Please Keep Telling Me How Big My Baby Belly Is . . . Seriously!

We all know that there are certain things you simply aren't meant to say to pregnant women. For better or for worse, I've had the bundle of joy of being the recipient of quite a few of these gems during my second pregnancy. You see, my blump (bloat + bump) popped out super early this time around. I was in maternity clothes at eight weeks.

To put it in perspective, on a Disney World trip we took when I was nine weeks pregnant, an Italian woman who was already seated as we boarded our shuttle back to the hotel actually mimed a pregnant belly at me and then gave me her seat on the bus. I hadn't even told my friends I was pregnant and total strangers were already noticing.

Many feelings were evoked in that moment. Should I be angry? Embarrassed? Outraged? I suppose I could have taken offense to her actions, but I chose instead to be flattered; and I've continued making that choice every day since.

When you skip the "Is she, isn't she" phase and go straight to "When are you due?", you are bound to get quite a bit of belly buzz. I have to believe, for my own sanity, that most of these comments are made with good intentions. I barely know how to feel about my own body right now (although my husband has made it is his full time job to make me feel beautiful every single day); it's only natural that others may have a somewhat questionable reaction.

Instead of digging up my ultrasound pictures and looking for a second baby hiding in the corner of my uterus when someone asks if I am having twins, or questioning my practitioner's credentials when friends point out that I am probably further along than my midwife thinks I am, I choose to brush these observations off as "compliments that missed their mark".

In the beginning, this wasn't such an easy task. When coworkers seemed to be keeping a running update of my belly's growth from week to week, I found myself wondering if I shouldn't have eaten that bowl of ice cream the night before. With a little time and practice, though, I've learned not to be offended by these misguided well-wishers and simply laugh along with them.

And it isn't as if every comment I hear has been negative. I've received as many, if not more, compliments on how adorable my belly is and how healthy I look. As women, we are often so quick to discount compliments and hang on to (supposed) criticisms, even when those seemingly judgmental remarks are most likely coming from a place of love.

My belly may be loud and proud, but that only means that my body is doing exactly what it is meant to do. I am much happier now, taking all of this pregnancy dialogue in stride, than I was when I was questioning every little thing someone said about my body. For the record, during pregnancy, when questioning whether you should have had that bowl of ice cream, the answer is always YES.