Oh what I can't wait for, but then again, oh what I will miss...

As the day draws near where I will get to hold LMD in my arms instead of my belly, I can't help but think of the things I am looking forward to about not being pregnant, and certainly the things I will miss.

Things I’m looking forward to:

(Obviously, I am soooo looking forward to having our baby daughter in my arms! It goes without saying that I am over-the-top thrilled for all things baby, like walks to the park, bedtime stories, new holiday traditions, and play dates. But other than baby related things…)

-REGULAR COFFEE. I love, love, love coffee. Just the thought of a fresh cup of coffee makes me smile. I’ve kept my coffee consumption to a minimum during my pregnancy. Keeping my cups of coffee to few and far between and diluted with a lot of decaf…you know, the fake stuff. I can’t wait for real coffee again. Lots and lots of real coffee. Ok, I’m drooling, time to move on…

-Sushi!!! I loooove sushi. And while it has always been just an occasional treat with friends, the fact that I am not allowed to eat it makes me desire it all the more. I can’t wait to fill my mouth with the loveliness of a Green Papaya roll. If the waiter thought my friends and I sat at our table for too long before (“Can you move?”) he will be in for a real treat the next time I come in for a boat-load of sushi.

-Sleeping on my stomach or back. Awww, just the thought of it makes my body happy. My joints cannot take much more side sleeping, and my mental health can’t take any more of the anxiety fits that are caused as a result of me waking up on my back. My middle of the night internal dialogue goes something like: “omg, how long I’ve been sleeping on my back?...does my belly look weird?…hey baby (poking belly), please move for mommy, HEY BABY (poking harder) please, please move for mommy!” I then have to remind myself that the generation before us was not told to not sleep on their back and many, many babies were born perfectly healthy.

-Getting back into shape. I’m not talking about losing the baby weight right away or looking bathing-suit ready anytime fast. I know that stuff will come when it’s ready, and I’ll be too busy dressing LMD in adorable swimsuits to care about what I look like in one. I’m talking more about getting back into shape where I can walk up stairs and not have the neighbors be able to hear how hard I’m breathing….or have J ask me if I’m ok because I look like I might fall over. *[See bottom of blog post for funny/embarrassing side story about being out of shape.]

Things I’m going to dearly miss:

-LMD moving around in my belly, LMD moving around in my belly, and more of LMD moving around in my belly. I love her little kicks and punches. I LOVE that she is always with me. I can take her everywhere with me. She sits with me at my desk at work, she goes with me to schools when I visit classes for work, and she sits patiently with me while I get my hair cut. All of these are places where she might not be as welcome once she is out of my belly :(

-People, friends and strangers alike, smiling at me from across the room. I am totally one of those people who can’t help but smile at other pregnant women and am totally one of those people who love to be smiled at as a pregnant woman. The occasional double-take head glance in Target isn’t all that bad either. I also really do enjoy the small-talk I have with strangers, as awkward as I might be at them. I’m sure LMD has rolled her eyes many times in my belly as she hears how awkward I can be at elevator conversations with strangers. (She is definitely hoping for her daddy’s social skills.)

-While J has always been a wonderful, sweet, and caring husband, he has been the BEST, most wonderfulest, sweet, and caring husband during my pregnancy. I think I’ve mentioned before the trimester gifts? Beyond the gifts though, he is always checking in to make sure I’m ok. He’s quick to take the cereal bowl from my hand so I don’t have to walk it to the kitchen myself. He holds my hand when the sidewalk might be slick. He offers his arm when I need to get up off the couch. When I get up in the middle of the night he asks if I’m ok. He has patiently listened to me as I vent about my latest pain or discomfort. This pregnancy has made me fall in love with my husband all over again (and again). I know that his attentiveness to me will never end, but a part of me is sad to see it end in relation to my pregnancy. However, I am so, so excited to see him be a dad. He will be great. I just know it :)

I also must say that I have been blown away by our family’s, friends’, and coworkers’ generosity throughout my pregnancy. This isn’t something I’m going to miss, as our family, friends, and coworkers have always been generous and wonderful with or without the anticipation of a new baby. I have no doubt that they will continue to be just as wonderful after LMD is here, but I wanted to take a moment to say that I have the best family, friends, and coworkers a girl could ask for. Pregnancy has just brought it to my attention all the more.

That’s it in a nutshell. I’m sure there are many more things I’ll be thankful for once LMD has made her arrival, just as there are many more things I’ll miss, but this is a short list that has been stuck in my head as my due date draws near.

*Funny side story that I can’t believe I’m about to admit: sometime during my 2^nd trimester I was really craving a candy bar. I work on the 5^th floor of my building, and the vending machine full of my heart's content in candy bars was down on the 1^st floor. My thinking was that if I walk down and up the 5 flights of stairs to get the candy bar, I would (in a small way) cancel out the candy bar. Well, I hoofed it down and up all those steps and was practically seeing spots once I got back up to my desk. About 30 seconds after reaching the haven of my desk chair, my boss walks up and wants to discuss something work-related. I try to hide the fact that I’m am breathing as if I just ran a marathon and try to slyly push the candy bar out of sight, as clearly I don’t need the candy bar if I’m this out of breath. After a couple of minutes of trying to hide my heavy breathing…through a smile and a half chuckle she asks if I’m ok. Obviously she couldn’t hide her laughter anymore than I could hide the fact that I was breathing so hard. I then had to admit the embarrassing story of taking the stairs to cancel out my candy bar. Needless to say, that was my last attempt at trying to climb all those stairs to half-way cancel out a candy bar. It was not, however, my last candy bar.