They know…

As of Tuesday everybody at my work knows I’m pregnant.  As soon as the receptionist came in, she walked over to my cube and she whispers, “Can I ask you a personal question?”  So I said OK and she asked if I was pregnant.  (For this I was tempted to deny it and say I was just fat.)  And I said yes and she was like aw, congratulations!  She said she’d known for months but just hadn’t wanted to ask.  This I kind of believe just because she sits at the front desk and can see how my habits have changed – namely that I go to the bathroom A LOT and have cut out Diet Coke and coffee.  Then she wanted to know if we knew what it was and what the due date was.  I told her the 24th and she got all excited because her birthday is the 26th and she was saying she hoped I had it then.  Which I told Robin that I was really hoping I didn’t that way it didn’t remind me of the receptionist’s birthday.  Robin made me feel better by telling me that Candace’s birthday is on the also on the 26th.  So if it’s born then, it can share it’s birthday with someone that I do like.  From there the gossip spread.  Around 10:30, I figured I’d better tell my boss before she heard it from someone else just to be professional.  She also said congratulations and said that she’d known for months.  That I don’t believe because she’s made thin comments all summer.  I think she only started suspecting last week which was the first time I wore a maternity top.  She also said someone that was in a meeting with us that same day I had the top on had asked her but she said that she didn’t know.  So I’m really betting that maybe it was last week that people started suspecting.  On Monday, I could hear people at the front desk right after I had sat back down whispering amongst themselves (there were about six of them up there) saying don’t drink the water and then talking about c-sections and other stuff. 

After I told my boss I went back to my cube and she followed me out of my office, only to stand at the front desk and call whoever was around to my cube to announce it to them.  Then she told me to stand up so people could see my belly (again I had another maternity shirt on yesterday so it was quite obvious).  The girl that shares a cube wall with me heard my boss announce that she’s 5 months pregnant, doesn’t she look great?  So the girl came around the corner and she’s like who’s 5 months pregnant?  And I said I was and she looked down and she’s like oh where did that come from?  Oh, that?  It’s something I picked upon the way to work this morning.  I had to hold my tongue a lot on Tuesday because I was so tempted to be sarcastic about everything.  She then asks when I got pregnant and I said June and she’s like did it happen on your vacation or afterwards.  I was a little taken aback but I said on vacation.  But seriously what the hell kind of question is that?  They finally left me alone and about five minutes later, my boss is walking past me cube on the way back to her office and she says, “Sorry, Kelly.  Tammy’s coming to congratulate you.”  I’m surrounded by gossips – geez.  So Tammy comes over and hugs me (woh) and then says how they’re going to throw me a baby shower.  I told her that’s really not necessary and she says oh yes it is, you’re getting one.  Some people might think I’m weird for dreading a baby shower from the people I work with, but since I plan on quitting after my maternity leave is up I’d feel kind of bad taking gifts from these people.  Not to mention I’m not having a baby shower or registering in my personal life, why would I do it at work?  She then tells me that I need to start snacking and make sure I eat now that I’m pregnant.  As if I had existed on air and sunshine before. 

Then about 2 the same day, the psycho lady that trained me is sitting in my boss’s office (which is at my 3-4:00) and she yells at me to come in there with them.  Then she goes, “Let me see.”  So I showed her my stomach and she’s like take your jacket off, so I did and they were looking again and then wanted to talk about it for like half and hour.  My boss askd me at one point if I thought it was weird how excited everyone here was getting and I said yes.  She’s like just remember every baby is a blessing.  Yes, *I* know that – it’s *my* baby.  (It’s not that I’m not excited about the baby because I really am.  I just don’t want to share it with these people that you all know I loathe.)  She’s like is it beacuse you don’t really know us that well.  So I said yes again.  She’s like we just love babies.  Ugh, I can see the rest of my time here is going to be longer than it already felt.  They wanted to talk about cravings and nausea and all kinds of stuff.  And she’s like more people are going to keep coming up to you the bigger you get.  So I told her as long as they don’t touch me.  She’s like oh, well I guess some people don’t like that.  Her and the psycho told me I needed to make an announcement or people would start trying to touch.  They’d better not, or I’m going to start groping their bellies too.  If it’s friends or family, they don’t need permission.  In a professional setting, especially considering my feelings towards these people, it’s just not appropriate or welcome. 

So I guess now that they know, that’s one less thing to dread.  The build up to the big reveal has now come and gone.  They know we find out the sex next week and I told them that I would tell them (if they ask, I’m not going to make some huge announcement though).  Then someone else here asked me about names and I said we have some in mind but are keeping those a secret until the baby comes (from the people here just because I don’t want them to know everything and I’m not interested in their two cents about who it makes them think or what their opinion of the name is).  Quite a few of you already know are name choices, so once it’s decided and we know the sex, I’m sure it’ll be posted at that time.