The Perfect Package

My wife is a beautiful woman.  She is a beautiful pregnant woman.  My mum told me a few weeks ago that she "...suits pregnancy".  It is true.  She looks fantastic.  I am, of course, biased.  But I know I am not the only person who thinks this.

The problem is that people often make comments about the size of her bump.  I wish they wouldn't!  It really bothers her.  I'm not talking about friends, family or colleagues.  I'm referring to strangers.  Strangers who are more than just a little bit rude (although I'm not sure how many of them are deliberately being rude).

My wife is a very positive person.  It takes a lot to annoy her.  Maybe not as much as it did before she was pregnant, but she is still very placid.  Yet, on more than a few occasions recently, people have said things to make her annoyed and self conscious.  My wife isn't very tall.  In fact she is just under 5 feet 2 inches tall.  (I know this should be written in meters and centimeters and the teacher in me is annoyed that it isn't, but not enough people work in metric, especially when measuring height.)  This mean that our daughter doesn't have anywhere to grow other than out!  However, the obstetrician we saw recently described the size of our bump as perfect.  It was exactly the size it should be.  But people still seem keen to comment on the size.

That's the funny thing about pregnancy.  People feel they can make personal comments to someone they have never met before.  Would these same people comment on a complete stranger's hairline, their weight, their height or their fashion sense?  Almost certainly not.  So why do they think it is okay when speaking to a pregnant woman?

After some people have asked my wife how long she has left, the common response has been, "Oh, are you having twins then?"  A close second is, "Oh, it looks like you're ready to drop now."  She isn't.  Baby isn't due until next month.  But, I'm now worried about going anywhere with my wife for the next few weeks in case someone says something they shouldn't and the fiery red-headed Welsh temperament she must have buried deep down somewhere finally takes over and she assaults someone.  I'm not saying they wouldn't deserve it but I'm not sure you are able to take babies on community service!

It might interest you though that,  when looking at a photo of herself at a recent wedding, my wife gasped, "Oh my god, I'm massive."  So maybe it isn't only strangers who make rude comments about the size of her bump!