1. The way your heart felt when the stick turned pink.
2. The look on your husband’s face – and your parents’, your best friend’s, and your boss’ – when you told them.
3. How sick you felt that day from the mere whiff of a cracker.
4. How ravenous you were that night you wolfed down a pepperoni pizza, a pint of mint chip ice cream, a jar of pickled peppers – and still could have gone for more.
5. How much fun it was to march up to the bra counter and ask for a 36D.
6. The closeness you felt with your husband as you held his hand and felt the baby move together.
7. A few months later, watching your stomach undulate as the baby played soccer in there.
8. How hard you laughed over all the silly name possibilities. Horace or Mango, anyone?
9. The agony (getting yet more blood drawn) and the ecstasy (previews of the baby’s face via sonogram) of all those doctor visits.
10. How incredible, in every sense of the word, your body looked at its fullest.
11. The sweetness of making love in your final days alone as a couple.
12. How thrilled – and terrified – you felt when the labor pains finally kicked in and you realized your child was almost here. And your life was about to be transformed forever.
