off, and is less hostile (or at least less openly hostile), but last week she invited all the girls in the team to a ladies' night. Everyone but me." She added, "Now, I don’t mind so much, since ladies' nights are not really my thing, but the fact that she pointedly excluded me has made things awkward."

The woman wondered if she had actually undermined other people's experience. People took to the comments section to support her. u/br_612 stated, "It’s absolutely unhinged she accused you of undermining her good experience by just ...not sharing your own negative one. When really her reaction is undermining anyone who did have a negative pregnancy experience." u/Loose-Chemical4982 commented, "Women like her that don't allow for any deviation from their idyllic preconceptions are f****** exhausting. I would recommend keeping your distance if you can. She's not a safe person. Just keep your other work relationships strong because she's already working to cut you out."

u/loverlyone remarked, "It’s stupid and egotistical to assign your own feelings to other people’s experiences, especially one that can also be a medical experience. OP you did her a favor by not sharing your story and it’s none of her business anyway."