I am going to be 39 weeks pregnant tomorrow with my second and it's just hitting me that it is almost over. Don't get me wrong, I am uncomfortable and so excited to meet this Little One (!), but there is something a bit sad about being almost done with this part. I have been so fortunate to have had two relatively easy pregnancies with few physical complications and have truly enjoyed being pregnant both times.

The feeling I'm having right now is that this pregnancy has gone by almost too quickly. Never in my life do I remember 9 months going by so fast and I'm trying to savor these last few days (or hours?!) as much as I can. I had some major life stress this pregnancy with a change in my job responsibilities and I spent a good deal of the past 6 or so months needing to focus on building my career, and I know this took me away from focusing on my pregnancy the way I had the first time. That, and I have a 3 1/2 year old at home which makes time fly on its own! I certainly did not expect this pregnancy to be identical to the first, but I honestly cannot believe that I am at the end.

We do not know what the future holds and don't know if this will be our last (I'm leaning toward most likely!), but there is something a little sad about reaching the end of this specific phase of my life. I will not miss the physical discomfort or some of the less-than-desireable symptoms (hello, insomnia!), but I will miss my bump, the general experience of carrying new life, and the feeling of protecting this baby inside of me from life's craziness. I'm sure it's some of the hormones talking, but now that I've slowed down a bit and am away from work, I am realizing how precious this whole experience has been and how hard it will be to move away from it, as special as the next phase of getting to know and loving this new little baby will certainly be.

For anyone else who felt this way at the end of the pregnancy, was there anything you did (or wished you did) at the end to help you remember the pregnancy after baby arrived? I remember with my first, as soon as he was born I had no desire to look back to the pregnancy, and I had always hoped that we would have a second at some point down the line. It just feels a bit different this time with the knowledge that we may be done after two and I am trying to enjoy this special feeling for a moment longer.