Week 28: 3 acceptable things to say to a pregnant woman

I recently had a run-in with a check out girl at my local Target that left me feeling discouraged. In fact, so much so that it inspired me to write a letter that I posted over on my blog. You see it wasn’t that she was rude about a purchase I was making or wasn’t helpful when I was trying to make a return. Nope, she was kind as could be, but the words she said about my pregnant body left me feeling ashamed. She meant well, and clearly had no idea that her comment cut me like a knife, but it really got me thinking.

The more I thought about what she said, the more I started feeling less ashamed of my body and more pride in the fact that I am literally walking around with a miracle growing inside of me. As women we go through 40 weeks of a changing body, nausea, and a whole list of other symptoms just to meet our child. Every pregnancy is perfect, no matter what we go through during it, because in the end it’s all for that one purpose, to meet our sweet baby.

This run-in inspired me to compile a list of things that are acceptable to say to a pregnant woman:

1. “You look great!”
If your intentions really are to make a kind comment on the fact that someone is pregnant why not just keep is short and sweet? You literally cannot go wrong with this one. With my first pregnancy I got told all the time how “tiny” I was and this time I’m getting the “big” comments. Unfortunately neither are safe to say because both made me feel insecure about my body. So just stick to what you know will bring a smile to their face because everyone wants to hear how great they look.

2. “You’re glowing!”
Ever heard of the pregnancy glow? Well it’s a real thing, and some days it shows up a little “glowier” than other days. However, it’s always nice to hear that someone else sees it, because it’s something that only happens during pregnancy. So, if you want to make a expectant mama feel like a million bucks, just tell her she’s got the glow.

3. “Congratulations!”
This is another safe bet, but also will make a mama to be feel really good. Sometimes we forget how exciting the whole pregnancy thing is when we are in the midst of all of the craziness of it. So it’s nice to hear the word “congratulations” every once in a while to spark a bit of excitement about the baby be.

I think all of my fellow pregnant ladies would wholeheartedly agree with me that hearing any of these three things would leave them feeling pretty darn good about themselves. So, now that you have a tool belt of uplifting comments at your disposal, start using one of all of them without fear. Just make darn sure that you know the woman is in fact expecting, otherwise you’ll encounter a whole other awkward run in.