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by by Rhonda Rhea"Is this your first baby?", "Is this your last?", "When are you due?", "Are you sure you're not having a litter?", "Did I ever tell you about my ninety-three-hour labor?". By my fifth baby, I'd heard them all. Everyone seems to have something to say to a pregnant woman. Some comments are sweet. Some thoughtful. Some incredibly annoying. One of my favorites was, "You look like you're about to pop!" That one was surely the most ridiculous. I was not about to pop. I was about to mom.
I've almost always been five feet tall. My babies were eight- and nine-pounders. You can do the math if you like, but let me just save you the trouble and tell you that I really did look like I was having a litter. I had baby busting out from my armpits to my knees. But when those wild pregnancy hormones kick in, the last thing a mom-to-be wants to hear is how she really looks (if she looks like I did). No wait, the last thing she wants to hear is how much weight she should’ve gained. My doctor told me I should gain about twenty pounds. I'm a goal-oriented person. I was very proud when I had reached my goal before I even reached my second trimester.
The Bible says that the fruit of the womb (not to be confused with any particular brand of underwear) is a reward. Maybe there are a few times we've been known to mutter through clinched teeth, "What did I ever do to deserve this...reward?" Still, I've never known even one woman who didn't find motherhood more rewarding than she ever imagined. I can't imagine life without my five sweet rewards.
If you're an expectant mom, let me encourage you with this thought: Pregnancy should be worn as a badge of honor. The Lord has a special reward for you. Hang onto your hat. It's going to be a wondrous adventure.
And while you're pregnant, try to ignore those well-meaning clowns with the goofy remarks – and fight the urge to deck those poor, clueless souls. They probably either don't know or don't remember what it's like to go weeks at a time without seeing their feet. They don't understand the frustration of crying uncontrollably over a McDonald's commercial – not to mention the total inability to even say the word "Hallmark" or the title, "Little House On the Prairie." They can't relate to bending over to pick up a sock and wondering if their eyeballs are going to pop out. Humor them and understand that they are, yes, clueless. Spend large amounts of time in the Word of God. You'll find certain passages especially comforting, such as, "Come ye that LABOR and are HEAVY LADEN and I will give you rest."
A word to those of us with a few pregnancies under our belts (notice the great play on words – I'm proud of that one). When we meet up with an expectant mom, we could certainly do well to season our speech with an extra measure of love, grace and understanding.
Let's all remember to filter our conversation, keeping in mind that what the future mom hears may be swimming upstream against a mass of wild hormones.
Rhonda Rhea writes award-winning inspirational humor columns for other Christian publications in the U.S. and Canada.Look for her new book, Amusing Grace, at your local Christian bookstore. Click here to see her website.
