Week 30: Road Trip & Belly Rubs

Bobby & I finally made the trip to Lubbock this weekend to visit some of my family. I’ve been trying to work it into our calendar for months now, but it was getting down to the wire. Soon my doctor will tell me not to travel further away than 1 hour from him and the hospital I will deliver at. (Ha! Depending on the time of day/traffic….I live 1 hour away!)

So yes, we made the long, boring drive to Lubbock on Friday. And that drive is even longer when you double, no make that triple, the number of pit stops along the way....due to being pregnant (tiny bladder). What should have been about a 6 hour trip took about 7.5 hours. Ugggg! Fortunately the trip back to Austin on Sunday was better. For some reason the pit stops were less frequent so the trip didn’t feel nearly as torturous.

While in Lubbock we visited with my Dad, his wife, Amma (Dad's mom), an aunt, and my Papa (Mom's dad). Everyone was so happy to see me and Bobby, and especially happy they got to see me while pregnant. But since my family is not a touchy-feely family, they didn’t ask to touch my belly at all. One time Punkin' was moving around like crazy, so I did kinda force my Dad and his wife to feel of my belly while she was doing her gymnastics.

So No, the Belly Rubs didn’t come from within my family….. but rather a stranger working at Taco Villa. Taco Villa is the place everyone can’t wait to go back to when they’ve moved away from west TX. It is one of those places that you take for granted when you live there, but as soon as you move away you realize just how much you miss it. Anyway, when I went to the counter to place my order, two female workers came to the counter and one of them asked if she could touch my belly. (OK, at least she asked!) So my response to her was, “Ok, but I get to touch your belly first.” She was kinda surprised but agreed anyway, so I rubbed her belly before I let her touch mine. After she rubbed on my belly for a second she said, “It’s a Girl!” I smiled and confirmed that yes, it is a girl. She smiled a huge smile and laughed with her co-workers who didn’t think she’d be able to call it.

So yes, it happened….my first belly touch by a stranger. At least she was nice and fun about it.

After all the belly touching I turned to Bobby, he hugged me and told me I handled it perfectly. He knows exactly how I feel about strangers wanting to touch pregnant bellies. I really just don’t get it. No one would ever ask to touch someone’s non-prego belly. That is your own personal space….so why is it not considered your personal space anymore once there is a baby in the belly?

***Note to my friends….I am NOT talking about you! I am talking about people I don’t know! So don't get your feelings hurt. I know you are all touchy-feely people and I’d probably get my feelings hurt if you didn’t touch my belly!!! :-)

In other news, my Dad gave us a baby gift this weekend....the car seat. Bobby and I took it out of the box, learned how to snap it in and out of the base, and checked out the fit in our new Pilot. It's a big car seat, so it's a tight fit even in the Pilot. We determined it would have to go behind the passenger seat because there is not enough room for the driver if it is behind the driver's seat. Fun Stuff. :-)

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