29 Weeks Pregnant.

I remember when it was the fourth of July and I was lamenting that my beer and pool days were over for the summer, thanks to the pregnant interruption. I remember when it was September, and I couldn't believe it was already Fall and I was nearing the second trimester. I remember the week leading up to Halloween, when I was finishing up my last few days of working overnight and I felt like November first--my last day--would never come. I remember thinking about the holidays, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's, our six-year anniversary, and Adelyn's due date, and how much stomach stretching and discomfort and gas pains I had yet to come.

And here I sit, Thanksgiving weekend behind me. The day before December, for God's sakes, and I can't for the life of me figure out where all the time went. My 29 week (as of this past Saturday) pregnancy update from BabyCenter.com told me I was in the home stretch. The home stretch! How did this happen?

Just yesterday I was crying on my floor after that ill-fated trip to the toilet at the end of June, wondering how in the world I was going to handle being a mother. Now, I'm in a new apartment--one with an empty room with a freaking changing table in it--and nearly every one of my thoughts is consumed with her, my daughter, Adelyn.

And the fears have changed--it's no longer how am I going to be a mother, but when will we have her nursery done? All of her baby clothes washed? Am I going to rent a breast pump or take the plunge and buy one? Will she be born early or close to her due date? Is my chosen crib in the new list of recalls? Dr. Brown's baby bottles or something else? Is the Boppy really worth the hype, and did I leave anything off my baby registry?

Who have I become? I genuinely would not recognize myself--my thoughts, fears, or body, for that matter--if I'd been able to catch a glimpse back this summer. She's not even here yet, and I already feel like a mother.

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