In defense of marriage

Several years ago, when I lived in DC, I had a conversation with a friend that has come back to haunt me. My friend commented on how many pregnant women she saw who weren’t married. She said many of them she knew from work and while she didn’t know much about their personal lives, she was surprised that they were pregnant but not married. I asked her how she knew they weren’t married. She said it was because they didn’t have wedding rings. This friend was in her 30’s, had two nieces and knew several women with children. I was amazed that I was the first to tell her that pregnant women tend to swell and that, sometimes, their rings no longer fit.

I now fit into the ringless pregnant woman category. Neither my engagement ring nor my wedding band fit on my ring finger - or any other finger for that matter. I have become very self conscious and am now wearing a substitute ring. My friends’ comments haunt me - I don't want anyone to think I am not married.

Wonderful Husband thinks it is hilarious that someone who will ask a stranger, “What the hell are you looking at?” when they glance in her direction now cares if people think she is pregnant and unmarried. I like to think it is because I am proud to be his wife - he likes to think it is my hormones.