Things to Remember

I was thinking yesterday about how much I've complained lately about being pregnant. In all reality I have really enjoyed pregnancy up until it started getting hard. Even during the hard parts, though, there are still so many things that bring me joy. So, I decided to write down the things I want to remember from this pregnancy, and share them with you.
-The prayers, heartache and fears as we struggled to conceive. It may sound weird, but I just want to keep myself grounded. I will never forget what a blessing it is to be pregnant, and what a blessing she will be to our lives, as long as I remember the road that led here.
-Our first meeting with my favorite Doctor. After our experience with our first doctor that supposedly specialized in infertility, our present doctor is and was a breath of fresh air.
-Seeing two pink lines.
-Matt's face when I told him.
-Our family/ friend's reactions when we shared the news. I'll never forget how many people were there to support us with love and prayers while we were trying and the excitement they felt for us when our miracle finally happened.
-Calling my own parents Grandma and Grandpa.
-Our first appointment and my excitement over a little black and white picture of a bean with a heartbeat...and hearing it for the first time.
-Starting to show...
-The car accident...because I knew at that moment that she was and will always be the most important person in my life.
-Hearing a perfect little heartbeat the morning after the accident.
-Those first little flutters of movement and realizing they were her.
-Finding out we were having a little baby girl and seeing the first pictures of our sweet baby.
-Matt getting to feel her move for the first time. She would always stop moving when he tried to feel her. One day, he placed his ear on my bare stomach and just listened. She promptly delivered three swift kicks to his head. :)
-Growing out of so many items of clothing and being ok with it.
-When my Mom and siblings got to feel her move for the first time.
-Getting over the fact that I have stretch marks because anything is worth it for her.
-The baby showers.
-The joy I feel and the smile on my face every time she kicks a book resting on my stomach, rolls across my belly- making it look alive or gets the hiccups.
-Matt's impatience for her arrival- he is going to be such an amazing father.
-The fact that I can get over my needle phobia to make sure we are safe.
-Wearing flip-flops everyday because they are the only shoes I fit into.
-Knowing that I love and will love her more than I have ever loved anyone or anything in my entire life.
-Knowing that, by love, prayers, tears, and patience, she was sent to Matt and I at just the right time as a gift from our Father in Heaven.
-Lastly, knowing that my life is about to change forever...and being perfectly OK with that.
I'm certain that is not everything...but I think this post is long enough. I know there are many of you that read this blog that haven't experienced this before. Either because it hasn't happened for you YET, or because you're not ready, or too young or whatever. I just want to clarify that, through all my rantings and I near the end of this pregnancy, these things are the joys I experience every day. No matter how hard it is, or how tough it gets, it is all worth it. I hope every person in this world gets to someday experience this kind of happiness...and if you do, that you don't take it for granted.