A minor annoyance...just wanted to vent.

Michael and I were eating out this week, when a waitress approached our table (she wasn't our server) and asked if we were having a baby. "I saw your belly," she said to me. When I affirmed that yes, we are having a baby, she proceeded to ask, "How far along are you? About 5 months?" When I told her I am 3 months, she responded, "Wow, you're really big. I'd have thought you were further along."

Why do people feel compelled to say such things to a pregnant lady? First of all, we already feel like crap, we're self concious about the fact that we're growing by the minute. Don't stir the pot.

I found this on Parents Connect and I must say, the writer knows what she is talking about.



7 Things NOT to Say to a Pregnant Lady


...Especially Near the End

Submitted by allisonmusick



1)"You should have the baby on (specific date) because so-and-so was born on that day."

Really?!?! We don't care.



2)"Don't have the baby tonight/tomorrow because I have (specific activity) and don't want to miss it."

No problem, don't let our state of unbearable discomfort inconvenience you.



3)"You're only how far along? You're huge! " or "You're how far along? Wow, you're not very big."

We'll thank you to keep your comments about our size to yourself. If we wanted your opinion, we'd ask.



4)"When are you due? When are you due? When are you due?"

This may seem harmless but we've actually already told about 50 other people before you, and yes, all before 10am this morning. We were only barely talked out of getting a Sharpie and writing the date across our foreheads and our belly. If we look like we're about to pop, we probably are, so just assume the answer is: any day now.



5)"You're how many days overdue? Aren't you ready to have that baby yet?"

No. Didn't you know we enjoy being tortured?!



6)"When I was pregnant with my (first, fifth, twentieth), this is what happened…"

This might be fine. Sometimes moms-to-be are hungry for baby talk and eat it up. But it sort of depends on the point of the story, the person talking, the pregnant lady listening, and whether the info was solicited or not. A high-strung prego who's confiding in you about how scared she is of labor does NOT need to hear your horror story about how you, or such-and-such, had a 36-hour labor, needed 27 stitches and 5 epidurals, and couldn't see the baby for 2 weeks after it was born. Please, please use common sense! (If you don't have any, err on the side of mostly listening and not talking.) If you have to tell stories, encouraging stories are the only really safe kind.



7)"You really shouldn't hope for (an early baby, a fast delivery, anything positive, really) because (fill in statistics and/or whatever reason) …I'm just trying to keep you from being disappointed."

Repeat after me: DO NOT DISCOURAGE A PREGNANT LADY. We are vulnerable creatures, literally at the mercy of the slightest shift in our already-messed-up hormones. We are living day by day, sometimes hour by hour. If we want to hope for a purple baby with pink hair who comes out singing Italian arias, just smile and tell us how lovely that sounds. It's a leap for us to even talk to you about it, in some cases. So lie to us. Thanks.