I’m at the point in my second pregnancy when it’s difficult
for me to fall asleep because I’m so encumbered by my belly bulk. And it was as
I was desperately attempting to achieve some sort of comfortable physical
position last night that I had the following epiphany: pregnant women are like
old people.
And though I’ve never been old, I’ve heard and witnessed
enough of the elderly to know that we really do have a lot in common besides
for troubled snoozing.
Frequent Bathroom Trips
During the day, in the middle of the night – pregnant women
and the elderly need to know the quickest route to the bathroom. This includes
when we’re at the shuk, in the mall, or sleeping over at someone else’s
house for Shabbat. The bathroom in any environment is probably the most
important landmark, and needs to be available at all times. If the women’s
stall is occupied in a restaurant, we will not hesitate to knock on the male
stall and avail ourselves of it if it is free.
Slowing Down
The older you get, the slower you get. I’m not talking about
those feisty exceptions, God bless ‘em, I’m talking about a general rule. Age
takes its toll.
And so does belly bulk. The more pregnant you get, the
slower you get. Whereas during the first six months of my pregnancy, I was
still power-walking to work, a mere two months later I am waddling my way
around the kitchen and holding my back as I straighten up from picking
something up off the floor. My outings now consist of going to the shuk
everyday (five pm and later, because I can’t stand the heat). The shuk
is literally two minutes from my apartment. But if you walk like I do, slow and
with a stroller, and adhere to crossing only in the pedestrian crosswalks,
which I do, because of said stroller, it’s about a five minute walk. Then I
walk about for as long as I can until even the ebbing evening heat does me in,
and I return home.
People Stand Up For You on the Bus
In the early stages of my first pregnancy, it took me a
while to get used to the idea of people offering me their seats on the bus. But
as I progressed to the eighth and ninth month, I had no problem taking their
seats; in fact, I expected them to be offered. Second pregnancy – my reluctance
to take people’s seats faded as soon as I started to show. And though it does
feel strange to be sitting in the front of the bus with all the older people, in
my heart I know that I’m in the right place.
Loss of Inhibition
They said that when people get older, they lose their
inhibitions and say things that they wouldn’t have said when they were younger.
They tell it like it is, because life is too short to be spent beating around
the bush.
Likewise, as the pregnancy wears on, your patience wears
thin. When someone attempts to get ahead of me at the fruit stand in the shuk,
I dramatically turn my protruding belly towards them and loudly say, “Excuse
me!” If someone puts their hands on my belly without asking, I look down at
their hands, then up at the person’s face, and incredulously say, “Excuse me!”
And just like most people cut older people some slack, same
for pregnant women.
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Okay, okay, okay. Pregnant women are not exactly the same as
older people. Here are a few differences I can think of:
Hot and Cold
Pregnant women are HOT, and older people tend towards the
cold side, which is why they love Florida and sweaters and central heating. I,
on the other hand, would be most comfortable living in an igloo.
People’s Comments
As far as I’ve experienced, no one comments to an older
person, “My, you’re looking especially withered today” or, “You’re hair has
gotten whiter since the last time I’ve seen you!”
On the other hand, when it comes to pregnant women, people
feel this inexplicable need to comment on their appearance. “Wow, you’re really
getting there!” or “You get bigger every time I see you!”
If I could control the world, I’d choose to have people
treat pregnant women like older people in this regard.
