It’s interesting to think how each woman is different when it comes to pregnancy.  The question is, what kind of “pregnant gal” am I?  I know, it’s a little late to be asking this question because it’s almost over but it’s interesting to reflect on the past 8 months and think about how things have changed.

At the beginning, I was a nervous nelly.  I was worried I didn’t have morning sickness.  I was worried when I didn’t have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night like the previous eight nights.  I was worried to tell people I was pregnant and to start planning for the future because I was afraid something might happen. I was almost a crazy lady, researching and reading as much as I could about all the changes that were happening.  I eagerly awaited my baby bump to appear and to “feel” pregnant.  As I look back at those beginning days, I was so lucky to have an easy start to my pregnancy.  I did enjoy those days but I also spent a few more than necessary days obsessing about things.

Then things took a turn, I’m not sure at what point, and I seemed to relax.  We started letting others know we were expecting and I was excited to tell people.  I started thinking about what life might be like with a little person in the house.  I started looking pregnant, at least in my own eyes, because most people didn’t even know I was pregnant unless I told them.  I continued to read quite a bit and did a little worrying but for the most part, life was normal and we continued with our regular routine (except having a glass of wine at dinner).

It’s almost as though we forgot we were having a baby because there wasn’t much going on.  I didn’t have a huge baby bump that was getting in the way yet and it was still a little too soon for us to start planning.  We did some big picture thinking but nothing too serious.  Then we found out we were having a girl and I spent the next couple of days thinking about nursery colors and baby names.  After pinning more than my fair share of baby related pictures to Pinterest, I exhausted all of my research abilities and stopped thinking so much about decorating and what we needed before the baby arrived.

Then things got real.  I would say this happened while we were in Paris.  Over those 5 weeks my baby bump grew a lot and there were no more questions of whether I was pregnant or had just eaten a lot of éclairs and macarons that afternoon.  I stopped reading and researching.  I read my weekly blogs with updates on what kind of fruit or vegetable our baby compared to as well as what kind of pregnancy symptoms I could expect but I left all the books at home and just focused on spending time with Dusty.

And then we came home and I realized I was 32 weeks pregnant and only had 2 months to get ready for our little bambino and had nothing but a couple of newborn outfits.  You would have thought we were going to have a baby any day.  And that’s how things have been ever since.  At this stage I’m still in good spirits and only recently started feeling those negative pregnancy symptoms like an achy back and lack of sleep.

I’ve started worrying about things again but more about what’s going to happen once our little girl arrives.  I’m right at 36 weeks now and I constantly think about my baby to-do list and what hasn’t been crossed off.  I wake up in the middle of the night asking myself, “how will I know how often to change her diaper?” or “what outfit will she wear when she comes home?” or “what’s labor going to be like?”  In the past month we’ve gotten a lot accomplished but I’m eagerly trying to get everything crossed off my lists (as fast as possible) because the closer we get to my due date, the less I’m able to do and the more exhausted I get.

I’m not to the point where I just want this pregnancy to be over but I am seeing how 9 months was plenty of time for us to wait for our bambino.  I’ve had such an easy pregnancy overall and hope this last month goes just as smoothly.  We’ll see how this final phase of my pregnancy goes and what kind of “pregnant gal” I transition into or what kind of “new mommy” I become.