34 Weeks

These pictures are actually from two weeks ago, when we were in Washington and I was 32 weeks, but you get the idea.

It's incredible what people will say to you when you're pregnant. My husband thinks I take the comments overly seriously, but I tell him he has no idea how many I respond to kindly. I understand how impressive it is to see what basically looks like a belly the size of a small human being strapped onto another body. I get it. I'm pretty amazed by it too.

But then there are those comments so unbelievable you wonder how these people make it through a day exhibiting so little tact. The species must be more forgiving than we sometimes assume. For example, the other day in the pool locker room, a stranger asked me how much weight I've gained. Seriously. The look on my face prompted her to follow up with: "or is that an inappropriate question?" Yeah...

Yesterday, when I dipped into the jacuzzi to warm up after swimming laps, a woman accosted me: "are you sure it's safe to be in here? what about the baby?" Even after I told her it was fine, she continued to mutter how she wouldn't do it. I snapped and told her I had a doctor already, thank you very much.

And then there was the barista at a Starbucks in Seattle who exclaimed: "Oh my God! When were you due?" Mikhail was there for that one and informed the man that in pregnant-lady speak, he just said: "you are incomprehensibly gigantic." The man then pointed to my protruding belly button and said, "But you popped. Doesn't that mean you're done, like a turkey?" Let's just say he only got away with this because he was clearly gay, so I'm guessing he's not used to dealing with hormonal women. But I did advise him he better be careful with that line of questioning, especially when the pregnant lady in question hasn't had her caffeine yet. Some of us can be a little grumpy.