On Tuesday, December 22nd, by my calculations, I was at 24 weeks. Throughout December, we had been socializing with some of Dan's guy-friends, and it's interesting to observe a guy talking about pregnancy to a pregnant woman.
The men who recently had babies would look at me directly in the eye and enthusiastically ask about what I've been going through and start describing in surprisingly graphic detail all the fantastic biological changes that happened in their wives while they were pregnant and giving birth. Then they would suddenly stop and realize that I was currently going through some similar changes, and that I might feel offended that I really knew what it felt like, and they, as males, couldn't possibly. Meanwhile, I wasn't offended, rather, I would be stunned because this is all still new information to me, and some of the things that I have not yet experienced were being described by these guys. It was kinda amazing that these men knew more about this whole "woman-thing" than I did.
On the other hand, men who had not experienced the pregnancy and birthing process would always start fiddling with something in their hands, avert their eyes, and nervously ask how I was feeling. Their fear would hang in the air that they might offend me with their questions or their phrasing. Again, I wasn't offended, rather amused by our male friends' sudden fear of me. I have been really feeling great, and the physical changes of pregnancy are as new and intriguing to me as it is to them.
Then, perhaps the men would run out of questions they knew to ask about, and they would ask me how far along I am in the pregnancy. That last week in December, I would reply, "24 weeks." So they would ask, "Why can't you just say 6 months?" It's just inaccurate.
If I were 6 months along the pregnancy cycle in December, then that would make my due date in March, right? (Which it's not.) Months aren't exactly four weeks, or 28 days long. Instead, they are 30 or 31 days long, or 28 or 29, if you count February. If they pregnancy cycle started on July 8th, then December 8th would be 5 months. Add 2 weeks or 14 days, and on December 22nd, it's 5 months and 2 weeks.
I tried to explain that instead of explaining the boring precise month-math, I decided to just say "24 weeks," to be more clear and accurate. And the guys, who really didn't care that much about the details to begin with, replied, "Pshaw, whatever!" And we all would laugh.
It was particularly funny to me because it just kept happening repeatedly throughout the month.
The men who recently had babies would look at me directly in the eye and enthusiastically ask about what I've been going through and start describing in surprisingly graphic detail all the fantastic biological changes that happened in their wives while they were pregnant and giving birth. Then they would suddenly stop and realize that I was currently going through some similar changes, and that I might feel offended that I really knew what it felt like, and they, as males, couldn't possibly. Meanwhile, I wasn't offended, rather, I would be stunned because this is all still new information to me, and some of the things that I have not yet experienced were being described by these guys. It was kinda amazing that these men knew more about this whole "woman-thing" than I did.
On the other hand, men who had not experienced the pregnancy and birthing process would always start fiddling with something in their hands, avert their eyes, and nervously ask how I was feeling. Their fear would hang in the air that they might offend me with their questions or their phrasing. Again, I wasn't offended, rather amused by our male friends' sudden fear of me. I have been really feeling great, and the physical changes of pregnancy are as new and intriguing to me as it is to them.
Then, perhaps the men would run out of questions they knew to ask about, and they would ask me how far along I am in the pregnancy. That last week in December, I would reply, "24 weeks." So they would ask, "Why can't you just say 6 months?" It's just inaccurate.
If I were 6 months along the pregnancy cycle in December, then that would make my due date in March, right? (Which it's not.) Months aren't exactly four weeks, or 28 days long. Instead, they are 30 or 31 days long, or 28 or 29, if you count February. If they pregnancy cycle started on July 8th, then December 8th would be 5 months. Add 2 weeks or 14 days, and on December 22nd, it's 5 months and 2 weeks.
I tried to explain that instead of explaining the boring precise month-math, I decided to just say "24 weeks," to be more clear and accurate. And the guys, who really didn't care that much about the details to begin with, replied, "Pshaw, whatever!" And we all would laugh.
It was particularly funny to me because it just kept happening repeatedly throughout the month.
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