Hands On

It has been a wonderful month of visits. It is hard to explain the joy that comes when people you love are in your space. For most people, their loved ones are in their social circle. For me, they are everywhere around the world. D has been away for 4 out of the last 6 weeks and in that time I have had both a dear friend and my favorite aunt come to stay.

It has been amazing to have loved ones here at this stage in my pregnancy. I am both big and showing yet also able to get around. It is the most wonderful mixture of potential and realization that I have had in my pregnancy so far. The time is drawing near. I am making plans in my calendar that are within the time frame of when I will have a child. It was great to have a loved one from far away to talk to my belly and to rub my tummy. When I went for a test the other day at the doctors office there was a pregnant woman with two hand prints on her t-shirt. Under the hand prints it said “HANDS OFF!” Something about being fat and pregnant is that no one really knows if you are just fat or if there is a baby inside there. No strangers come up to me and ask when I am due or if I know it is a boy or a girl. No one uninvited touches my belly. It is a quiet knowing.

It was magic to share our baby with someone other than the two of us.