Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Random Touching of Belly

I think this is one of the weirdest things, but sometimes can be the cutest at the same time. When I was pregnant I remember going out for dinner or anywhere and wondering if people were looking at me. I remember a few times at a mall ladies would ask if they could touch my belly and if the baby was kicking. I thought this was weird sometimes that random strangers were wanting to touch my belly and occasionally parents asked if their kids could touch it. I do remember one specific time that I was in the food court and a group of, I believe they were high school boys behind me in line were whistling and said “Dang momma I wanna feel up that belly!” Gross!!! I mean come on guys get a life. That’s inappropriate and frankly super weird and awkward. I think the only time I actually enjoyed anyone touching my belly was either my boyfriend, or when we were volunteering at a retirement home with church. All the ladies there were talking about how adorable I looked and was glowing. I think I was about 5 months if I remember during this time and they all wanted to feel the baby kick. It was adorable. They all had smiles and giggles that day. If I could put a smile on their face, it was worth the awkwardness.

How many of you ladies have had this happen? Though it may be weird and awkward, sometimes it could make someone’s day and put a smile on their face!!πŸ’• just be careful who you let touch itπŸ€—

-E
____________________________________

Compared to my fellow mommies, I haven't had much problem with people touching my baby bump. No weird encounters with a stranger, thank goodness. The only thing I've had an issue with is my own mother. Once I started to show she was all over my belly when talking to people. Sometimes people I didn't even know. She would say things along the line of "Yep, this is my grand-baby" or "see how big she is?". Sometimes she would even lift up my shirt (thank goodness I had an undershirt on most of the time). I love my mother, and tell her many times that its weird, but I guess she's excited. This will be her first grandchild. I've never had people come up to me and ask "can I touch your belly?", it's always been me asking if they want to feel or want them to poke it because she's pushing her body against my belly.

There's no way I've been the only one that's been able to avoid this awkwardness. Let us know if I'm not alone 
-X
____________________________________

At only fourteen weeks pregnant, you would think that I wouldn't have a lot of run-ins with this already but you would be surprised. According to my OB, I look like I am more like 17-20 weeks so I have a nice bump going. That being said, I have had family, friends, and even a couple strangers try to touch me. When I started showing, right away my mom would put her hand on my belly which, for someone who isn't the touchy type, it made me feel really awkward. Personally, it might have something to do with the underlying self-esteem issues I have had since I was a kid but that just makes it more rude to be touching me.
The weirdest encounter I have had so far was in a Walmart produce section. This older lady (possibly a little older than my parents) came up to me and asked how far along I was. My first thought was, how rude, asking a woman how far along she was not knowing if she was even pregnant to begin with. I told her anyway, trying not to come off rude myself, and she smiled and said that her daughter-in-law was a few weeks ahead of me. I told her congratulations and tried to go back to picking out a few tomatoes for that night's dinner and all of a sudden, I feel something slide across my stomach. The lady was touching MY bump! I really hate to be confrontational toward anyone but after catching me off guard, I jumped back and yelled, "Do you mind?" She felt really bad after my reaction and partially so did I but I was really upset. She stammered, "I-I'm sorry... My daughter-in-law doesn't live around here and it's my first grandchild so I am missing out on all of these precious moments" which made me feel even worse about how I reacted. I apologized and pretended to understand. As much as I hated it, I let her touch my bump again and answered her questions about how I felt and if I knew the gender yet. After talking for a few minutes more, we parted our own ways but I knew that I made her day.

I guess sometimes we have to choose our own battles....

-D

5 comments:

  1. Loved to read the stories up here. As for myself i actually don’t have stories to tell. Only that my family and my boyfriends family are all so excited for their first grandchild. Ofcourse my sister going to be an auntie soon is also more of a belly toucher and believe it or not she lays down her head on my belly to see if she can hear anything, i don’t mind cause to me it’s normal and im glad that she does it sometimes. Wich is better then showing no interest at all. But other then that i’ve got nothing much to tell. But keep up this wonderful blog E.!

    I like it so far.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That has a sweet side to it about your sister. Family's tend to always be excited when a grandchild finally comes into the picture. Glad to hear your encounters have been normal in the belly touching department.
      -X

      Delete
  2. I am a super body concious person and I absolutely hated it when my mother would touch my belly; especially because at that point I wasnt showing. I kept telling her that I didnt like it but she just didn't get it! This is her first grandchild so i get that she is excited but I just felt like my feelings didnt matter to her. Now that I actually have a bump, I dont mind people touching as much, but I still want people to ask!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know what it is with mothers and thinking it's okay to touch our belly! We're in the same boat :) Congrats on you pregnancy
      -X

      Delete
    2. Yeah it’s nice when people do, but the least they can do is ask. We do have feeling and boundaries
      -E

      Delete

Popular Posts