39 weeks and what not to say

I'm 39.5 weeks pregnant. Honestly, I didn't think I'd make it this far, given my family history. My sisters delivered all their kids early, as did my mother. I was 4 weeks early myself. However, this little guy is proving they come when they are ready.

Going through pregnancy during a worldwide pandemic has certainly been interesting. It really didn't hit until the very end of my pregnancy. I was still able to attend my 32 and 36 week appointments in person. However, the last few weeks have been over the phone. And they did add a 34 week appointment over the phone as well. But as we are very near the end, it is all becoming more real. We are lucky, in the sense that my husband can still be in the delivery room with me. That's assuming he doesn't have a fever when we go to the hospital. We will be confined to the delivery room, no roaming the halls during labor. Small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things. We will have to wear masks during labor. That part I'm not too excited about. We were told last week that we had to go through the ER upon arriving at the hospital. At my appointment this week, they said they are starting to open things up and if it's during normal hours, we can go through the main entrance. It literally changes every day.

The nice thing about having been quarantined for the last 10 weeks is that I haven't had to endure strangers wanting to touch my pregnant belly. But let's be honest, my BRF would have taken care of that anyway. And I almost made it through the entire pregnancy without random comments about my belly. But.....I didn't quite make it. I ventured out to go grocery shopping last week and got "You can't have much longer, right?" Which is basically code for you're ginormous! I realize I haven't gotten nearly the amount of comments that pregnant women get on a regular basis, but here are some that I've heard or have been told to some of my friends that are currently/recently pregnant:

• You're going to have a BIG baby
• You're huge!
• Have you lost all the baby weight yet?
• This one was while we were out for a walk one afternoon - Are you guys our new neighbors? After telling them we live on the street over.... Oh wow, do you want a ride back? We said we were okay and then he said, "I was just thinking of her...." Again, code for you're huge!

None of these comments are appropriate. I'm already terrified of having a gigantic baby. I don't need someone voicing those things out loud to me. Pregnant women don't need to be reminded that they're huge. We know it and feel it, every day. Have you lost all the baby weight yet? That's just beyond inappropriate. This was to a coworker. Not even remotely close to the type of relationship where you can ask that question. I'm just glad my interaction with these wonderful comments has been minimal, given all the social distancing going on.

We're excited to meet this new addition to our family. If he ever decides he's ready to come into this world, that is.