A couple of neat things...

Throughout this pregnancy I have been very fortunate as to how I am carrying all out front and just the tummy area.

The baby is definitely filling up my tummy (which is shown by the millions of stretch marks) but being 'all baby' does have its advantages that totally make up for the grossness aesthetics of the physical part of the belly.

1. The baby and I play a game daily- and I know it sounds silly but I swear it is a game. The position that it lays in for months now has been its back to the left and the legs to the right. Since there is so little room in there now when it stretches its legs you can see the ball of the foot or the foot itself sticking out from my side. So our game is I lay on my left side so its feet is up in the air type thing and I tickle the side of my belly. It only takes a few seconds to get a response of a foot pushing back at my hand. The rest of its body pretty much stays still so it is just controlling his/her feet. After a while it gets its whole leg going and then I try to catch the foot. That's right... I catch the foot! I love our catching the foot game and seeing how calm s/he is shows me it doesn't get stressed by this- besides s/he wouldn't play along if s/he didn't like it haha.

2. My other favourite thing that I experience which I know not many pregnant women do- is depending on the baby's position I can actually feel and see it breathe! I know this sounds crazy- it has just been happening the last couple of weeks now. But you have to keep in mind even my doctor is amazed as to how much the baby is defined in my belly and you don't have to touch to guess what position it is in. When the baby is in the right position you can actually see part of my stomach (right around the mid back area of the baby) move up and down. If I hold my breath this movement continues. It is a steady movement. It is also a lot slower than my own pulse so I know it isn't just my pulse making these movements. If you put your fingers on this area of the baby's body you can feel your fingers going up and down. It truly is the neatest thing and it really shows and allows you to come to terms with the miracle that is growing inside of you.

These little things help me realize the reality that it isn't 'just a baby' in there... it is a little person- a breathing person with a personality of his/her own... I couldn't be more excited to meet this person!