Bec Douros, former contestant on The Block, is 37 weeks pregnant with her first baby and is excited to meet her bundle of joy.
The reality TV star turned interior designer has shared on her blog how she’s been enjoying seeing her body grow throughout her pregnancy – despite a few aches and leaks in “weirdo places”.
“Some days I feel beautiful,” she wrote, “I sit on the edge of my bed rubbing my belly and think to myself, ‘Wow, who would have thought a bulging belly would suit you?'”
But after a quick trip to the shops to take advantage of a recent sale on nappies, Bec was left feeling deflated when she received some hurtful comments about the size of her baby bump.
“I was stopped by a couple of ladies who asked me how long I have to go,” Bec explained.
“We chit chatted for a few minutes and they finished the conversation with, ‘You are so huge, really you are massive and I hope for your sake the baby comes early, for such a short girl that baby is going to hurt you.'”
Wounded by such open comments about the size of her body – from strangers – Bec said her morning high was “officially ruined”.
She escaped the shopping centre as quickly as she could and replayed the conversation in her mind. She began thinking of all the ways she could have reacted to the unwanted, and unnecessary comments.
“‘Thank you, I wasn’t aware until you just told me that I am huge, do you tell women that aren’t pregnant they are huge too? Do you think I don’t feel the extra 13kg I have put on? I am HUGE yes, but that is because I am growing a human inside me.’ THAT IS WHAT I SHOULD HAVE SAID,” Bec wrote.
“I have decided that I hate this word [huge],” Bec added on Instagram as she shared a photograph celebrating her pregnant body.
“This image is me, embracing my bump and at nearly 30 years old embracing that I feel like a woman, that I feel like a mum because that ‘hugeness’ is two people… Me and my child.”
Bec admitted that this wasn’t the first time people have found it necessary to comment on her size, with commenters on her Facebook and Instagram accounts often adding their observations.
While some say, ‘You look like you are having twins’ others have added, ‘You look more like 8 months than 6 months pregnant.’
After hearing the hurtful comments on her shopping trip, Bec said she made herself feel better by looking at her professional maternity photos.
“I couldn’t see the extra 13kg I have gained so far all I could see was the girl I once was, finally growing into her skin and becoming a woman,” she wrote.
And Bec was quick to remind women that we’re all different and that judgemental comments help no one: “It is MY journey and every pregnancy is different so maybe next time instead of comparing and scaring one another we should just try to see the beauty in others and keep opinions to ourselves.”
