Am I overreacting, or is my mother crossing boundaries during my pregnancy?
What do you think?
I feel like my mother is making my pregnancy too much about herself, and it's starting to feel suffocating. At this point, I'm not sure whether I'm overreacting or if my feelings are justified.
Long story short:
My mother tends to make a lot of aspects of my pregnancy about herself. First of all, she still carries a great deal of grief over my miscarriage last year.
At 11 weeks, we found out that the baby's heart had stopped beating. She was broken. Even told her colleagues what happened without asking me if she could tell people. I actually didn’t want more people to know besides close family members. She always says she’s heartbroken and still thinks a lot about it. How can I move on if she keeps reminding us?
Two days ago, she told me that she had gotten a butterfly tattoo in memory of the baby. I found that incredibly upsetting.
Now I'm 32 weeks pregnant, and she's planning to set up a nursery in her own house. I accepted that.
On top of that, I have two aunts whom I also see as mother figures, but she constantly makes comments like, "You're really not going to call them Grandma too, are you? I'm the grandmother." She talks as though they don't deserve that title, which makes me uncomfortable. She has a lot of issues with her sisters and also says things like “they will change your mind anyways, like they always do. You are so influenceable”. I know my mom will be a grandmother but my baby is not “shareable” or to claim. It annoys me. Don’t get me wrong. She has also a lot of sweet things but pfff it drains the life out of me.
A couple of days ago, my partner and I were talking with my mother about the birth, and we told her that we don't want anyone at the hospital while I'm in labor. Even so, she keeps saying, "Don't mind me, I'll just wait downstairs because I want to be there." Every time she says it, I tell her no. When I stood my ground, she started crying. I didn't change my mind, but I still have a feeling she'll end up sitting in the hospital café waiting anyway.
Am I being unreasonable, or are these boundaries perfectly reasonable? Maybe it’s the hormones.
Posted Jun 22, 2026, 6:00 PM UTC