First rude pregnancy comment

I'm sorry. 
Unfortunately, there are likely more to come.  I would guess this lifeguard is young and in a swim suit there is no hiding the belly.  She obviously isn't familiar with how big a pregnant belly actually gets.

Sadly, it gets worse with each pregnancy.  I didn't gain much weight in my pregnancies 18-28 pounds each but with 5 pregnancies people take it upon themselves to tell you that you shouldn't have that many children and don't you know what casuses it.  It gets annoying real quick.  And if you happen to go over your due date (which is NOT an expiration date) people will not leave you alone.  For some reason there is all this fear around going over 40 weeks even though term is 38-42. 

You are adorable, you look amazing and I am glad you are enjoying this wonderful process.
Don't listen, people say stuid things.

Nope, you aren't irrational or hormonal. Judgong from your avatar you are appropriate size to dates.  Unless your doc is screaming about size, wt gain etcetera just ignore the doofus who obviously knows NOTHING about pregnancy.

This.  People don't think when they speak and generally have no idea what they're talking about anyway.

My standard response to these people are, "Thanks very much for your opinion, but I have a strict policy of not taking advice from people who don't know what they're talking about."

Teenagers and young adults generally have NO idea what a real pregnant woman looks like. They just see pregnant women on TV and think they all get a basketball-sized tummy, their water breaks, they push twice, and a baby pops out.
If they really knew the truth, the human race would end. So in that sense, it's good that the lifeguard is so clueless.

That's not what happens?!

I have obviously never been pregnant.  That being said, based on two experiences, big baby = sleeps through the night early.  This is a good thing.

This user's post has been ignored.

Some people have no filter and no sensitivity chip, let alone any sense.  I've never been pregnant, but using an example related to a previous CoJ post - I'm half Asian, but most people can't quite tell what my ethnic background is.  On more than one occasion I've had a stranger come up to me and ask haughtily, "What ARE you???"  My response is usually a sarcastic, "A human being.  What are you?"  You'd be surprised how many people still don't get it.

Maybe take it as a compliment?  You are probably a petite lady, right?  If so, then even a small pooch would be noticable. 

When my wife was pregnant with both our girls, I found her super-attractive.  Just sayin'.

-Randy

yea, I don't think she meant to be rude.  sometimes we just shouldn't open our mouth.

worst thing I ever said to a pregnant woman was a lady I would see infrequently in the office.  this was about 20-years ago but I'll never forget the look she gave me when I asked her "when is your baby due?"  She replied, "I had the baby...six months ago" 

Jess... this made me laugh.

xxoo

My son has two friends whose moms look sort of alike. One was pregnant with her second child, the other wasn't. My wife saw one of them at the coffee shop and said, "So, when is the baby due?"

Aaaaand you guessed it. Wrong one. The poor woman made some awful flustered comment about not having taken the baby weight off as fast as she'd hoped. My wife was, understandably, mortified and apologized profusely, but the damage was done.

I'm glad it wasn't me. That's all I'm sayin.

I like that! 

I would have said "Wow, are you usually that rude?".

Of course you are moody, hormonal, irrational and prickly.  Enjoy it because pregnancy is one of those free fire zones.  Experienced folks have learned to go with it or get out of the way.  Kids just need to be educated. 

There are not many times in your life when you can be you with no excuses.  Pregnancy is one.  The other is being old, and nobody want's to rush there.

Here is a conversation I had with a random lady when I was 7 months pregnant with my last baby (it was May)
Lady: "Wow! You're huge! You must be due any day."
Me: "Yes. Any day in August."
Lady: "Oh...are you having twins?"
Me: "No. You were right the 1st time. I'm just huge. Have a nice day."

I hate to tell you but people say even MORE obnoxious things to women with newborns.

Edited by jpbis26 2010-07-15 11:36 PM

At least you made it to 26 weeks!!  I think the issue is that you are really fit and slim ex the pregnancy, so it is probably accentuating the baby bump. 

My first rude comment came from my OB at the very first appt confirming the pregnancy (8 weeks)

Me:  Sitting on the exam table
OB:  Reading my chart as he enters the room

Then I hear this:

Hmm, advanced maternal age, I see.

Smack!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know, this is a very strange thing. I swear that I am the LAST person who would do this. I'm not a huggy sort of person. I like my personal space, I don't like getting too physically close to others in meetings, trains, crowds, etc. Yet the urge to touch a pregnant woman's belly if she is standing near me is such that I have to consciously put my hands in my pockets or be in danger of being one of *those* people. It's WEIRD! What's up with that??? Of course, this does NOT excuse others who don't have a filter, but it is a very odd thing.

My first thought was that it must be a reflection of your fitness level for someone to think you look full term at six months. As Randy said, you being a IM studette, a bump might appear to be a bit more pronounced on your lean frame. I've known some women that I had heard were pregnant. Upon seeing these ladies, I could not for the life of me predict how far along they were or even if they had already had the baby or not. I refrained from even talking about it until they brought up the subject. You have the opposite thing going on. The "going to be a big baby" was a knothead remark even though no harm was probably intended. Shake it off for now and destroy her when the next opportunity to swim laps in adjacent lanes with her comes along 

Edited by mdg2003 2010-07-16 2:21 AM

Or variation...
So, how many babies have you popped? None? Oh well then, being unencumbered with any experience, by all means, speak freely! 

Whoops.  I say shi....stuff like that all of the time.

This is why my policy is and always has been:

Unless you see the baby's head crowning...keep your mouth shut about anything having to do with another person's reproductive activities and/or organs. Seriously. It is none of your business. And at what point did it become OK to invade someone's personal space and rub their belly? Pregnant women are not troll dolls, they're still individual human beings.

In relation to the OP, I agree with the theories that you are a smaller, fit person so you just look farther along with your bump. I'd take it as a compliment really and laugh it off. I work in a L&D ward and women like you who are 6ish months do look farther along since they're carrying most of the weight in the bump. Healthy really.

NOW, hope this doesn't happen to you:
I was working a health fair at an STD & pregnancy booth. A very overweight woman (with big belly) and her 7ish year old son came up and started asking questions. The woman said something about "her baby" and I either asked "how far along are you?" or "how long ago did you have your baby?" I don't remember this was about 3 years ago. Well, she said... "My baby is 5 years old."

Ooops. As a healthcare worker, I knew better.




Edited by Comet 2010-07-16 7:18 AM