Personal Space

Okay, I am now going to rant please feel free to not bother reading but I need to get this out of my system LOL.

It has started already, people assuming that me being pregnant gives them rights to invade my personal space. I have a faux bump - no idea why but my weight has shifted around (I'm 7lb lighter now than I was when I found out I was pregnant) and I have a noticable bump between my waist and my boobs. But it means that much earlier than last time I'm having to deal with idiots who think they have the right to touch me.

My body, and in particular, my stomach, is mine, nobody elses. The list of people who have permission to touch it is a short one - DH, Lia and, if necessary, doctors. Now that I happen to be pregnant that list has expanded to include midwives. Nobody else.

Me having a baby does not mean that anybody who wishes to can come up and pat my stomach and yes I do include family and friends in that. I have no idea why anyone would assume that it is acceptable just to wander up and touch me. It's still me, it's not the baby, and I am not a touchy feely kind of girl at the best of times so now when I'm uncomfortable, a bit stressed and generally tired it certainly isn't a good idea for you to try it. If you're lucky I'll just move away, get me on a really bad day and it's likely to be a verbal warning or I may just lash out.

Obviously the majority of people don't feel the need to pat my stomach and also I am fully aware that there are some women who absolutely don't mind if you do wander up and touch them, but it really, really bothers me. A woman who works in the same building as me does this pretty much every time she sees me and she did so when I was pregnant with Lia too so now I find myself turning on my heel every time I see her heading towards me.

There, I've got that off my chest now and feel a little bit better for it - at least until the next time someone heads towards me with their hand out...