What I'd like to remember most

I am thirty-seven weeks pregnant today. I have 21 days until my due date {but will more than likely deliver within the next two weeks} and as the countdown numbers continue to dwindle down, I am finding myself thinking that maybe...just maybe....I might miss being pregnant when it's all said and done. I can't believe I'm actually writing that because to be honest, pregnancy is a lot harder than what I thought it was going to be and I continuously told myself, I can't wait to not be pregnant anymore...but I think I will miss it once it's done. Then I started thinking about some of the things I wanted to remember about this pregnancy...there's so much! Let's see:

• I want to remember the first time we saw Lincoln on an ultrasound at 8 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I don't want to forget the pure elation I felt and the amazement that something that tiny was making me so sick!
• I want to remember the excitement we felt when we learned that we would be having a little boy. I have always wanted to have little Joel's running around my house! I'll never forget when we made the phone calls to let everyone know it wasn't a girl as previously thought, but a boy!
• I want to remember how good Arby's tasted while I had morning sickness. It was the only thing that got me through some days. I think I ate Arby's like 5 times in one week! :)
• I want to remember all the times Lincoln would make me laugh with his movements...bouncing back and forth side to side.
• I want to remember that Lincoln goes crazy when I listen to Ke$ha's Die Young song...he likes it :)
• I want to remember all of the conversations between me and my mom or me and my sister, and them comforting me and telling me that what I was experiencing was completely normal.
• I want to remember the nesting feeling. I hope it sticks around.
• I want to remember how good I slept throughout the first and second trimester...and even the beginning of the third one. I have a feeling it will be a long time before I sleep that good again.
• and most importantly, I want to always remember how Joel showed me a completely different side of him that I have never seen in our whole 6 1/2 years being together. I never want to forget the times he would hear me puking my guts out and come bring me a glass of ice water with a cold rag. He would hold the rag on my face as I recovered from losing my breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc. I don't want to forget the first time he kissed my belly goodnight. I don't want to forget all the times he would text me that he loved his babies (me and Lincoln). I don't want to forget him being protective over me when I sprayed bug spray in the house. It annoyed me at the time, but looking back I realize he was looking out for me and his little boy. I don't want to forget all of the little nice things he did for me throughout the pregnancy: tell me I look pretty, let me eat those two five extra cookies, prop my feet up after a long day at work, cook me breakfast or take me somewhere I really wanted to eat. He has been awesome during the pregnancy for not only doing all of these things, but for putting up with my craziness.

Of course, there are also some things I'd like to forget, but at the end of the journey, I have come to realize that the good times outweighed the bad and that in the end, I will have an amazing, one of a kind treasure to show for it. 

Looking back on the pregnancy, I can't help but think that God was trying to teach me a lesson....that things never go as planned and that I cannot and will never have complete control over any situation. I think that lesson is essential to learn as I transition from pregnancy to motherhood. 

If I could offer one piece of advice to any newly or soon to be pregnant women, it would be this: expect the unexpected. Don't buy into the cute movies....you may be sick the entire pregnancy, things might not go as planned, you might get stretch marks (if you're prone to this, invest in some bio-oil and use it from day one {another lesson learned the hard way}), you will more than likely gain more than you originally intended, you probably won't work out as much as you thought you would, you may have a few scares along the way and you may not be the cute 'cries at everything pregnant woman that people feel sorry for', but instead the mean 'grumpy one that people can't wait until you've had the baby so you can stop complaining and being a total raging bitch'. 

It's a scary emotional roller coaster, but one definitely worth riding.