Belly rubs and wedding rings.

As I approach the final month of pregnancy I can't help but notice that even complete strangers treat pregnant women as almost public property.

For example, I was walking past a group of facilities management workers on the way to my car the other day when one of them yelled, "Is it a boy or girl?"  "Boy," I yelled back, and all the men on the loading dock cheered.

This was a weird moment for several reasons.  One of which was: this didn't bug me at all. I felt proud. I felt like they were taking an interest in me and my baby.  This felt like a complete shift from my younger days of ignoring "hey, baby"-type comments from men in similar situations. (Honestly I could count those episodes on one hand but still, the parallel is interesting I think.) Second, because I now appear and dress old enough to be a "legitimate" mom, maybe I just don't really care as much what people I don't know think about me.  

I'm having some swelling of fingers and feet with the recent 90-degree-plus weather, so my wedding ring is now on a chain around my neck.  This still feels odd/ slightly naked, but much better than if I simply went without.  I guess I grew up in a small enough town that the first thing that people looked at after the belly of a pregnant lady was her wedding ring finger.  In reading a recent posting on Parenting magazine's forums I guess there are still many strangers in this world who feel perfectly free to make rude comments regarding a pregnant lady's marital status.  If that ever happened to me I'd be tempted to smile and say, "At least I'm keeping it--aren't you lucky someone kept you?"  

I have had strangers reach out and touch my belly but most people do ask permission first.  With friends and family it feels perfectly natural, but grandmotherly ladies in the grocery-store checkout lines do sometimes seem preternaturally happy on my behalf.  After having the bug, I know that people are not often as patient with mothers as they are with mothers-to-be.  It's as though, once the child comes out and gets slightly past babyhood, everyone turns into a critic.  I'm enjoying these remaining weeks of getting sweet good-luck-type comments before the worm turns and everyone wants to know why my baby isn't sleeping.