When my sister was first told she was expecting twins we nicknamed them "Ronnie and Reggie" (Kray)

They were both girls in the end but the nicknames have stuck. They find it funny and even refer to their older sister as Charlie (the oldest Kray sibling)

But I doubt she means it literally! Perhaps she is trying to  make light of her situation.  I was amazed at the expectation that I should automatically enjoy my pregnancy, and thought it was by far the worst 9 months of my life.  By the time I was about 8 months pregnant, I saw every day as a living hell and was beside myself when I was a few days overdue.  It's wonderful knowing that you are going to have a much wanted baby, but that doesn't mean that you should necessarily enjoy all the horrible things that go with being pregnant, and spending months looking like a beached whale! 

I don't know what to say really.I thank the ptb every day that my DIL is such a wonderful mother and a lovely person. I know I would stress and obsess if she wasn't although my son is a fabulous parent too.
I don't think it means anything to call the baby cowbag and as for the black clothes - well what's the harm. Doesn't every first time mum want their baby to be dressed in a way they like? It might not be how you would dress a baby but then it's not your choice.
Sorry if that sounds harsh but unfortunately that is how it is being a grandmother. You can advise and support but ultimately it's the parents choice how the child is raised.
 Obviously if there are concerns about the treatment of the child once it's born then that is entirely different and people should interfere if they feel that the child is being harmed by the parents or their parenting

I am married to a Malcolm 

She sounds like a right charmer.  

My girls have always had black-ish clothes......bought by me and worn by them occasionally until they were old enough to choose  Their matching Iron Maiden t-shirts were my fave when they were about a year old. I think I was more upset at their dad buying them Celtic strips when they were babies than anyone demanding to know why they weren't in pink with pretty bows

No matter what the pregnancy is like, calling the unborn baby a cowbag or making comments like she wants to cut the baby out with a knife is VERY weird and unnacceptable IMO.  FFS it's not overly pleasant being pregnant, but what kind of person blames the baby for being there?!  Is she going to blame the baby for stopping her going out/affecting her social life too?  Calling the unborn baby anything nasty is not what I would call normal behaviour.  

Is she someone that displays odd and unpredictable behaviour usually?  I mean, if she can't cope with the 9 months of pregnancy, how the hell is she going to cope when the baby is here?!  Sounds like a loose cannon to me - from what you have said auntie fester, and I think as it's your daughter in law and your grandchild, then that's your blood there and you have a right to comment and be concerned.  Just keep an eye on the woman when the kid is born: she sounds like someone who may struggle to cope to me.

I am actually pretty gobsmacked at some of the reactions on here, who seem to think that you have no business being concerned, and that her behaviour and rants are perfectly acceptable and normal.  They're really not.    I don't know one single person who has behaved like this during their pregnancy. 

It's completely different. During pregnancy you don't know what's happening inside you and the reaction your body and emotions are gonna take. When you have a baby in front of you that you can see, hear and touch then you can normally see what the problem is and deal with it. Friends and family can help. They can't help control your hormones and emotions while pregnant. I'm the opposite of you. I don't know one woman who didn't have some sort of outburst while pregnant 

 oooh so true, I remember kicking off BIG style over a t-shirt 

Must have been a bad t-shirt 

Oh come on there are so many worse things she could call her bump!! Cowbag isnt bad imo its not like shes going around calling her a little fukcer etc.

I don't quite understand what the woman has done that is not normal? She appeared to be expressing her frustration about the horrors of being pregnant in a comment on Facebook, but I don't think I ever met anyone who DIDN'T get frustrated at some point in their pregnancy.  Most people have a pet name for their bump;  I have no idea why she happened upon the name Cowbag, but it's hardly offensive if the WOMAN is using it for HER baby!  Perhaps the OP should ask why she chose that name, and she might get an explanation?  Apart from making one throwaway comment, what has the woman done wrong? and where does the 'odd and unpredictable behaviour' stem from, because I really can't see it.

 I also have to agree with some of the other people on this thread that what this woman chooses to call her baby or dress it in is no-one's business but hers and her partner's.

When my youngest was born my first comment was OMG I have given birth to ET

Does this make me a bad mother?

A few experts on terms of endearment and diy births now 

Nooooooo, mine looked like a very very skinny spider monkey complete with a full body covering of hair.  But he was my spider monkey and I loved him.

Growls towards the end I was one of the most miserable pregnant women EVER (quelle surprise) By 6 months I was the size of full term and those last 3 months were sheer hell I'm not saying she shouldn't be moaning about it - quite the opposite - when I went to the hospital and saw all these happy glowing mums-to-be saying how perfect their pregnancies were with good hair and beaming smiles I wanted to smack em in the gob.

It was the bread knife thing that raised my eyebrows!

Quite!

A stanley knife would be much more suitable!

Very strange posts in this thread IMO.    Am I surprised?  Not totally surprised at the posts of a few posters on here, (although a couple of posters I would have thought differently of, and would not have expected the comments...........)  Just goes to show that you think you know people, and then...............     

Clearly what I believe qualifies as 'odd' and unacceptable behaviour is deemed as acceptable by some.  Rather worrying to say the least..........IMO.

I agree with you Cupcake.

Growly Junior looked remarkably like WInston Churchill when she was born, but with a funny pointy head

Thanks Velvet Donkey.  I just can't believe some of the things I am reading to be honest. 

But other than commenting about the bread knife, which some people seem to find disturbing, despite having no idea in what context the remark was made, what has this woman done that is odd or unacceptable?  

Come on.....cowbag - it's low IQ disturbing Kyle material.

Yes, I came across a few of them - and I didn't believe the vast majority.  I;m sure a lot of women are conditioned into thinking that they must enjoy pregnancy, in the same way that many women are conditioned into thinking that they must have children and their lives wouldn't be worth living without them.

Cupcake - if someone with a history of mental illness/suicide attempts and serious self harming was to say something like the breadknife comment then I could see that it would need to be taken seriously - but we all say things we don't actually mean quite often. The problem in the internet/text age is; firstly that things people might only have said to their closest friends in the past are now routinely put on Facebook etc and the world and it's wife can see them and secondly; that it can be difficult to tell from the written word whether someone is joking or deadly serious.


Obviously I don't know the person who Fester is talking about but I took the behaviour of the DIL to be a bit tongue in cheek. If Fester has serious concerns about this woman then she should talk to her son and make her concerns known to him as he is in the best position to make a judgement

So do I.

Does the word have some deeply offensive meaning that I don't know about? or is it just a daft made up word, like me calling Mr G a sh*t bag?

No. You're right Growly.

For a wee girl "cowbag" is affectionate.

What was I thinking?

IMO, calling your unborn child a cowbag is pretty unusual and unpleasant. The bread knife reference is in bad taste.
Maybe I've been leading a very sheltered life.

It depends on the context/intonation though VD. If the DIL is saying it in a hate filled way then that is disturbing but tbh if she hated the baby she was carrying then I'd hazard a guess that she'd call her something a damn sight stronger than cowbag.
I'm sure this girl is using it in the way that Growly says she calls her husband a ............

Well if my daughter chose to call HER unborn baby 'Cowbag' I  might think it was a bit odd, but I would at least ask her why she chose the name. I would hardly think that it was offensive, and would also accept that it was none of my business.  I do accept Veggie's point about concerns if  the OP's DIL had a history of mental health issues, but there hasn't been any suggestion of that.

I, and the people who agree with me are expressing our opinion that the things that auntie fester's Daughter In Law is saying are odd.  That's our opinion and I don't think it's a normal or acceptable way to speak about your unborn child.  That's my opinion............If other people on here think it's OK and perfectly fine, to call their unborn child a cowbag and want to rip the baby out with a knife, then bully for them.... that's their perogative......, but no amount of defence for the woman and the comments she made, will make me change my mind. 

No-one I have ever known - myself included, has ever spoken like that about their children....   Call me pious, 'up myself' and whatever else you want to say, but I'm just stating my views.  Don't get all defensive and uppity because I don't agree that the comments she made are 'hilarious.'  We are all entitled to have different views you know!  And my view is that the comments made, are unacceptable and disturbing ...

Bit odd eh?.......we're getting there.

But the woman made the comment on a Facebook status that she started, presumably aimed at her friends, whose reactions she might have been able to judge. She probably didn't expect to get judged by a bunch of people she has never heard of on a forum she doesnt know exists.

Feck me.

I know what you're saying Growly and I know it might have been said tongue-in-cheek, but it still seems in bad taste to me.

Blimey, it's as well that you never heard some of the things I said when I was pregnant   I'm not getting at all defenive or uppity, and I don't think I've said that I find the comments the woman made were hilarious.   I just don't understand the outrage about calling your own unborn baby Cowbag, or at a random comment made on Facebook.

Totally agree Yogi.. 

   I'd rather not, if it's all the same with you.