One thing that I was not truly prepared for in this pregnancy was the way I’d feel when people—strangers—finally began to notice, and comment on, my little baby belly.
Now that I am twenty one weeks pregnant, and showing, I have had exactly five brave strangers comment on my pregnancy. I say brave, because looking at me, I’m still small enough that I could just have a bit of a chubby belly. An exceptionally rounded belly, yet chubby all the same.
Lately, I have been working at a café in the small country town that I live in. It’s a bit of a tourist town, so we are always getting non-locals passing through. Every day, I find myself having lovely chats to customers from all walks of life, and it’s wonderful. The other day, one of these customers—a man in his fifties, I guessed—looked me up and down with a curious eye as I took his order.
‘I hope you don’t mind me asking,’ he said, sheepishly, ‘but are you…expecting?’
I was shocked. It was the first time anyone had said the words. Of course, I put him at ease right away.
‘Yes, I am pregnant,’ I said with a warm smile.
He was certainly glad that my response confirmed his suspicions. We both agreed that it would have made for a few awkward moments had he been wrong. In his case, he turned out to be quite the pregnancy pro. To my utter astonishment, he went on to guess, correctly might I add, that I was 20 weeks pregnant. I was impressed, indeed.
As I walked away from his table, two things happened. The first was that I acknowledged that his bold question was exactly that: bold. I was sure I was still border line in the pregnant belly department.
But it was the second thing that happened that really made for a ‘moment’ in my life. My belly sticking out now meant that people were not just seeing me standing in front of them, but they were seeing me and my baby, together.
Ever since, it’s been me and my baby. Sure, things became real when I felt my little angels first kicks. But now that people are seeing and acknowledging my pregnancy, things have reached a whole new level of real.
And the really lovely part is: all of these pregnancy spotters—again, strangers—have been so genuinely excited for me. For the first time in my life, I am finding myself sharing in moments of real joy with multiple strangers, daily. It is refreshing. It’s been such a beautiful reminder of the human nature that we share.
We all know the miracle of life, but it is all around us. It is easy to forget how precious a miracle it all is. I suppose when we see a pregnant belly, that is our little reminder.
And my reminder is right here. Sticking out for all the world to see.
All The Sunny Mummy Days 