The day I felt like I was on display at the car dealership

Wheph! That title’s a mouth full!!

Is it just me or as you creep closer to your due date people really start to stare. And I don’t mean a quick glance I mean the awkward ‘stare at your belly for a good five minutes’ while I just stare at you staring at me. Maybe I should stop staring back… none the less I recently had a recall on my car and called to set up my appointment for the quick fix. My dad owns an auto body shop back home and Eric works on cars and went to school for it so when they told me it would take 1-3 hours to fix this tiny recall I knew they had to be mistaken. (I later confirmed with Eric.) So I kindly told my friendly Honda salesman that I will take the earliest morning appointment on Saturday and that I am 8+ months pregnant with a baby already in position to come out any moment and would prefer that it happens at hospital (jokingly of course but also a slight hint to not wait till the last-minute to fix my car.) He laughed said no problem you’ll be first on the list. Yay!

Flash forward to Saturday morning, I grab a quick Starbucks treat and head to the dealership. I was prepared with snacks, water, coffee, my book and journal and a fully charged phone. When I get there I awkwardly crawl out of my car and get the ‘Oh my gosh you’re SO pregnant!’ from the nice lady who told me where to pull my car in. I’ve gotten use to hearing this one a lot now. Apparently due to my short stature when I’m behind a counter (or sitting in a car) you can only see me from the chest up so once they see my full body they realize I’m also lugging around a huge belly. I get it. I’m a little tired of hearing it, but I get it. So I waddle my way into the waiting room and find the last comfortable chair by the big window that also happens to have a little table next to it. (Score! I don’t have to bend over!!)

Within a few minutes one of the dealership workers is walking around talking about the new cars on their lot and the typical ‘trade your car in and get this brand new one for blah blah blah’ but in the middle of his sales pitch to someone near me he starts staring at me. I did the awkward look up from my book but look right back down so you realize I’m reading and please don’t try and get me to buy a new car. I didn’t want to buy this car but fun fact when you’re a mom, you need a car. He comes over and I’m ready, I got my answer all set up for when he asks me if I’m interested in a new car. “How far along are you?” “No thank youuuu what?” (Clearly caught off guard)  I told him how far a long I was, he asked if I was comfortable, asked where I’m delivering, asked if it was my first, what my middle names was, where I was born (kidding!) needless to say he asked a lot of questions. Eventually he left me alone and I was back into my book. 

Five minutes later another man is standing in front of me and begins asking the same questions. I feel like a pregnant lady is not the most exciting or new thing to see. I had a total of 4 guys come up and chat with me about my pregnancy, 2 guys did walk by interviews “boy or girl?” “do you have a name?” followed by at least 6 women sitting across from me staring at my belly as if I was going to give birth right there in the waiting room. Once an hour passed I decided I should check on my car and needed a quick bathroom break. To which I was told “We just got it in, I thought it got in earlier but someone jumped ahead it will be done in an hour.” Okay no big deal I’ll just walk around a bit to distract myself from the contracts that decided to kick in and find a new comfortable seat.

After another hour and a few more questions and stares my car was ready. I don’t mind answering people’s questions, and I’ve thankfully only had close friends touch my belly but sometimes you just want to feel normal. So when I get into my car and the sweet young tech came over to take the number of my car I thought yes, no more questions.

“Boy or Girl?”