{Guest Post} I'm Pregnant, Not Furry---Please Don't Pet Me.

{Welcome Laura! She has some pretty hilarious stories down below. I must admit, I'm so glad no one has belly molested me! ;)}

Hi Everyone! I'm Laura and I blog over at Stories from Austin. Like Krystal, I'm also pregnant! We're expecting our first kiddo---a baby girl--around Thanksgiving.

 

This is my first pregnancy, and I've been fortunate to have easy pregnancy so far. I wanted to write about a phenomenon that has occurred in my life over the past few weeks. I'm at the point in my pregnancy where it's pretty obvious that I'm carry a fetus, not a food baby/beer belly/wearing an unflattering shirt. That means people CANNOT STOP THEMSELVES and lunge for my belly to rub it.

 

I'm pregnant, not furry---please don't pet me.

 

Let me back up. Are you my husband? Well, this baby is half of you, so go for it. Are we related? Okay, sure. Are we good friends? Eh, ask first, but I'll probably let you rub the baby. Have I never seen you before? Please don't touch my stomach. And don't act surprised when I say "no" if you ask first. It's not you, it's me.

 

I knew this would happen at some point, I was just hoping it wouldn't happen until I was well into the 3rd trimester.

 

I tend to be pretty direct about it---I like my personal space. I try to hold my hands over my stomach when I'm around new people so they can't get their grubby little paws on my baby. That works most of the time. When people ask to touch the belly, I tell them that I'm weird about "touching" and kind of play it off like I have issues (heck, I probably do) in a joking tone. I appreciate people asking! If I see people getting the googly "I want to get my hands on your belly" look in their eyes, I slowly take a step back. I suck it up and deal with it if I get blindsided by a belly grabber, but I don't like it. It seems like most people hate this, so I don't understand why so many people do it.

 

I know, I know--most people are harmless and are excited when they see a pregnant belly. The quick "touchers" don't really bother me that much--it's the belly rubbers. I seem to attract the most brazen belly rubbers. I wanted to share a few stories with ya'll:

 

TRUE STORY: We're trying to clean out the nursery and listed some items on Craigslist. I had a lady come over the other night to look at a few dresses that I had for sale. Guys---SHE RUBBED THE BELLY. Not just a quick rub, she RUBBED and RUBBED the belly. I was STUNNED---I couldn't even remember her name and there she is, rubbing ALL OVER MY BELLY for a good 10 seconds IN MY HOUSE (yes, I let a CL person come to my house). My husband was shocked at how brazen she was, and she did apologize after she was done giving me a rub down when she noticed the horrified look on my face.

 

TRUE STORY: I'm at the grocery store, loading bags into my cart at the checkout. The bagger helps me with the bags, notices I'm pregnant, and then all hell breaks loose--she grabs my belly and starts rubbing it AND the cashier comes over and starts rubbing my belly. I GOT A TAG-TEAM BELLY RUB IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GROCERY STORE.

 

TRUE STORY: I was boarding a flight recently and was held up in the aisle by people trying to put their suitcases in the overhead bins. No problem, happens all the time. I was looking straight ahead and all of a sudden, I felt HANDS all over my stomach. I looked down, and one of the passengers in the aisle seat was RUBBING MY BELLY. She was sitting down too, so she had her hands pretty low on my stomach. Thank goodness my seat was 5 rows back and near the window.

 

Guys, I'm only 26 weeks pregnant. I know this is going to get a lot worse. Apparently I have a look about me that makes me appear to be a nice, sweet pregnant lady, open to touching.

 

If you've been pregnant, how did you feel about strangers rubbing your belly? If you're one of those people that loves to rub random baby bumps, what is the draw?

 

Hope you'll come visit me over at Stories from Austin!