I think I can safely say now that the oddest question to ever have to answer is, "When is the baby due?"... especially when it comes from complete strangers. Riding in the elevator the other day I was asked this question by a man in his sixties. I answered honestly, but after getting off the elevator and going our separate ways I was a little confused. I mean, really, why would a sixty something man want to know the due date of my baby? Why would anyone? It's a weird thing to think about...
I wonder if it's more of a cultural thing. Our culture in America knows how to have a conversation with a complete stranger so long as she is pregnant- we can ask seemingly personal questions without knowing the person at all, and it can start a seemingly meaningful conversation.
In actuality, however, I believe that it's a rather rude question. It's really no one's business when the baby is due, unless they're friend, family, or obgyn. But, nevertheless, our culture has deemed it not only a safe topic of conversation, but an encouraged one.
On the side of someone who has been asked this question by multiple strangers on a daily basis, I have to say that I want to respond with, "Why? Are you planning on being there?" - this is even more so an overwhelmingly desired response when the person follows the due date question with the "Where are you delivering" question.
Children don't understand why they ask the questions of our culture. They see their parents do it, and so they then think that's what you ask anyone who is pregnant. They could care less what the response is, and actually have probably stopped paying attention by the time they get an answer, but they do it because they think it's the right thing to do... The parents, however, especially the mothers, have an agenda for asking. They really just want to turn the conversation to themselves. Talk about what it was like when they were pregnant, how awful or wonderful their pregnancies were, and talk about whatever part of the labor/delivery process they feel like they are experts in.
If they had an epidural they'll tell you that that is the only way to have a baby, and if they didn't have one they'll say it's really not as bad as people make it out to be. They'll talk about how their first baby was late and then the rest were early, and say that you're baby will most likely be late as well since it's your first. Then the conversation will inevitably turn to what gender the baby is, (this is especially true for those who don't know what they're having, because then the conversation can turn to the mothers making their predictions over what gender your baby will be).
So for those lucky mothers who have decided to not find out what they are having, be prepared for tons of speculations that all sound a little absurd. They'll ask you questions about the fetus' heart rate, and say if it's high they'll tell you it's a girl, if it's low then it's a boy. But really the variables between the two genders is so slight that that method of determining is pretty much a hoax. There's also the "how you're carrying" observation- unless you get a mother talking to you who has only had one gender multiple times and carried each baby differently. That mother will be able to give you the most honest observation- that each individual baby is carried a little differently, and that you really can't say based on how you carry the baby whether it will be a boy or a girl.
There are many other questions, and many other ways for the pregnant mother to feel uncomfortably hounded by thousands of strangers (who in all honesty really have no idea what they're talking about seeing as how they have not given birth to every single baby in the world, and yet they feel that by giving birth to two, four, or even six they have become as much of an expert in the field of birthing as an obgyn who has been delivering babies for forty years...) The above mentioned scenarios, however, are probably the most common.
So, if you're a first time mom and going through some if not all of these circumstances, I offer you my sincere sympathies, and encourage you to hang in there... You won't be asked, "When is the baby due?" for the rest of your life, despite the fact that at times it probably feels like it!
