How would you handle this
So I had a second premie this summer and was in the hospital for 5 weeks because of severe preeclampsia. Baby was in the NICU for 3 weeks and I had postpartum depression from the situation. I am now over that hump but because of him being bottle feeding before breastfed plus a tounge and lip tie I am exclusively pumping. My problem is my inlaws keeps talking about the pumping thing and I don't care to talk about my boobs with them. My husband was going to talk to them but hasn't yet and now we are both nervous about how to ask them to stop talking about my tits. They make jokes, tell me how sorry they feel for me, and keep talking about dishes I have to do. Im a private person and I don't think this is any of their business. Mil gets offended easily and I thought about sending her a letter that explains how I feel and to quit bringing this up. I am nervous she will get pissy and show the whole family the letter. Any suggestions on how to handle this?
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I would attempt to call it out in a joking manner, (maybe not the best approach). I’d say something like, “damn, y’all think about my tits a lot huh?” It calls out the elephant in the room and usually when it’s exposed like that people don’t want to mention it anymore
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This is tough. It sounds like they might be making jokes to make light of it, sometimes we do that. But it's hurting you. If they're people you got along with well before this then I'd just sit her down and talk to them. Remind them that you know how much they love you and how much they care and it's because of that you feel safe to be open about this. Tell her that she's right, there are lots of dishes and pumping is hard and exhausting and that you are grieving what you thought your journey would be like with your little one and the reminder that you're not breastfeeding is just really hurtful and it would mean a great deal if they stopped making jokes about it. If she is hurt by this it's not your emotions to sort out. Yk? You're not responsible for how she feels about what you're sharing regarding your feelings.