Jaclene Paolucci is six months pregnant and can’t stomach one more piece of unsolicited advice.
“If I don’t ask for it, I don’t want it,” the mom-to-be explained on Twitter.
But one stranger didn’t get the memo. Paolucci recalled their awkward interaction in a tweet that has gone viral with more than 703,000 likes.
In a follow-up tweet, Paolucci noted that “no one should ever EVER just assume a stranger is pregnant.”
The New Yorker's experience sparked an epic Twitter thread with people sharing stories about their own encounters while pregnant.
“A male coworker once said to me as I was eating a McDonald’s cheeseburger and fries, You should eat something healthy, like a salad,” responded one woman. “I was vegetarian up until my 6th month, I literally hadn’t had McDs in 15+ years. I looked at him as I shoved it in my mouth and said SHUT UP ERIC.”
Another wrote:
"Me drinking a small glass of wine while 8 months pregnant
"Stranger: Should you be drinking that?
"Me: No, but my parole officer never comes in here."
Other experiences ranged from guffaw-worthy to cringe-worthy.
Many were quick to point out that the shaming doesn’t stop after you give birth. As one woman recalled, “I was breastfeeding & an old woman came up to say I ought to go to the washroom. I just said, ‘I’m so sorry abt your neck.” She said there’s nothing wrong w/her neck. So I replied, 'then turn your damn head & look away or there soon will be.' She was so flustered, she left.”
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As for Paolucci, she had every right to order a coffee. Studies have shown that it’s safe to have coffee in pregnancy as long it's limited to about one to two 8-ounce cups a day. (Excessive intake might produce a low-weight baby, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.)
“A little bit is not going to hurt your unborn child,” Dr. Jill Hechtman, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Tampa, Florida, previously told TODAY Parents. “It’s completely safe.