1)  How every rose had its own unique smell early in my pregnancy….it was beautiful and gave me a whole new perception of the world around me.  That was one of the first signs I knew I was pregnant.  Smell.  The smell of metal in your dad’s garage.  I could smell it from the back bedroom.

2)  How everyone wanted to give me or make me food…Growing a baby really does take a village and I loved how everyone wanted to care for us in their own way!

3)  Long, hot showers.  I know I will still have these, but I don’t think they will ever hold the same value as they did while I was pregnant.  It was one of the few things that made me feel better.  Sometimes three a day!  I think you must have liked the sound of the water.  It became our family hang out place.  Ubie, me and the dogs would just hang out in the bathroom and talk.

4) How much I loved Peanut Butter, Orange Juice, oranges, Milk, and Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing, and Zoe’s Greek Salads.  Gyros, garlic, and pork were a no fly zone however.

5)  How your daddy called me his Beluga Whale, because that is the cutest whale- but I think that one is going to stick around.  He was the best pregnancy husband ever-caring, considerate, comforting, and more than willing to get me anything I even thought to need, no matter what time of night.

6)  How he would talk to you through my stomach. I’m going to miss talking to you too.  Talking to you was like sharing secrets with a childhood best friend.  Only we got it.  You would tumble around when I would laugh.  I’d like to think you were laughing with me!

7)  My vivid dreams!  So real I would wake up and feel like I had gotten to have adventures with old friends and old places- lions in Africa, long walks on white sandy beaches, mischief in high school…too cool.

8) Feeling you flutter around for the first time.   I was sitting at my desk at work.  Of course, I thought I was imagining things.  Now, at 8 months, there is no denying it!  The little flutters have turned into kicks, twists and ripples.  I am  still amazed by what our bodies are able to do.

9)  This long, lustrous, shiny hair and glowing skin!  Somebody should bottle this magic!

10) Listening to your heartbeat on our fetal heart rate monitor.  In the beginning, I would try for hours to find it.  There it would be-this fluttering hummingbird of a heart beat.  Just a whisper amongst all the wooshing inside me.  Now, no matter where I put the wand, your heartbeat is there.  Strong and vital.  The heart rate monitor brought comfort to me many a long night between OB visits.

11) Being a “we”.  For the past 8 months, I have not been a me, I have been a we.  I am going to miss that.  We have been partners on this great adventure and shared this space together.  Caring for you, protecting you,  has been in my every thought.  For this one little snippet of my life, I get to be part of this miracle.  To be not only myself, but also part of something much greater.  Life.  We are truly amazing.