The oddest thing happened last Saturday. Every where I turned I saw pregnant women.
My eldest niece, darling little Hannah, came as usual for her dance class. The dance studio is in a shopping centre near my home. The usual routine is that the rest of the family will do their weekly grocery shopping at the supermarket while I watch Hannah at her dance class. Last Saturday, my sister-in-law joined me in watching Hannah dance. My sister-in-law is pregnant with her 3rd child. The baby is due in October. Her tummy is fairly big but she doesn’t waddle as much as she did in the last 2 pregnancies. In fact she looked rather nice and comfortable in her baby-blue dress.
Then, I saw a lady in a spaghetti-strap denim top dropping off her daughter at the dance studio. At first, I just saw her back. She was bending down to get something and when she turned around to straighten up – there it was – a protruding tummy. Later on, as some other ladies came to drop off their kids or pick them up I started seeing more tummies. At first, it didn’t occur to me there was some weird pattern forming right before my very eyes. When you see one or two in one specific place, you don’t really think about it.
But then when I had to go to the supermarket to get Laura aka Peanut (the younger niece) who had fallen asleep on my brother, the number of pregnant ladies I passed was freaky to say the least. There were all sorts of shapes and sizes. One lady near the frozen foods section had a tummy that was small and sharp. Another who was at least 6 months pregnant struggled with a toddler in her arms while holding on to the hand of her 4 year old. Yet another wore a yellow baby-doll top with a frilly white border which suited her really well. There was a moment when I wondered whether I was imagining it all. Maybe, the ladies looked pregnant because of the clothes they were wearing. I mean the lady with the yellow baby-doll top – she could just be a little heavy around the tummy and the yellow top wasn’t quite so flattering after all?
So I started scrutinizing passing tummies while Laura slept peacefully in my arms. Yes, there were quite a number of women with baby-doll tops and billowy blouses. Some looked kinda like tummies with babies inside. Some looked like tummies. Period.
See – this is where fashion rules – when loose tops are the rigueur anything goes. Who cares what’s behind all that loose fabric or the rows of pleads? Asalkan fashion, boleh-lah (as long as it is fashionable, it will do).You need not worry about that extra little bit that hangs over your waist band showing. Pregnant? No need to buy budget-busting maternity dresses.
So you can’t really blame this blur bodoh if she starts seeing a parade of pregnant ladies, can you? Come to think of it, I do have a couple of baby-doll tops in my wardrobe I could dig out. Eh, I am not pregnant, ok!
