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Does she look like a boy to you?

On Saturday, my husband and I split the childcare duties. He took Cordy for the afternoon, while I had Mira. I didn't want to stay in the house all day, so I planned to go out with my nearly sister-in-law. She admires our Siamese cats, and wanted to go to a cat show to find a breeder. It was going to be a relaxing day for me, since I didn't have a preschooler to keep away from the show cats.

I bypassed the stroller and instead chose my Mei Hip carrier. It's designed to let you wear your child on your hip without having to support them with an arm. Mira loves the carrier, and I enjoy the freedom it gives me (plus no sore arm or back!). We walked in to the enormous hall and started walking through the rows of cages, looking at all the cats. As usual, a baby in a fabric carrier ended up being just as interesting to look at, and several people chatted with us as we walked through.

"Oh, he looks so comfortable in there!" said one lady holding a giant fluffball of a cat.

"Actually, it's a she. And thanks, it really is a nice carrier." I replied.

Another woman looked closely at Mira. "Let me guess. It's a boy."

"Sorry, she's a girl," I responded.

"Oh! Well, she has that boyish look, I think."

I glanced at Mira. She was dressed in a white terrycloth sleeper with multi-colored polka dots. I didn't see anything boyish about her. There were several more cat lovers who had no ability to determine baby gender, too. Nearly everyone thought she was a boy.

That didn't bother me too much. After all, at this age, boys and girls really look the same. Besides, there was another trend in the comments that really bothered me.

"Oh my! How old is your baby?"

"Five months"

"Wow, five months and already expecting another? That was fast!"

"Wait, what? No...I'm not pregnant!"

You would think that people would be embarrassed after making a statement like that and being corrected. But no, the people who said that or variants of that statement had no shame, often replying with a "Oh" or a "Ah, well, honest mistake!"

I looked down at my belly. Sure, the baby weight isn't exactly coming off. I've lost roughly 25 pounds since being pregnant, and then stalled out at that point. I'm nowhere near being "in-shape", and there is a lot of loose skin in my belly area, but I didn't think I still looked pregnant. However, it would seem that others see me differently.

Eventually, we left the cat show, and I felt like I learned two important things while there. First - Mira needs more pink in her wardrobe. And second - maybe I should skip out on dessert more and instead substitute a few more crunches each week. Or maybe I shouldn't let it bother me - after all, who in their right mind asks a woman if they're pregnant if they're not 100% sure?