Bump Photos?!

Squiggler

I don't know whether to stick this in parenting or personal issues, so Mods, please feel free to move if necessary.

My MIL sent me an email yesterday asking me to make sure to send her monthly photos of the bump's progress. My In-Laws live in the USA and won't be visiting again until after the baby is born, so I understand that she might be feeling a bit left out, but I feel really weird about the idea.

I hadn't plan to be showing my unclothed bump to anyone other than my Husband, midwife and any other relevant medical personnel.

Have any of the rest of you had something like this come up? Are you keeping a record of the bump growth, if so, do you plan to keep it private or to provide copies of the photos to the grandparents and other family members and friends?

I really don't know how to respond to her.

xzanti

Are you sure she's looking for unclothed bump?? She may just want a general side profile of you month by month? I don't think I'd be too comfortable with someone asking to see my nekid midriff

lynski

take the photos in the same tight top against the same background each month?

Moonbeam

scan and send her some scan photos so she feels they are part of it all.

Squiggler

Thanks for the suggestions. I still feel really uncomfortable about the idea. My growing belly and changing shape isn't something I feel I want to share, and I know that any pictures provided to MIL will end up being shown to people I don't even know, and probably end up on her facebook too.

The scan picture idea is a pretty good one. I'm only going to have one scan, at 20 weeks. We don't want to know the sex of the child though, so I guess that means that if the sex is obvious in the picture we won't want a copy? I don't know though... can anyone put me straight on that?

cbyrd

My brother and sister in law live in LA and when she was pregnant she sent us progress pics, mostly to me and my mam,(clothed nothing weird :eek::D) it was really nice to be a part of the pregnancy and just to see how she was getting on.. we never asked for them though and i wouldn't have but because we didnt' get to see her it was nice.. i think it's a woman thing.. it's the first thing most people say when they see you.. a comment on the bump :rolleyes:
My parents did fly over when she was about 7 months and we have loads of pictures just general holiday snaps. it's nice to look back at them too...

Maybe cos they're so far away they might just want to feel included and if they were here they would see the 'bumps' progress..
I know a friend of mine did take regular photo's of her bump (clothed) and she loves showing her son now 4 how he grew in her belly!!

Unless you're completely weirded out by it, it could be fun to look back once the baby's born..and i can understand not wanting to show off your bump, it's a very personal thing, i used to get so annoyed when people would think they had a right to put their hand on my belly.. freaks!!
good luck with it...

MzFit

If it weirds you out that much, don't do it. Apologise to the in-laws, explain the situation, they will understand if they have any level of empathy whatsoever.

xzanti

MzFit wrote: »

If it weirds you out that much, don't do it. Apologise to the in-laws, explain the situation, they will understand if they have any level of empathy whatsoever.

Exactly, don't do anything you're not comfortable with.. Sometimes people get so excited about the baby they can forget that it can be an overwhelming time for the Mammy to be..

I'm sure she wouldn't want to add to your anxieties if she knew how you were feeling

Squiggler

Thanks again folks, seems that it's a very American thing to do, to send photos of the bump to friends and family. I think I'm going to ignore her request for now, and if she asks again I'll try to explain my reluctance.

It just totally threw me for a loop the other day when I got her email. She does tend to be a bit of a human steam roller, disregarding the preferences or sensibilities of others. I guess I should just keep reminding myself that I don't always have to acceed to her wishes, especially since she doesn't bother paying attention to anyone elses :rolleyes:

But I do like the idea of having a record, for our little family, so maybe we'll take the photos, but not send them.

?Cee?view

Squiggler,

I think you've enough on your hands without having to deal with this as well. Can you not get your other half to speak with his mother about it? This shouldn't be stressing you out at all.

And in the end, if you do decide to send any picture, I wouldn't hesitate at all in saying that they're being sent on the condition that they're not put up on facebook or anything like that.

Just an idea....would you be more comfortable with a fully clothed picture (as suggested above) but also excluding your face? That way, noone could really identify it as you.