Broke Wife, Big
City
Can't Touch This?
By Aprill Brandon
Here's a fun
trivia game.
Wanna guess how many times I've gotten up to pee while typing this
sentence?
Nine.
OK, OK, maybe
I'm
exaggerating a little. But only a little. Luckily I'm a pretty fast
typist or it could have been true. Seriously, as if my constant
snarting wasn't bad enough (sneezing plus farting at the same time
equals snarting), I now have to worry about wetting myself any time I
do something more taxing than breathing (and sometimes even then it's
touch and go for a bit).
Yes, this week
I officially
crossed into "Nothing About You Is Sexy Anymore" territory.
Also known as...(cue dramatic music)...The Third Trimester. And
that's not me being self-deprecating. That's just being honest. I
imagine from an evolutionary standpoint, the grossness of pregnant
women at this stage is to keep potential predators away since said
woman wouldn't be able to waddle up a tree to safety very quickly.
Lion 1: "See
that
pregnant woman over there?"
Lion 2: "Yeah."
Lion 1: "Should
we eat
her?"
Pregnant woman:
"...(burp)...(fart)...(snart)...(sobbing uncontrollably)..."
Lion 2:
"No...no,
let's just go, man."
For example, my
formerly
cute little basketball belly is now an unwieldy giant sphere-like
object that is constantly covered in food or dust or whatever else I
happened to unknowingly rub it up against (stunned strangers in
restaurants included). I now breathe like an old man who has smoked
three packs a day for 67 years just from the effort of getting up off
the couch (old man grunt included). As the temperatures get colder
with each passing day, I get hotter, making for a nice permanent
state of being in which I am always covered in sweat (Whoa! Calm
down, fellas. I am already taken).
And, of course,
there is
the drooling, the cankles, the giant Hobbit feet, the sausage
fingers, the snoring and the eating like a linebacker. Lucky guy,
that husband of mine.
Lucky, lucky
guy.
All these
changes got me to
thinking though. Perhaps all of the above is why I have yet to
experience one of the most common annoyances of pregnancy. As
embarrassed as I am to admit it this late in the game, I have to
confess that I have yet to have a random person come up and touch my
pregnant belly.
No big deal,
right? Except
I kind of feel like it is. Because from the second I peed on that
stick, all any woman wanted to talk about was how infuriating it was
when people came up to touch their belly. I mean, these ladies made
it sound like their swollen stomach was the Justin Bieber of baby
bumps, with giant crowds of people swarming around her, unable to
resist touching that sacred bubble of baby (and pent up farts). So
naturally, as soon as I started showing, I envisioned that the same
thing would happen to me.
Only no one has
touched it
yet. On the subway, they'll offer me their seat, but keep their hands
politely to themselves. In crowded stores, they'll say "no
problem" when I apologize for bumping into them with my bump,
but then throw their hands up to let me pass unmolested. While
walking down the street, they'll treat me just like everyone else
walking the street.
So, I'm
starting to take it
personal.
I mean, what?
My belly
isn't good enough for you to touch? My baby isn't cute enough in
utero to warrant even a few seconds of unsolicited awkward touching?
Is it because I'm so sweaty? Because let me tell you, A LOT of
pregnant women are sweaty. And they still get accosted on the street.
Come on,
people. I'm a
humorist. I make my living by finding humor in the small things of
life and writing about them. So if you don' t touch my belly
inappropriately, I have nothing to write about.
And me and my
baby will
starve.
So be a buddy,
huh? Rub my
belly without asking and while preferably saying something creepy,
like "he's got such a strong life force!"
I promise I
probably won't
even punch you (unless I thought it would make for a funnier column).
Can’t get
enough of
Aprill? Can’t wait until next week?
Check out her
website at http://aprillbrandon.com/
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