What not to say to a 7 month pregnant woman

I've heard many times that when you are pregnant, people tend to think of your belly as public turf. That they can just come up and rub your belly like you're the Buddha statue at their local Chinese restaurant.  I've always been cautious about this and am definitely not one to walk up to pregnant women (even one's I am close with) and start rubbing their bellies. If they ask my to feel a kick, I will, but I won't walk up and touch without asking first (not that I am really compelled to). I thought this would really bother me when I got pregnant, but surprisingly, I don't really mind it when people come up and touch my belly, at this point it just is something people do. We're all excited, and frankly, it happens too often to bother to get frustrated about it.

Real talk : What does really bug me is that people just assume they can say whatever they want about your size, and forget that they're actually talking about your body and not just a temporary baby bump.  It seems like at least once a week someone will ask me how far a long I am and when I say "6 months" or "7 months" they look at me in shock and say, "wow! you're so big  - and you're still going to grow!!"  Really? Thanks, I had no clue my belly was going to keep stretching for the next two months. I thought I was going to stop right here and just let my baby sit and do nothing in my belly until August.

Everyone's body is different, and everyone's pregnancy is different. Everyone carries their baby differently. Think back...do you remember how HUGE you felt at just 7 month? Do you still feel compelled to ask me if I'm SURE I'm not carrying twins? Uh uh...don't even go there. We saw only one baby on the ultrasound, and no, his twin isn't hiding behind him, I promise. That's not how this works.

So the next time you feel the need to mention that you think I'm going to have a "really BIG baby" or that I look like I'm ready to deliver any day now, please don't. Just stop. Remember that I have raging hormones. Just bite your tongue, it's the safer thing to do.

XO