Today is my knocked up sister’s birthday.
I wonder if it says something not good about my personality that I vastly prefer calling her knocked up (or up the stick, or with fetus) to pregnant. Pregnant is boring and mature sounding. My sister is neither of those things. And me, well, I figure if I start saying that, I might as well incorporate “touch base” and “out of pocket” into my standard verbiage and pleated khakis into my wardrobe. Eeeech.
Likewise, it probably says something that I kind of dig how uncomfortable the phrase “knocked up” seems to make other people. It makes me feel delightfully ornery. Kind of like the time John said, “It’s not a baby bump. It’s a people sack,” and then grinned in a way that suggested he got to put a gold star on the refrigerator chore chart every time he was responsible for setting people’s teeth on edge. Two more and he gets a new Nintendo game!
Anyway, I was glad someone asked to hear more about my… fine, I’ll say it… pregnant sister. Even though I only get to experience the process through phone calls and text message photos, I’ve been absolutely fascinated with the whole thing. That my beanpole baby sis has been gaining double-digit pounds weekly. That Nephetus kicks a lot now. That my other siblings get to put their greedy hands all over the tight skin of her belly and play with those tiny, mysterious feet. My brother actually pushed his recently knee-surgeried wife out of the way to get in on that action (now forever part of the family lore). And I’m jealous. Really jealous. Because I’m far away and missing everything.
I even miss it when my sister pulls her stomach taut to make her bellybutton pop out for everyone at family dinner. What passes for entertainment in Utah is deplorable, but still, I want to be there to get grossed out with everyone else.
Wish you could feel the Nephetus kick…so cool!
Yeah, “pregnant” does sound very boring.
I usually say “prego” (no, NOT the spaghetti sauce). I also like “preggers” cuz it has a nice British slangy sound to it.
This is a great post. What about adding “shoot you an email” to your vernacular? Then you would need SENSIBLE SHOES to go with your pleated khakis!!!
HEY! My sister is knocked up, too! And she’s so very far away, too….. so I’m missing it…. and it makes me sad….
*sigh*
but, yaay for knocked up sisters!
ahahahahaahaha with fetus! awesome
i found myself saying “slacks” last week instead of pants. good lord, i am my mother’s daughter.
i’ve also heard it described as “fertilized” but that sounds kinda icky…
p.s. only 6 more hours until more of mr. phelps! not that i am counting…
Hey- My younger, beanpole sis is also knocked up! I am glad to say, in 2 lbs, she will weigh more than me for the first time in my life! I keep telling her that I hope she gets really fat and stays that way
No worries, we’ve teased her her whole life about getting the skinny genes and she thinks it’s funny… kind of.
Nephetus is an extremely clever play on words. For a minute, I was like, “Is her sister an anicent Greek” Then it click.
Also, I think Utah should just be called “The Tah” dinner antics aside, they need a shot in the arm since that arch collapsed.
Hah, when my little sister was cooking the Dumpling I was far away, too. Seeing her at the airport when she was suddenly 8 months with baby was a shocker, but feeling that baby kick was the best! Hope you get the chance to feel it!
Would “impregnated” be less grown up?
With fetus! People sack!! I love it!! Now I don’t feel so bad calling my friends kids their offspring. As in, “Do you have a sitter for the offspring tonight so we can go out drinking?”
I find it especially fun to refer to people as being knocked up while in Relief Society and such.
I agree…not being close enough to partake in the mystery feet phenomenon is rotten. I’ve got to warn you, though, the only thing worse is not being able to partake in the actual baby moments. Y’know, when it’s actually here. My goddaughter/niece is in on entirely different continent and I find myself scheming for ways to spend large quantities of time there.
But Utah is way closer so you’ll be just fine
Your bro is funny “people sack”, I promise to use it in a sentence. My fave things about my sis being preggers is when her belly button popped out and when we could see my nephews foot travel across her stomach….reminded me of the X-FILES.
Nephetus = new favorite word!!!
I have five that have moved on to the rugrat/curtain-climber/yard-monkey stages, but I’m pretty sure my sister-in-law will be ‘with fetus’ again. I give her 18 months. At the rate they’re going, it’s certain to be male! (And lord knows if she had a girl, that child would give a whole new meaning to princess. I hope the universe wouldn’t allow it!
I agree – Knocked up sounds way better!!!
My sister has her kid on simmer, and is also in Utah, while I’m stuck way out here. I hope you’ll be able to see your neice/nephew soon. I won’t be able to see my neice til December at the earliest (she’ll be born around the end of September). And maybe it’s just me, but every time I get an email or a text message picture of my sister’s belly, I grin like a maniac for about three hours afterwards, and then every time I think about it. I CANNOT wait to meet the little squirt, and I have a feeling you feel the same.
And Utah does have some weird entertainment. My sisters and I would run up and down a big pile of dirt we called the “ant hill” while we lived in Orem. I don’t know why it was fun, but it was.
The girl who works for me is also in the family way. I love to talk about her being knocked up, or the great anglophile term, up the duff.
Haha, with fetus is too funny. But people sack kinda grossed me out. =) I gotta say though, that when I hear people say someone is “preggers” it makes me cringe. It just sounds sooooo stupid. Please, put an end to that term!
Please also start incorporating “bandwidth” into your conversations. Nothing better than hearing someone talk about how they don’t have enough bandwidth because they are so busy.
my roommate always says “preganante”. it cracks me up, i’m almost 100% sure that it’s not a word.
but it’s ALWAYS funny when she says it.
I love your spirit. And you do pull off the floppy hat very well. I’ve never heard of anyone entertaining their family with knocked up belly button tricks! I feel cheated.
Oy vay! Get a plane ticket and go ogle the knocked up sister! Beg your mom for a loan if you can’t afford a plane ticket. This is something that you shouldn’t miss.
I completely understand how you feel. My sister was pregnant last year, and since I live 13 hours away from her, I missed all of it! Now my niece is turning one, and I just realized that not only did I miss the pregnancy but I am missing out on the baby too! It sucks! Thank goodness for myspace and all the pictures my sister posts.
I’m still deciding which is worse: preggie or knocked up. I’d rather stick to pregnant even though it’s boring because it sounds so much more responsible. Knocked up sounds so like an accidenct, which isn’t what babies should be!
up the duff is a personal fave, as well as preggo…but u have to say it with a broad aussie accent or else it doesn’t sound as trailer trash as it should….although we don’t call em trailers over here and ‘caravan trash’ doesn’t have the same ring. Bogan is our closest term to trailer trash.
‘In a delicate condition’ is also another one. yeah. cos swollen ankles, peeing all the time and putting on 12 kilos makes one feel oh so delicate.
I think *most* babies are accidents, which says nothing of their wantedness, of course. But of all my siblings only ONE was planned on an excel spreadsheet.
Yay! Thanks for the update
I don’t think I could handle the belly button popping out thing – blargh!
I just got knocked up myself. That has been my preferred term for it since I got married. It really bugs my mom, which means I have to continue using the term. It’s fabulous.
I ended up pregnant in a really unfortunate turn of events and felt that the most responsible thing to do in my situation was have an abortion. Prior to that, I thought “knocked up” had a negative connotation, but I had no personal feelings about it. Afterwards, though, “knocked up” took on an entirely different meaning to me. It does suggest that the baby was an “accident” and connotes the guilt and shame potentially associated with that. I also think that when people talk about a person as being “knocked up” it somehow comes across as arrogant and derogatory, with a sense of superiority that while *she* was stupid and got herself “knocked up,” I am responsible and that would never happen to me. I think in your situation, fine, it’s your sister, whatever, but calling someone knocked up if you don’t know the circumstances of their pregnancy seems very similar to me as making jokes about rape amidst a group of women – it reflects insensitivity and ignorance as to the reality that many women’s lives are not unscathed and many of them not un-scarred.
I ended up pregnant in a really unfortunate turn of events and felt that the most responsible thing to do in my situation was have an abortion. Prior to that, I thought “knocked up” had a negative connotation, but I had no personal feelings about it. Afterwards, though, “knocked up” took on an entirely different meaning to me. It does suggest that the baby was an “accident” and connotes the guilt and shame potentially associated with that. I also think that when people talk about a person as being “knocked up” it somehow comes across as arrogant and derogatory, with a sense of superiority that while *she* was stupid and got herself “knocked up,” I am responsible and that would never happen to me. I think in your situation, fine, it’s your sister, whatever, but calling someone knocked up if you don’t know the circumstances of their pregnancy seems very similar to me as making jokes about rape amidst a group of women – it reflects insensitivity and ignorance as to the reality that many women’s lives are not unscathed and many of them not un-scarred.
Talk about a Debbie Downer. Wah wah…