Other People

One of the great things about being pregnant is just watching and hearing other people's reactions and stories, myths, ideas, and traditions. Luckily I work in an environment with folks from over 70 countries, so cultural myths of pregnancy abound.

Before we knew we were having a girl, I loved hearing people's guesses. One of my students from Cameroon said, "I know it's a boy. You know why? Because boys always take their mother's beauty away from them. You're not as pretty as you used to be." Another from China claimed, "You are definitely having a girl. You cannot tell from the back that you are pregnant, so that means it's a girl." Still others were positive that, because of my nausea and heartburn, it was for sure going to be a little girl.

My mom had her own theories. First, when she was here back in October - before even we knew I was expecting - she was making purnpallau. It turns out that if there's too much stuffing for the amount of dough, then a woman of child-bearing age in the house will surely have a boy; if there's too much dough, the baby is certain to be a girl. Now, mom always manages to get the perfect ratio of stuffing:dough, but in this particular instance there was leftover stuffing: "It's gotta be a boy, Priya. You just watch!"

Of course, we learned 3 weeks later that we were expecting, and then slowly the story changed. Upon gazing at my belly button over Face Time, my mom's new theory was that it was definitely going to be a girl. My belly button remains an innie - for god knows how long (it's getting shallower and shallower by the hour) - and that is a clean sign that the little one probably prefers pink to blue.

In other news, I am very prepared to admit that I love the pregnancy attention. People are so sweet and say such kind things: "You're so cute!" "You're going to be such a great mom!" and my favorite, "That little girl is so lucky!" Rosh has the best reactions. Last week the little one kicked his hand - for the first time - and Rosh was all smiles, all day. I like to think that she is just as feisty in getting her daddy to just stop snoring already as her mom is...but who knows what's going on in that tiny head of hers.

I have my own private reactions and relationship with our baby that feel very, very special. I get to feel her squirming around, farting, burping, dancing, whatever it is she does in there. I can sort of tell when she's sleeping and when she's ready for some exercise. A lot of the time it feels like she's farting (she is, after all, Roshan's daughter), but just today there was a noticeable jab x cross x jab kickboxing routine going on, incidentally just on top of my bladder.

Week 22 has been amazing. So much movement, so much growth, and so much giggling (it tickles a lot), coupled with sleepless nights, heartburn, hemmoroids (how do you spell that!), and acne.

Oh little one, you are worth it!