28 February 2024 , 13:02
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An intrepid traveller has told how her ‘unorthodox’ lifestyle infuriated her sister-in-law at her baby shower, leading to a serious showdown between the pair. After revealing that she was an obstetrician gynaecologist (OB-GYN) – a healthcare professional that specialises in female reproductive health – she told how she had been travelling around the world on missions with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), whose teams provide medical humanitarian assistance to save lives in conflict zones, natural disasters and epidemics.
She said: “Long story short, I hadn't been home in 15 months. I decided to join due to a depressive episode after my ex-girlfriend broke up with me, but I ended up loving it and I just kept going on missions.” After returning home two weeks ago, she told how her pregnant sister-in-law invited her to her baby shower, but she wasn’t prepared for how things would turn out.
While there, she admitted that family members and some of her brother’s old friends had been probing her about her work overseas: “They asked questions like why I left to work for a charity when I could earn a fortune here, was it hard being a woman in those areas etc. I gave them short answers, but they kept asking more questions.”
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However, during the middle of the party, her sister-in-law asked to speak to her in private: “She told me I was monopolising everyone's attention and taking up everyone's time and no-one was paying attention to the purpose of the gathering due to my being there.” After apologising, she asked her sister-in-law if she would like her to leave: “She said I had been enough of a distraction, and told me to please leave early. I left about half an hour after this talk.”
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However, while believing everything was fine after she left the event early, she told how her brother had called her the next day in a fury: “He said I had ruined their first child's baby shower. He said I should have kept quiet, or at the very least left the party the moment Penny asked me to.”
After asking Reddit for opinions on the stressful 'sisterly' situation, she was met with tons of support: “You can’t talk to anyone else at the Party?” said one. “You can’t hear anything unless it is about the baby or new mum?” Another mum was shocked at her tale: “Christ – if that was what people expected at my shower I’d have left early. That sounds boring as hell!"
Others said they would have hated that much attention at their own event: “I’d have fled into the wilderness if all the attention had been on me at my baby shower,” said another mum, while one commented: “My baby shower was also my niece’s first birthday party. I can’t imagine being this self absorbed. "Do these people really expect a roomful of people to just sit there and stare at them the whole time?” queried one. “Main character syndrome, their stuff is the most important ever.”