Midwives and Pharaoh's Officials

In the reading from January 22nd we found the account where the king of Egypt instructs Shiphrah and Puah to kill all the Hebrew boys. We are told that the midwives, "feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live." (Exodus 1:17) The king then asks them why they have disobeyed him, and the way I read their answer is that they found something that wasn't untrue and used that to explain their actions. "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigourous and give birth before the midwives arrive." (Exodus 1:19) Why didn't the midwives respond by boldly saying that they are sparing the boys because they feared God above the king? Wasn't the real answer that they had decided to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29)? Is their answer a dodge the bullet - attempt to not rock the boat so hard - half-truth kind of answer? Or am I just reading it that way? It appears that God liked their answer, because it goes on to say He blessed them by giving them their own families because of the way they acted...

Then, one more quick comment on an idea in the reading from today - January 24th... Exodus 9:21 reads, "But those who ignored the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field." It's hard to imagine how Pharaoh's officials - after having to deal with the blood, the frogs, the gnats, the flies, the dead animals, and the boils don't heed Moses' warning when he gave them the opportunity to get their men and animals shelter before it started to hail. Even if they didn't fear the LORD, wouldn't the track record and common sense have prompted them to action - to be safe rather than sorry?