I'm at that point. That point where complete strangers are interested in the baby and want to know when I'm due. And if it's a boy or girl. And if she's my first. I don't mind the questions at all. I spent the last 10 (15? 20?) years being totally curious about pregnant women and little babies myself and so it's fun to temporarily be on the other end of the questions.
Quite often it comes up that Paul is deployed. I am never exactly sure how the conversation heads there, but inevitably it does. I always share that he's coming home for leave shortly after she's due. After that tidbit, these conversations wrap up with the kind stranger wishing us success in getting him home before she arrives. I leave the encounter smiling and offering up my own wishes, grateful for extra good thoughts and hopes that we'll become a family of three all together.
All the other stuff that supposed to come with being this far along in a pregnancy is so far (joyfully!) absent. I am not yet wishing away the time. (Probably thanks to the knowledge that getting her here early means more time before Paul meets her.) I am not yet too uncomfortable. I am thankfully still mobile enough to sit cross legged, handle random household chores and get on and off the ground. I am quite sure she hasn't "dropped" but happily breathing or lung-pressure is not an issue. I don't want to (yet) throw out all my clothes. And perhaps most importantly, I am sleeping well, waking up just once during the night. Not all of this pregnancy has been easy, but the end, so far, has been excellent.
And turns out I am fan of the GDM diet. Yep. Seriously. It's keeping me and baby girl healthy. It's easy now that it's become routine. I feel it's helping me eat well, stay full and keep us both growing appropriately. I am going to talk a bit more about what exactly I am eating in a future post, but I can say unlike a normal "diet" there is no "will-power" involved. This is about doing what's right for the baby, not about looking good or losing weight, and when you factor that in, it's a totally different ballgame. And one I am enjoying.
The craziest part is how all these tiny, seemingly un-noticeable changes over 280 days add up to one monumental change. I cannot believe what my body has undergone so far. I cannot imagine how much it has yet to grow, stretch and open up. It's a miracle already and yet, I keep remembering that the final part, the biggest miracle, is in front of us. I recently watched a beautiful birth video, and when the brand new baby arrived, I took it all in. The most remarkable part to me was her little face. Those features! Those expressions! Suddenly, out of nowhere, I remembered there is a person that's going to be born. Not just the collection of arms and legs that constantly dance across my belly, but a tiny human with a tiny face.
Safe to say, as I realized that, I feel in love with her, with Paul and with this adventure all over again.
enJOY it 
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