So I'm about 8 months pregnant now (holy cow!) and had my very first stranger touching my belly without my permission experience yesterday. And not in a walking up, cooing about my belly and putting her hand on me way, which might have been okay.

DH and I were driving back from NC yesterday (to PA) caravanning with MIL and FIL and we stopped to pick up lunch from a BBQ place. The place was PACKED, so we got it to go, and on our way out the door an employee grabbed my arm, made me stop, slapped her hand on my stomach, and asked/told me I was having a little girl. Mind you, this place is packed, she's an employee, her hands are all up on my personal space, and she's making us hold up foot traffic.

I'd made it to 34 weeks before someone who wasn't a friend or family member touched my stomach, and I was so surprised by it that I didn't react...but my mildly over-protective husband snapped at her to "get (her) hands off of (his) wife" and pushed her hand off of me before pulling me out the door. He was fuming about it in the car, too. He was way angrier than I was...I was still very much "what just happened?"

I'm sure it wouldn't have bothered a lot of people, but I'm putting it into the "Why do people think they have the right just because I'm pregnant?" notebook, along with judging my (SINGLE!) cup of coffee or half glass of wine, dyeing my hair, having a turkey sandwich, or god forbid wearing a bikini at the beach. ("Aren't you worried about burning your baby???" --not with the SPF 110 I've slathered on three times today thankyouverymuch.

Is anyone else really dumbfounded by having your body and choices on open season just because you're pregnant? How do you respond to strangers touching you or lecturing you on your life choices?