Terms for Being Pregnant

Since it’s become public information that I’m pregnant, I’ve had several people refer to me by various pregnant-related names. Some of these names refer to my state of being, while others are perceived in our culture as cute.

Part of it depends on who’s saying the name. For example, a colleague/friend of mine, who is a senior citizen, and I recently attended a meeting. The room was very crowded, and I had a chair, which I was more than happy to give up for my friend. She thanked me, but declined, saying she had trouble taking a chair from a “Preggie.” Preggie is ok, because it came from her. Really, she’s quite lovely, and I’ve known her for several years, so I was not taken aback. I saw it as a term of endearment.

However, we were at the grocery store a few weeks ago, and the stock boy, who for some reason, just kinda gives me a weird vibe, called me “Prego.” Not ok. Prego is a spaghetti sauce. Baby and I are not a spaghetti sauce, thank you very much.

But, if my Dad calls me Prego, it’s ok, but only because he’s my Dad. But, we're still not a spaghetti sauce, Grandpa.

When I was at the National Conference last week, I was able to spend some time with the Biostatistician in the evenings. He said I’m “Up the Duff.” Apparently that’s a British saying. I think it sounds like someone got F’ed in the A.

I’m also not fond of “With Child” and “In a Family Way.” These are a bit to ultra-conservative-Christian-Right for me.

I’m not sure if the Liberals have a term for being pregnant, but I’d probably take that over the above mentioned two.

“Bun in the Oven” is ok, because Baby is cooking…in a sense.

“P-G” reminds me of a time when it was taboo to discuss anything related to sex. The whispers of what happened to girls who suddenly disappeared and went to their “Aunt’s house” or to work in the laundries.

If the current administration stays in control any longer, we may be headed there again. Or, we may be headed to the Republic of Gilead. I’m not sure about you, but I’m not down with being called Ofrandy or anything similar.

“Expecting a Child” or “Expecting a Baby” is ok by me.

Of course, you can always ask the pregnant woman if she has a preference of how one should refer to her pregnancy. Or, you could just say, "she's pregnant." That's a pretty safe one.