Isn’t it startling 2010 is just a tick away from being “last year”?

And memorably, today, I hit Full term. Whilst my due date is 19 Jan, this means our lil boy is OK to come out anytime between today and end of Jan (almost 90% of women will give birth during this period before/after their due date). It’s exciting, to say the least 🙂

I really love being pregnant. I love everything about it! Sometimes, I feel like it’s better being pregnant than it is being ‘normal’. I find I’m more in-tune and fascinated with my body than before. It feels so nice, stroking my belly and feeling his movements (ok, maybe not so nice when he’s violently kicking!), and eagerly anticipating our own little family. At times, I’m just floored by the fact that I have a mini-us growing inside me. It’s brought Chris and I so much closer that I was surprised. I read somewhere once, that a woman’s respect and love for her husband increases exponentially by the way he behaves as a father. I didn’t understand it then, but I do now. Chris’ support and care of me during the past 9 months has made me see him in a totally new light. He’s very obviously going to be a very good father and I am so so grateful I married him 🙂

These are just some of the things I learned in the past few months… writing them down here it’ll serve as a lil reminder to myself when I’m pregnant again:

Don’t compare yourself to other pregnant women. This is a lot easier said than done! Every woman is so different, and you’re only setting yourself up for stress and doubt if you compare. Despite having a really un-eventful pregnancy, I actually found myself comparing myself to other women and being a bit disappointed at the start when I wasn’t feeling the “standard” symptoms of nausea, aches, etc. Hard to explain, but it felt to me that I wasn’t really legitimately pregnant, and didn’t make me feel like I was part of the exclusive pregnancy club.

Accept your weight gain. I won’t lie – my 13KG weight gain alarmed the CRAP outta me! But overall, I’m not obese and our baby is very healthy, and it’s actually quite fascinating to see my body change and look so different each month. It’s also quite funny seeing people’s wide-eyed stares when they see me wandering around town by myself when I’m so heavily pregnant 😛 Without fail I get strangers blurting out a “Why are you moving so quickly, and by yourself? Shouldn’t you be at home in bed?!” I also get a lot of “You’re huge!” comments, but they no longer bug me.

Don’t forget about your husband. Actually, don’t forget anyone around you in general! You may be pregnant, but that doesn’t make you the center of the universe and it doesn’t give you free-reign to rant & bitch about anything and everything like a crazy person. Spare some consideration for the people around you, even when your hormones are driving you batshit insane 😛 Appreciate what they do for you. Most of all, involve your husband and remember that it is HIS baby too, so he has 50% say! Thank him for everything that he does for you and enjoy your “us time” before your little two-some adds on a third (very noisy) wee one 🙂

Exercise. I’m a totally changed person! Pre-pregnancy, I wasn’t a fan of any activity, preferring to sit my ass on the couch. But the day I found out I was pregnant, it stirred up this deep and desperate desire to exercise. It’s insatiable. Since Week 7, I’ve been hitting the gym (treadmill at a steep incline, elliptical, cycling, weights machine) 3x a week, 45-60mins each session. Regularly, every single time without fail. I find that I have all this pent-up energy that makes me exercise, and I keep craving it. I’d go daily if I had the time. The exercise makes me feel super-fit, healthy, puts him to sleep, and I truly believe is the reason why I’ve had a really pleasant and laid-back pregnancy the past 9 months. My proof? For the past 1-2 weeks I’ve had to abstain from exercise, and suddenly I feel irritable and itchy and get aches. But happily I can go back to my 3x/week gym routine again this weekend and I CAN’T WAIT!!!

To all the pregnant women out there – I hope you have a safe and happy pregnancy and delivery. Can’t wait to see your little bundle of joy as well!

To all the trying-to-get-pregnant women out there – I hope you do soon and also enjoy your wonderful 9 months, it’s a freakin fun journey! I think there is no greater gift than to become a mother, so can’t wait for you to be one too 🙂

To all the already mothers – I leave you my favourite mum-related quote, “God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers.”