So, when did you stop answering your phone?

I'm not answering my phone anymore.

I'm only 33 weeks, and I am tired of people calling me to find out if I'm in labor yet. I don't like talking on the phone to begin with, and then to have people call me every day--I don't have anything to say! I sit in my house and only leave to go to the grocery store or the OB/GYN office! Do they really think I want to talk about what's on sale at my local Publix, because that's the only thing on which I am an authority right now!

And honestly, do they think I'm going to have two babies and NOT TELL ANYONE? They'll find out! I hate that they are all so obsessed with being "the first to know" that they keep calling me in spite of some pretty heavy hint-dropping on my part that the phone calls are obnoxious and unwelcome.

*sigh*

So when did it start for you? Are you handling it better than I am?

 

I got a call from a friend's mum the other day wanting to know! I hardly know the woman, but she was saying "tell your husband to cal me right away!" As if! I know it's nice folk are thinking of me, but who do these folk think they are!

 

QUOTE(ladybenz @ Dec 8 2007, 09:42 AM) [snapback]525795[/snapback]
I hate that they are all so obsessed with being "the first to know"

Well I had to go to L&D because of contractions, and my mom (who just moved down because I’m pregnant with twins) happen to call me to give me her new phone number… well I gave her the heads up that we were gonna go, I knew all they would do is confirm my contractions then give me a shot and send me on my way… so I brought my son with us… but I gave my mom the heads up incase they kept me late, so she could come to the hospital and get my son and bring him back home… well after we left she called a friend of my MIL (who lives in the same gated community she just moved to) to give him her new number, she mentioned to him that we went to the hospital… well I think my MIL was all hurt that she wasn’t called, she wasn’t the chosen Grandma given the heads up… do you know how many times I went to the hospital with my singleton… and how many more times I will probably go with the twins… its not like if anything major happen I wouldn’t call them… my mom happened to call ME is why she knew… well my MIL went on to my DH how she is technically closer then my mom (by 5 min)… you know if my mom still live far away… she would have acted soooo put out to give up her evening for something that we all knew would only be 2 hours in L&D… but now that someone else is willing to help me… its totally competition for who will be the first in the know… and I now get about 10 calls a day from only 4 people… my DH calls them my Fan club, I call them my stalkers… and if I don’t answer my phone, my blackberry lights up with emails… as they know I email client all day long… but I just try to remind myself its because they love us… but it can be annoying… and I’m only 17 weeks… so to answer your question... 17 weeks

 

Bless your heart! I had forgotten ALL about the pre-babies "are they here yet?" calls!
Not to be the bearer of bad tidings, but the calls tend to intensify (at least they did in our case) AFTER the babies are born and you're home!
Each one prefaced with a no-doubt genuinely heartfelt, but invariably poorly-timed, "I hope you're not sleeping, but I just HAD to know how you all are doing!"

Two words: Recorded message.

Something along the lines of "We love you but we've got a belly-full/house-full of babies...please know we will keep you up to date as best we can..yadda yadda yadda..."

It might be worth doing one of the freebie blogs or websites and include the URL in your message and that way folks can get "the latest and greatest" and you can update it (even with pix!) at YOUR convenience!

Hang in there!

 

I think you are smart to not answer the phone. Hang in there.

Dianna

 

I totally agree with the answering machine message. You can easily update them on there each day. For my family members (sisters and mom) they get to have keys to my home and come in any time. They are super respectful and quiet and just want to be there for me and the babies' needs (when they come!). When DD was brought home from the hospital after she was deathly ill for a month - we put a message on our machine and turned the ringer to one or two rings and low, and the message sound to low. And we have caller ID. So when it rings I can decide to answer or not, but if I decide not - the message says it all and I don't feel guilty one bit. Sometimes I'm not the best at calling people back though.

 

Ah yes, we will definately be doing the recorded message.
"No they are not here, thank you for checking. We will report to local news when the time is right. If you need anything else please leave a message."
or
"Yes the babies are here, yes we are insanely busy with them. Please leave a message to SCHEDULE a visit as things are very crazy here now."

 

I had forgotten about that, I got so tired of the disappointment in peoples voices when I would answer without any exciting news or if I would call someone for another reason! I also stopped around 32 weeks. Good luck