Weirder and Weirder

You know I've only been at my new job for 3 weeks. At yesterday's out of town meeting, 5 or 6 people from my department attended. One of them, K, was a gal who I only met once before. She is quite pregnant. In fact, with her large belly, I was amazed and impressed at how focused she was on work. She's fairly tall, but quite thin, and so her belly was pure basketball.

Anyway, I don't really know her that well, but after yesterday's meeting ended, I wanted to ask her some questions. I didn't want to be intrusive or nosy, so I said, "K, would you mind if I asked when you are due?" She was quite happy to chat about it.

Her due date is October 4. Just over a month away. So I said something about being at this meeting, 2 hours from home, when she's due in just a month. She said, "Yeah, I know, I thought about that, but...." anyway, she came to the meeting.

Then I opened my big mouth and told her a story (really, it's not a horror story, it's more amusing) about my friend who was 8 hours out of town a month before she was due and ended up having the baby, while out of town, on Christmas Eve! Fortunately the baby, despite coming a month early, was perfectly fine (which I emphasized). It just was completely unexpected and her husband and in-laws had to run out shopping on Christmas Eve to buy a car seat and baby things!

K didn't seem fazed a bit, and said her family is having a get together for an 80 year old uncle in the middle of September, at a location 3 hours from home. She thought maybe that would be too far. I just gulped.

So this morning we had a telephone conference (we are located in different buildings) to debrief yesterday's meeting. I presumed K was on the line with everyone else. About 20 minutes into the call, the lead person said, "Oh, I'm going to have to cut this short....I just got a message that K is in the hospital. She's in labor!"

Yes, it's true. Her water broke at 2 am and she's going to have the baby. I said, "Thank God it didn't happen yesterday!" And I asked the person to please send K my good wishes for a safe arrival of her baby.

Weird.

Later today I was at my desk and a woman I didn't know walked by. One of my female co-workers called out to the woman, "Wow, look at you...you've gained weight!" Well, she said it good naturedly because as it turns out (of course) the woman is pregnant. Since they were right outside my office door (the thoroughfare) I could hear everything. The woman remarked joyfully how she is now 4 months pregnant and due in January.

I thought, wow, I'm due in March, and I haven't yet told a soul.

It's like I keep stumbling across these women. Weird.

Each time I go to the ladies' room at work, I look at myself in the full length mirror and wonder if I look paunchy. I do. The good thing is that since I've only worked there for 3 weeks, these people don't know what I really look like! To them, chubby, paunchy, gray-hair templed me is normal. So nobody questions it. A good thing, I guess. I think I look a fright!

Once I hit the second tri, I'm going for a fantastic hair cut and color. Won't they be surprised! And once I finally work into real maternity clothes, I hope to look like a beautiful pregnant lady, and no longer the gray haired paunchy woman!
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