"I'm not being rude but ...

[yama]

... your're HUGE!" said the cheery man working in Hamleys as I entered this afternoon.

I said "actually, that is rather rude." He carried on with "Do you know what you're having?"

I'm only 34 weeks and I've had comments from strangers for months.

I mean, under what other circumstances is it appropriate to comment on the size of a woman's body?

Re sophieandbelly's comment: "when pg with dd there was a very annoying traninee at work that called me fat mama all the time. that grated a bit!"

SO thought that said 'trannie' . It gave the comment a superb camp twist.

The best bit of advice I've been given (on another post about this)in reposnse to an offensive comment about my size: 'sit on them. And wee a bit'... when else will you have the capability and the excuse??

I'm feeling for all of you.

The other odd thing I find strangers keep doing is asking me if I am scared about the birth. I'm actually not, I'm very calm about the idea that this is something my body is designed to deal with, but everyone and their dog suggesting I should be scared stupid doesn't help.

I am also having a home birth, and if I ever mention this people always say "Oh, aren't you brave!" as if I was going on an Artic expedition, or donating bone marrow - I'm just having a baby, in a place where I feel happy and safe - I think it would take more bravery for me to get into a hospital.

A French receptionist said to me 'que tu est pleine de vie!' you're full of life! which I thought was a wonderful thing to say. And my FIL called me 'a ship in full sail' when I was 42 weeks which was a lovely image too.

Noone could upset me when I was pregnant!

My BIL told me 'Everyone says DH had a MASSIVE head as a baby'.

Not a good thing to say to a nervous (and wee) first timer. He really couldn't understand why I would be upset.

I love this thread - makes me feel better that its not just me!
So far my two rudest comments have been -

1. Bloody hell - you look like you have been eating everything that wasn't tied down. (I am 30 weeks pregnant. Believe it or not, that can cause your stomach to stick out).
2. Wow! Look how chubby your fingers are! (yes I know - its called oedema - feels even worse than it looks actually but thanks for the lovely comment). This friend then immediately followed up the fat fingers remark with - and you can't even get your wedding ring on - people will think you are a knocked up single mother! It was difficult to know how to respond to that, given the many different levels of objectionable-ness in that comment!

I haven't seen my father in law for a few weeks, but he is likely to say something stupid - he is prone to moronic comments, and has a huge belly himself. Usually I would try and smile politely but if he makes any adverse comment about the size of MY stomach he is going to get a truly vicious comeback from me.

I always used to get comments about how huge I was with my DD (DC no2) things like "are you sure your not having twins" or "are you sure you've got your due date right, your absolutely MASSIVE"
yes quite sure fuck you very much
I can't wait to see what people say this time round.