Just an hour before my sister-in-law’s wedding, I went into labor—and my mother-in-law took my phone and locked me in the bathroom, saying to hold off for a while so that I didn’t steal sister-in-law’s spotlight and ruin her special day. A few hours later, I woke up in the hospital, and my mother-in-law was begging me not to press charges. But oh boy, her face went pale when hubby announced this. – Part 2

So we are proceeding with the case, that’s for sure—but Rick will handle it because I have a newborn to care for and can’t be arsed with this drama. Rick said he would handle it. None of the siblings are willing to talk to her anymore. Anna has completely cut her off, and Emma only talks to her when necessary. And Rick and I are obviously no contact. I don’t think mother‑in‑law anticipated this, and maybe she genuinely meant to protect Anna—however twisted it sounds. I’m not defending her—not in the least. But I still feel bad for her because it all backfired so horribly. Now a part of me wonders if they should talk it out with her—because it feels wrong and bad to me. I don’t know. Maybe I’m not thinking straight. I know if I mention this to Rick, he’ll fly off the handle. He’s furious with her and can’t even look at her right now. I hadn’t anticipated this—but here we are.
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Update One: Well, any reconciliation is off the table forever. I know I haven’t updated in a long time, but, well, I’m a new mom, so between keeping myself and my kid alive, I’ve been busy. The good thing is that May turns eight weeks old in a couple of days, and we’re all super excited. Anna and Jonah have been real sweethearts, helping Rick and me a lot. Emma had to go back to work but calls almost every day. May is literally the light of everyone’s eyes. They dote on her, and the group chat is full of her pictures.

There’s been no contact with mother‑in‑law. I convinced Rick not to press charges because we have too much on our plate and it wouldn’t serve any purpose. Rick was reluctant, but he agreed because neither of us has the energy for anything else. When we told mother‑in‑law last week, she appeared thankful. I say “appeared” because that woman is genuinely unhinged, and she showed everyone her true colors last week.

Last week, Rick and I woke up at around 1:00 a.m. to loud banging on the door. I thought it was a robbery, and I ran and hid with May while Rick went to open the door. I could hear shouting, but I didn’t dare come out because I didn’t want May to wake up. It turns out it was mother‑in‑law, and Rick said she was behaving like a crazy person. She kept screaming that she wanted to see May and that we couldn’t keep her away. Rick said he had to threaten her with the police before she backed off. She was trying to force her way in. We immediately alerted Anna and Emma because if something was wrong with her, everyone needed to know. We were concerned—but honestly, it was for nothing. The next day she sent us a disturbing text.

She started off saying we were being nasty and horrid to her by not allowing her to see May, and we were punishing her because her only crime was being a mother. There was some more melodramatic nonsense in there, and gradually her text became more unhinged. She said she had the burden of raising three kids and always had to juggle one kid’s priorities over another, and that’s what she felt she had to do on May’s birthday. She didn’t want May to take away from Anna’s day. She conveniently forgot that May was literally a fetus and Anna herself had said multiple times that she had no issue with the pregnancy and the wedding happening at the same time. I still understood this part. What rattled me was what she said next. She said she was worried that with May in our lives, she wouldn’t be as important to her kids anymore. When I announced my pregnancy, she thought Anna would be mad because that’s what a “normal” woman would feel. But when she saw we were all excited about both the pregnancy and the wedding, she didn’t like it. Basically she was saying that she didn’t like that we were all happy together—with each other and for each other. She wanted us to be jealous and competitive. She said that when she realized the due date would be near the wedding, she hoped Anna would be mad at us and maybe that May wouldn’t take everyone’s attention. But that didn’t happen, and all everyone could talk about was May. She said she felt disrespected that a baby who wasn’t even born had taken her place as the uniting factor for the siblings.
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She said more things and was still typing when I asked Rick to block her. I told him she was deranged and unsafe for me and all of us. I’ve had a constant headache since seeing those messages. I can’t believe a woman over fifty is in competition with a seven‑week‑old baby. It doesn’t make sense to me—and it doesn’t have to, because I’m done with her. I’m done making excuses for her behavior and trying to understand her motivations. She can go to hell for all I care. We forwarded the messages to Anna and Emma, and they are disturbed, too. They think she might be having a manic episode, and Emma said she will fly down to get mother‑in‑law checked at a facility. I think it’s a good idea—but I’m staying out of it. This behavior is crazy, and I don’t want anything to do with her anymore.

Update Two: We have a restraining order against mother‑in‑law. She didn’t try anything again, but we’re being cautious. Emma got her tests done and spoke to both a psychologist and a psychiatrist. Everything is fine with mother‑in‑law. She was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, but that was it. The doctor said there was no underlying medical reason for her behavior and suggested Emma take her to therapy. Emma has since gone no contact. She said she was willing to help if something was wrong, but hatefulness is who mother‑in‑law is, and she can’t tolerate her anymore. I totally get that and share the view. She might have had my sympathy and support in a few months if she had a psychiatric issue. But now that’s been ruled out, we know this is who she is. There’s no reconciling with that.

This is why we took a restraining order. For Rick and me, May’s safety is of utmost importance, and mother‑in‑law has proven twice she’s not safe. Moreover, she has ill will toward May specifically, so we have to be even more careful they don’t come into contact. I think this will be my last update, and I hope I never have anything more to share about this entire episode.