I'm really pregnant these days. Large round protrusion on the front of my abdomen that you can see coming before the rest of me ever appears, pregnant. With each new month comes more learning about being pregnant. Aside from the expected learnings - breastfeeding, sleeping patterns, holding, swaddling - there have been a few surprising things I've learned.
1. People that didn't ever talk to me before I was pregnant now want to have conversations about forthcoming baby and how the pregnancy has been. Case in point - our neighbors, very nice people whom we often smile at, are now all up in our business about this forthcoming child. Because they are in their 40s and have two kids, apparently we had nothing in common before, outside of sharing a street. Now, oh yes. We're both reproducing, and we should base a friendship on that. Really? I don't want to just talk about my kid and how her feeding is going, and whether she's sleeping all night. I've got a lot more to give in a conversation than that.
2. Total strangers want to know the due date of the baby. They also want to know where we are delivering. Why? Are they going to be appearing at the hospital on that date to check and see if I've had the baby? Are they sending cards? Gifts? What is to be gained by their knowing my due date?
3.Everyone loves a pregnant lady. This I suspected, but really in these last months I've noticed cars actually stop for me at the Whole Foods cross walk, and when I wave to thank them, they're smiling and waving back instead of sneering and motioning to hurrythefuckup. A cop didn't give me a ticket for driving illegally in the HOV lane. Random people congratulate me. It's nice.
Just proving that you never stop learning, this pregnancy is as you might expect, no exception. I know every day will be a learning experience when babyVirgo gets here, but I've gotta tell you, general public, don't TELL ME how to raise my child (finger waving in the air).I'll learn that one all on my own.
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