goodbye, pregnancy.

One more day of being pregnant and I could not be more excited. I'm definitely leaning towards waiting 3 years instead of 2 to do this again - I never could have guessed going into it how amazingly hard it is on your poor little body. I absolutely want one more child, so I'm hoping it's true how every mom says you take one look at your baby when he/she is born and you forget all of the misery of the past nine months. We'll see tomorrow!

I have to tell you, Pregnancy, I won't miss all of the fun adventures you've brought my way. I won't miss the breakouts, the exhaustion, and the nausea of the first half. I won't miss the weight gain, the fluid retention, the back pain, and all of the other fun things that I experienced during the second half, either. I won't miss the way every time one of my pregnancy books said "This month, you may have the following symptoms" I had every single one of them, even the ones the books deemed "less common." I won't miss getting out of breath just putting on a pair of pants, or the unsolicited pregnancy and delivery advice given out by complete strangers at the grocery store. I won't miss feeling really lousy and unattractive all the time, and I definitely will not miss all of the attention you have brought my way (I'm Darlene's daughter - the spotlight is NOT my thing!)

I will miss a few things about you though, Pregnancy. I'll miss having an excuse to sit on the couch watching movies and eating Ben & Jerry's. I'll miss having Andrew clean the house and cook dinner every single night because I am too tired. I'll miss the excitement of hearing Bennet's heart beat inside of me, or seeing his little picture come up on the ultrasound screen. I'll miss feeling him kick and squirm around in my tummy. I'll miss holding him so close and safe, because I'm sure from tomorrow on I will worry about him and want to put him back inside my belly every second of the day. I'll miss a couple of things, I'm sure - but for the most part, I cannot wait for you and I to part ways!

I am constantly amazed that being pregnant was as hard as it was. I wouldn't say I was miserable or unhappy being pregnant...but it was definitely more than I ever could have expected. I remember thinking all of my pregnant friends were "so cute -" but now I know how much I probably got on their nerves telling them that because "cute" is the LAST thing you feel. By the end, you just feel finished and tired and fed up...there's nothing "cute" about it anymore!

The funny thing is...as tough as this whole experience was, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'd take the back pain, the heartburn and the exhaustion any day for everything it is going to bring us in the end. Even today, I can see how being pregnant has strengthened Andrew and I as a couple and made our marriage even stronger. Pregnancy is a MAJOR thing to go through together and I definitely went through it with one of the best guys in the world. I probably would have driven my car off a bridge several times without him there to balance out all the craziness that pregnancy brought our way (Bearface, I love you.) I cannot wait to meet our little boy tomorrow and start out on a new journey together as parents. Let the adventure begin!

Here's my final "belly picture" taken today - I can't believe that little person making my tummy so enormous will finally be with us tomorrow - pretty crazy!

Am I huge or what? Can't wait to get that 8 1/2 lb little man out of me! Come on, Thursday!