Pregnant Pause

There's a phrase in English, "Great with child", which apparently means "really, really, really pregnant."

Where did this saying come from?

Do you think if you asked a woman that was 9 months pregnant how she was doing, she'd say "Great!"?

Ever?

At best, she might say "Okay", but the response would probably be something more like a penetrating "How do you think I'm doing?" stare, or maybe just a wishful "I'll be better soon". Or maybe she'd slug you.

Of course, it's a different matter once the child is born, the pregnancy is over, and the hell and torture of labor is completely forgotten, which for the father is like an hour later. Then, the woman might be more inclined to say something more positive, like "Better".

Maybe the original phrase was just a mis-communication. Maybe some woman was describing her general feeling of being rather rounded-fruit-like, and said something like "Grape, with child". This makes sense, since she knew she'd soon be raisin the kid.