Being pregnant has definitely not been the most fun thing I've ever done. But I am healthy and the baby is healthy so I try to focus on those things.
And the questions/stories/advice! It is absolutely astonishing to me, how once people find out you are pregnant, it somehow gives them license to ask very personal questions, tell you their horror stories and give unwanted advice. And by people, I mean strangers and people I would consider acquaintances. If you are a friend and have asked me these questions/told me stories/gave me advice, you get a pass.
Some of my favorites have been, in no particular order:
"Are you excited?" - Come on people, there is only one socially acceptable answer to this question and it is yes. Can you imagine the reaction if we said no?
"Did you plan it/Was it planned?" - I never know how to answer this question. And why is it important to know this? Does it somehow change the situation if it wasn't planned? Planned or unplanned, there will be a baby coming.
"How many are you going to have?" - During this pregnancy? In my lifetime? Again, what is it with the family planning questions? Here I thought my marriage only included me and Eric. Oh, how wrong I was. And let's just see how we do with one before making plans for more. I may be growing a holy terror in there.
"Oh, my pregnancy was great!/I loved being pregnant!/Being pregnant was awful!" - I'm glad that your experience was wonderful. I'm sorry that you had a rough time. But telling a pregnant lady how your experience went is really not that helpful, unless she has asked you. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that literally every pregnancy is different. You had tons of gas? Great! You swelled up like a balloon? Fantastic! I haven't had any of those, but it sure has been wonderful talking to you about it!
"Are you making preparations?" - Ummm.....like what? Again, I never know how to answer this as I feel the only socially acceptable answer is yes. "No, we're just going to wing it once the baby gets here. It's totally cool to put them in a shoe box to sleep, right?" will probably solicit a call to DHS.
"I haven't seen any baby bump pictures. When are you posting those to Facebook?" - I know that I am in the minority, but you will not see a "bumpie" from me on social media. Family and close friends who live far away and have asked for one will get one in a text message, but I have chosen to not clutter up your news feed with weekly shots of my ever burgeoning belly. There are some things that I would prefer to not live on for eternity in the cloud and my pregnant belly is one of them. However, if you live close to my mom she will be more than happy to share the pictures I send her. :)
