Baby Talk

I don't know if I have had a single conversation with someone in the last 8 months where pregnancy was not mentioned at least once.   I don't know if I'm to blame - after all, I confess  that being pregnant does consume most of my thoughts - or if it is the people I'm talking to, or both, but it's like the minute I became pregnant, or at least the week I began showing, no one had anything to say to me that wasn't pregnancy-related.  As if the moment a baby started growing in my belly, I no longer worked for a living, had hobbies, had a relationship... had anything significant to say about anything except the moving being in my stomach.

And I'm not really complaining, because like I said, it may be my fault, but it is an interesting observation.  A young male student teacher that eats lunch with me even said the other day that he has learned more about pregnancy in his time at the high school than he ever thought he'd know.  And it's true!

It's ironic that I still have the urge to talk pregnancy on this blog considering how much I talk about it during the day!

My students have also learned a great deal about pregnancy.  One asked me why my stomach didn't "attack" my baby, since it is foreign to it.  That led to a discussion about where the baby actually is, amniotic fluid, placenta, etc.  I even drew him a mini diagram of my organs.  Another student commented that she would've thought my stomach would freeze in the shirt I was wearing (that didn't hug the bottom of my belly).  That led to a conversation about maternity pants and how the top of my pants almost reached my breasts, so she needn't worry about my stomach being cold.  Another student told me today that she had never felt a pregnant belly so I let her touch mine (after all, some of my students act like it's a lucky Buddha belly and rub it every time they walk by).  That led to a conversation about all the things a pregnancy belly feels like (a volleyball under a layer of skin, palming a basketball, and many other sports analogies).

The thing is, I can understand why my students want to talk about pregnancy - it gets me away from talking about AP exams and literary analysis.  But for every one else, I'm not sure.

I think it's because, when you look at me right now, you see one thing: a big, round belly.  And if I'm walking towards you, you notice one thing: me waddling slowly along.

That's probably the reason for all the baby talk.  It's hard to see me as anything but a pregnant lady at this point!

Well, in a few weeks, I'll be lucky to get anyone to even speak to me if I'm carrying my baby with me.  I guess I should enjoy any conversation I can get!