Important Pregnancy Milestones

During my first two pregnancies, I blogged religiously on a weekly or almost weekly basis. I also marked all of the relatively arbitrary milestones (Halfway! X months to go! 35 weeks/35 days). This time that is obviously not the case. But that doesn't mean I'm not marking the pregnancy.

So here are my top 10 list of pregnancy milestone.

1. Belly button pops out (the turkey's done! No picture of this)

2. Under-belly shirt cleavage (when even maternity shirts stop being long enough to cover the belly and skin peeks out underneath. Sexy!)

3. First time someone says "Wow, you are really pregnant!" Or "Any day now?" No, 4 weeks, thank you very much.

4. Give up on tying your shoes (thank goodness for my spring babies and slip-on shoes)

5. Start grunting every time you roll over in bed. The rolling happens less and less, but the grunting becomes more frequent.

6. Rings stop fitting (my tightest wedding band barely fits and sometimes gets stuck, but I'm lucky that most of my rings do).

7. Weight gain slows (because your stomach is so smushed that there is no room to eat more than a few bites. Apparently I am not there yet...).

8. Random tears- could be at a sad story on the news, or a touching commercial, or nothing at all. (Let me tell you how much Stephen LOVES this symptom!). Lately it's been happening when the boys are sweetly playing together, or they snuggle with me, or the say something very sweet....because I love them so much and I am so excited to have another child......and also a little terrified and overwhelmed...and that makes me cry too!

9. Start counting your lasts before the baby. For example, last trip to the hairdresser and last time getting a mani/pedi. The trick with these two is to make them close enough to the baby's arrival that you look good at  the birth and for a few weeks afterwards, but not so close that the baby comes too early and you've got serious roots showing. It's superficial, but it's also my best chance for being in pictures for the next few years.

And the moment I am most excited for, but still weeks away from:

10. The moment you feel "ready." Bags are packed, car seat is installed, nursery is set up. Check back on that in about 3 weeks...