Exactly a year ago I posted this. Man that seems like a lifetime ago. As I look at the picture of me with my burgeoning belly,  I wish I could tell myself:

You are so close to being done, really. Don’t worry so much about how huge you are. You. Are. Pregnant. You will be skinny again, but not immediately – and that is okay. Do you hear me?  It’s okay. And after he comes, take it easy for goodness sake, you just had a baby. Yes, you’re strong and amazing, but you don’t have to try and prove it every waking moment. Enjoy the down time. RELAX. Life is going to be crazy and you’re going to experience a steep learning curve in so many areas, but you’ll have a lot of support and you’ll get the hang of it. Just a warning: you’re not going to get a lot of sleep for awhile, but it’s not going to kill you. Eventually you’ll get to sleep for more than 3 hours straight, I promise. Try not to put too much stock in all those baby books, especially the ones written by so called “sleep experts.”  Use them as a light resource if you must, but they weren’t written about your kid. Just because he doesn’t develop like the turn of a page doesn’t make him broken. Far from it. One last thing, and this is important. Despite the sleep deprivation, you are going to love that little boy more than you can imagine. So when he comes, give that little baby a hug from me and snuggle him a little longer before you lay him down to sleep, because he won’t stay little forever.