Woman Urged to Leave Husband After What His Mom Said About Unborn Daughter

People on the internet have urged a woman to leave her husband after what his mother said about their daughter and unborn child.

Published on Reddit's popular r/AmITheA****** forum, a woman under the anonymous username u/toaster_inthebathtub shared her story to receive feedback from the "AITA" community.

The original poster (OP) began her story by explaining that she and her husband have been married for seven years and are expecting their second child. Her firstborn, "Anne," has epilepsy and has had one seizure before.

To start where the conflict began, she wrote that her mother-in-law is "horrible." She gives the OP "backhanded" compliments and insults her and her looks. The mother-in-law even tries to set up her son with other people, even offering to make him a Tinder account. The OP has asked her husband to get his mom to stop, and he has, but it didn't work.

While organizing the guest list for the OP's baby shower, she told her husband that she didn't want her mother-in-law in attendance. He said since she wouldn't let his mom in the delivery room, she "has" to invite her to the baby shower. He then added that she should feel lucky that she's getting a baby shower "at all." She explained that her husband wasn't able to attend the shower, as he is working.

She said, "At the baby shower, I was telling everyone how our baby was once again a girl. My MIL then decided to say, 'Wow another girl! Let's hope she's not like her sister.' I asked what she meant by that and she said, 'we don't need any other diseases in the family. Imagine seeing a new-born baby drop to the floor and shake everywhere. It's embarrassing.'"

"At first I was honestly confused as she clearly had 0 idea what she was talking about. But then the pregnancy hormones really kicked in and I started crying hysterically. I left my friends house and my mother drove me home," she continued.

When the OP returned home, her husband was there—which she questioned, since he was supposed to be at work—but she didn't stop crying. Her husband asked where all the gifts were, as baby products were "expensive." In response, she went to lock herself in her bedroom.

A few minutes later, her husband explained the text that he received from his mom, saying that the OP "caused a scene" and that "she should be happy she got to meet up with some friends."

"He said 'well Anne's epilepsy medication isn't cheap so I see why she said what she said. You just interpreted it wrong. Apologise to my mother.' I packed a bag and called my mother to pick me up. I'm currently at her place and she's picking Anne up from school," she concluded.

Newsweek has reached out to u/toaster_inthebathtub for comment. We could not verify the details of this case.

What is epilepsy?

"Epilepsy is a group of diverse neurological disorders where a person's brain is predisposed to unprovoked, recurrent seizures," Beth Lewin Dean, CEO of CURE Epilepsy, told Newsweek.

"Seizures are abnormal electrical activity in the brain that interferes with its normal function. Many scientists and clinicians compare it to an 'electrical storm in the brain' in which your brain cells hyper-synchronize in an abnormal pattern, disrupting that delicate brain signal balance," Dean added.

Epilepsy is a spectrum disorder and the causes, type and severity can differ, Dean said. This disorder affects 3.4 million people in the United States and 65 million around the world. When it comes to children, one in 150 are diagnosed with epilepsy.

There are many types of seizures, including brief staring spells, rhythmic jerking motions and the full tonic-clonic (previously known as grand mal).

Dean noted that people who have "provoked" seizures due to a stroke or fever are not said to have epilepsy.

What to do if someone is having a seizure

Dean explained to Newsweek the things you can do if you discover someone around you is having a seizure:

For any type of seizure:

• Stay with the person until they stop convulsing
• After it ends, help them sit up and find a safe space; explain what happened
• Comfort the person and speak calmly
• Offer to get the person a way home safely, like calling a taxi

For a generalized seizure (tonic-clonic where the person falls to the ground, in addition to the above):

• Ease the person gently onto the floor
• Turn the person onto their side
• Clear the area of anything sharp or dangerous
• Put something soft underneath the person's mouth (for example a jacket)
• Remove glasses and loosen ties or anything constricting
• Time the seizure

"Importantly, you usually do not need to call 911 for a seizure, although
there are exceptions (eg. A person's first seizure, a seizure lasting longer than 5 minutes, if the person stops breathing)," Dean told Newsweek.

Redditor reactions

"[Not the a******] You are in an abusive relationship and you need to get the hell out of it immediately before it does irreparable damage to your children," wrote u/MeButSecret, receiving the top comment of over 24,000 upvotes.

"Get the f*** out girl. Oh my god," urged u/megorio.

U/DoesntLikeTurtles said, "[Not the a******]. Don't leave your mother's house except to collect your belongings, and don't go alone. Do yourself and your daughters a big favor and start legal proceedings ASAP. That family is bad for you."

"[Not the a******]!!!!! But your husband and his whole family are the [a*******] You need to leave this toxic marriage and his toxic family! This will never be good for you or your daughter. She will start hearing the things they say about her and that is not okay," u/Dry_Ask5493 said.