Do Pregnant Women Overshare?
"I'm constipated," said my friend in an email. Closely followed by a second email: "I have never said that to anybody before."
Pregnancy makes you say things you never thought you would utter: about your bathroom habits, your weight gain, your rashes, night sweats and gas. I have a theory that pregnant women can talk about the intimate details of their pregnancy because being pregnant is kind of an out-of-body experience.
Your belly becomes public property to be touched, prodded and discussed at length. And along with that comes the ability to discuss all the other body changes as third party issues as well. If people can comment how big you are, ask how long it took to get pregnant, and if your ankles are swollen; then you can talk about your hip pain, your cravings and yes, your constipation. Pregnancy is kind of a public sport these days and nothing is off limits.
That said, I don't think I would have participated in Womb Tube (as Slate calls it). The phenomenon of putting your pregnancy test on YouTube is up there with the gender reveal parties to me. Looking at the test with baited breath and a knot in your stomach is a private moment between you and the father-to-be, (or in my case with child number three, a shocked moment in front of your brother-in-law while making morning coffee). The tears, the laughter, the fear, I'm not sure I would want all the world to see that.
What is the motivation to making everything public? Is the moment more real if it is posted it on YouTube?
This clip from the Today Show has both sides:
Do you think pregnant women overshare? Did you?
Want more chaos? Last year, I wrote a post explaining what a CSA is, which reminds me I better go sign up for one!
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