Enjoy This Time

Stats!
How far along? 37 w 5 d
Weight gained? 41 lbs
Symptoms?  "Lightning Crotch", back pain, heartburn (again), general difficulty getting around
Looking forward to?  Baby!

I was thinking about it today, and I have made the decision to enjoy this time.  It occurred to me that this is the only time in my life that I will be pregnant with my first child.  I may not have another baby at all.  And even if we do have a second child, these weeks are the last weeks that I will feel little Alexandra squirming around in my belly.

Dean and I love watching her move around when she has her nightly "baby party."  Even when she's hurting me by kicking so hard, I feel glad to know she's doing ok in there.

I won't miss the giant belly or the myriad aches and pains, but I will miss the wonder of how my body changes every day to grow a healthy baby.  It really is amazing how we are able to create new lives.

For these next few weeks, I am going to try to really appreciate being pregnant.  I will enjoy watching her squiggle around in there.  I will enjoy feeling her kick.  I will even enjoy looking at my healthy, pregnant body (and maybe take a few photos).

Soon enough, this time will have passed.  I may never experience this again.  And not too long from now, I won't be able to get pregnant again.  That time will have passed in my life.  When that happens, I hope I will look at other pregnant women with fondness, forgetting all the unpleasant symptoms, just remembering how amazing it is to be growing a new life inside.

I am SO looking forward to meeting baby Alex.  But for now I will make every effort to appreciate the little time we have left this closely bound together.