This Time Last Year

This phrase has popped into my mind a lot lately - "This time last year...". It was about this time last year that our pregnancy got really exciting. We had made it through the first trimester and felt comfortable telling family, work collegues and friends that a baby was on the way. We started planning, shopping and going to doctor appointments. My clothes weren't fitting, and I had a good excuse for once.

Brian telling Papa Emil and Grandma Jan to check their email for a special message (sonogram picture)

Telling Gram and Pops the big news on my 31st birthday - it took Gram a little while to believe that she was looking at a sonogram






We don't have a photo of us telling Granny Nell and Vic because we were all up to our elbows in Cheesecake Factory pasta, but they were the first to hear the news and were in much the same disbelief as the grandparents above.

Sam and me on my birthday


Brian and I went on a date last night for my birthday while Gram and Pops babysat. Driving home, he and I talked about how it was "about this time last year" that we told everyone we were pregnant, and now here's little Sam, rolling all over the floor and buh-buh-buhing all day long. That's a lot packed into one little year!

How lucky we are!

Bittersweet

As Samuel's "Birth Day" draws near (just 7 more days), I've had to remind myself I won't be pregnant forever. I'm so used to it now, I forget I won't be this way for the rest of my life. Every once in a while I'll realize that I'm going to have a baby of my own that I get to keep! I'm not babysitting him and giving him back when his parents come home from their dinner date; I'm not teaching him all day and sending him home at 3:00. He's ours forever! I've waited so many years for this (since I was little myself) that it's hard to believe the time is here.

I've had it pretty easy these last nine months. I haven't had any major complications, and was lucky enough to avoid most of the minor pregnancy symptoms that I know are so common. And yet, there are a few things won't miss:

*indegestion

*those painful kicks *ouch*

*my stuffy nose

*constant trips to the potty

*hanging out in the waiting room of my OB

*having to sleep on my side

*my clothes not fitting over my belly

*having to pass up my favorite foods (sushi, coffee, deli sandwiches!)

...and most of all...

*waiting

*wondering

*worrying

There are lots of things I

will

miss:

~my belly - it's just so cool

~the exciting anticipation of this new stage of our lives

~the newness of everything

~sharing in everyone's excitement; grandparents, collegues, strangers on the street...

~having an excuse to put on my jammies before dinner

~being told how cute my belly is - who wouldn't miss that?

~planning and decorating the nursery with Brian

~watching my tummy move in all sorts of crazy directions

~seeing Samuel, inside and outside, on the sonograms

...and most of all...

~feeling baby Sam kicking, rolling, twisting, turning!

What an adventure it's been.

And what an adventure awaits!

Get here soon, baby Sam. Mommy and Daddy are ready to meet you...

*Sara*