Preparing to Say Goodbye to the Bump

Call it pregnancy hormones, but I am getting really sad about the impending end of pregnancy! I am so beyond thrilled to meet this baby and to have him or her in my arms, but I think I might be one of those women who is sad to not be pregnant anymore. It has gone SO fast that I feel like I haven't absorbed it enough yet for it to be over. And I guess this is great training for parenthood, but despite all the worries, health concerns, crazy frequent appointments, and physical discomforts.... I want more. I am loving being pregnant! I am still awed by the movements of this baby inside of me, even when there are feet in my ribs (so you know, basically all the time!). I love Steven's face when the baby gives a gigantic kick and I love him reading to my belly each night. I love seeing our little baby's face on ultrasounds and getting just enough of a picture to make out a few features without really knowing who and what our baby will look like. I love waking up in the middle of the night because someone is having a dance party.

I know many women feel like they can't wait to get their body back, and maybe I will quickly reach that point over these next few weeks if I become more uncomfortable (I thought it would be way worse by now!), but right now I am absolutely loving sharing my body. The concept itself blows me away... I am sharing my body to sustain another human being! I'll still be doing that in other ways after the baby is born, but I think I will miss having this baby grow and develop right under my heart. I love seeing my belly grow and have really enjoyed maternity clothes. I hear mixed things; a lot of women hate maternity clothes. I think they are so cute and soooo comfy! I love when strangers recognize my growing belly in public, especially because very, very few people have touched it (I was so worried about that!). I enjoy knowing looks from other moms and excited smiles from little old ladies. And I even enjoy the rare oblivious man who sees me weekly and then I witness the moment that he suddenly realizes I'm pregnant. Hilarious!

I have to remind myself that, at the end of this, I get to give up heartburn, the lower back aches that come when I stand (but not when I sit or walk, thankfully!), food aversions, skin tags, patches of darkening skin, linea nigra and other things I never knew were pregnancy related until google assured me that they are super common lol! I didn't list exhaustion and waking up in the middle of the night; I know that's here to stay for a while ;).

But I'm also giving up the kicks of a baby, the growth of my baby bump, my awesome pregnant skin which has been dry and not crazy oily for the first time EVER, my more abundant hair, and the sweet moments that Steven and I both share with the baby in utero. Then again, I know I have lots of kisses, cuddles, cute outfits, doting of family members, and hours of gazing at my baby right around the corner (we'll leave out crying, spit up, feeding frustrations and that other good stuff for now!). When I told Steven last night that I'm sad about not being pregnant soon, he reminded me that, God willing, we'll be doing it all again someday. So I guess that makes us that crazy couple who talks about baby #2 before baby #1 has left the oven, but I'm ok with that. Life is so beautiful!

Disclaimer: check back in a few weeks and I'm sure my posts will be more relate-able like "WHEN DOES THE BABY STOP CRYING????" and "POOP. POOP EVERYWHERE.".