... I just get tired of being asked "How are you?" all the time. Especially because I know it's only being asked because of my pregnancy (at least, by people who've never bothered to ask me that before I was pregnant).
I feel like I should wear a sign (or, get tattooed) that says:
- I'm fine.
- The baby's fine.
- It's a girl.
- Her name is Jolie.
- She's due in September.
- Yes, I'm aware it's going to be difficult and I'm not going to sleep much.
- If I want your stories or your advice, I'll ask. Thanks.
And that should cut out all unnecessary small talk, and then the other person can either go along on their merry way, or talk to me about something else.
I'm not just a pregnant person. I'm a person, PERIOD, first and foremost. Believe it or not, the pregnancy isn't the only thing on my mind. It's the most important thing, yes, but I existed before I was pregnant too. Ask me about my worries for my job; ask me about how I think Conan is doing taking over for Leno; ask me about baseball or knitting or anything else that I'm interested in. Given the fact that I'm getting very little good sleep thanks to my enormous uterus (and the feet that keep kicking it) and my constant need to urinate, sometimes the last thing I want to discuss is just how excited I am oh-golly-gee. Sometimes I need the people around me to make me feel as normal as possible, to make me feel like I'm still me under all this extra uterus and amniotic fluid.
I AM still me, okay? I haven't gone anywhere. (I wouldn't get very far anyway.) I'm still the same Thu, and I'd like to be treated that way. Lots of things about me and my life are changing, but the essence of who I am is still here, and I wish people would still recognize that.
I feel like I should wear a sign (or, get tattooed) that says:
- I'm fine.
- The baby's fine.
- It's a girl.
- Her name is Jolie.
- She's due in September.
- Yes, I'm aware it's going to be difficult and I'm not going to sleep much.
- If I want your stories or your advice, I'll ask. Thanks.
And that should cut out all unnecessary small talk, and then the other person can either go along on their merry way, or talk to me about something else.
I'm not just a pregnant person. I'm a person, PERIOD, first and foremost. Believe it or not, the pregnancy isn't the only thing on my mind. It's the most important thing, yes, but I existed before I was pregnant too. Ask me about my worries for my job; ask me about how I think Conan is doing taking over for Leno; ask me about baseball or knitting or anything else that I'm interested in. Given the fact that I'm getting very little good sleep thanks to my enormous uterus (and the feet that keep kicking it) and my constant need to urinate, sometimes the last thing I want to discuss is just how excited I am oh-golly-gee. Sometimes I need the people around me to make me feel as normal as possible, to make me feel like I'm still me under all this extra uterus and amniotic fluid.
I AM still me, okay? I haven't gone anywhere. (I wouldn't get very far anyway.) I'm still the same Thu, and I'd like to be treated that way. Lots of things about me and my life are changing, but the essence of who I am is still here, and I wish people would still recognize that.