Alternate titles to this post include...
The 'No Filter' Files
People are Crazy.. Here's Proof
Things You Just Shouldn't Say to a Pregnant Woman
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Since I'm {finally!} at the end of this pregnancy journey, I thought I'd share a few of the absurd/ridiculous/completely inappropriate things that people have said or done upon seeing my growing belly. Those of you who are or have been pregnant will completely relate to this post, and those of you who have yet to experience pregnancy will hopefully get a laugh out of it.
{Also, let me just preface this with the fact that I know these people meant well and that for whatever reason a pregnant belly is somehow akin to a cuddly puppy. People just can't help but touch it!}
-- A customer at work when picking up pain tablets and telling us about having a root canal: "It is the most painful thing I've ever experienced." {Looks pointedly at my 38 week baby belly} "But I've never had children so...."
-- Random mom shopping with her daughter at a baby store: "Oh, look at you!" {Touches my belly.} "Your belly is so cute. Hopefully you have an easy labor. Not like my daughter here had with her first child. She hemorrhaged really badly, was on an IV re-hydration drip and had to stay in ICU for a couple days after the baby was born."
-- A classic: "Girl! You're about to pop!"
-- The man at the grocery store meat counter (of all places!): "My sister is about to have a baby, too! She's crazy, though. Doesn't want any pain meds or anything. And after watching my wife give birth with an epidural and IV meds, I know that having a baby the most painful thing anyone could ever experience!"
-- Anonymous: "Yeah, just get ready. You won't have a warm, home-cooked meal for at least the next few years. And forget about that bathing suit and beach trip this summer! Nothing like looking like a beached whale to ruin your summer plans, huh?"
The moral of these stories...
1. Don't touch a stranger's belly. Just don't. Not everyone is down with the belly rub.
2. Telling a pregnant woman your personal horror stories without her asking is never a good idea. NEVER!
3. At 40 weeks I am well aware of my large, protruding belly, the fact that my skin is stretched so tight it constantly itches and stings, and the fact that I could have a baby at any moment. I don't really want or need to be reminded that I resemble an over-inflated balloon.
4. Just because you chose not to make healthy eating a priority after having children doesn't mean that we won't either. Also, I don't think I look like a whale, but apparently you do?
So here's to filtering your comments, not assuming that I want you to touch me, and finding something positive and uplifting to say instead of filing my head with all the things that went wrong during your pregnancy and delivery. Unless I ask you about your story or we are close friends. Mmkay?
Did people say or do crazy things when you were pregnant?
xoxo
copyright Hiking in Stilettos
