Thoughts on this whole pregnancy thing

Ok, so I've decided to write a few things I've learned so far about being pregnant.
Here goes:
1. The idea of being pregnant and having a baby is a lot more fun than actually being pregnant. Thankfully Blake and I didn't have any trouble getting pregnant or I might not feel that way. It's fun at first because everything is new and it is exciting! However, once the dust settles and you're in for the long haul, it's actually hard work. I keep forgetting this and I invariably over do it and end up wiped out and crying b/c the things I normally do I CANT do any more. Examples you say? Well, spending time in the garden, bending over to pull weeds or squatting to pull them. I haven't been able to squat in months-MONTHS. I'm a kindergarten teacher, I squat all the time. Not any more. Other examples: Most people have an actual spring in their step. If you need to jump or hop or perhaps jog, you can do it without any trouble. Again, I haven't jumped or run in months. I feel like a duck. No ability to move other than forward and backward.
2. Having the summer off while pregnant is awesome. Completely awesome.
3. Starting back to school while pregnant is not awesome. Not at all. It's hard and there is this sense of guilt that comes with having to explain to parents that yes, I was hired while pregnant and yes, I will be gone for 3 months, and yes, I knew all this going into it. Hey, I would be thinking the same things if it were my child's teacher no??
4. Being pregnant makes you turn into a grown up. Remember that movie with Johnny Depp where he played J.M. Barrie the writer of Peter Pan? He had a line in that movie where he says not all adults are grown ups. Some kids are grown ups before they're adults. You have a choice if you want to be a grown up. He chose not to be a grown up. I think I don't have a choice anymore. I already feel this responsibility to this little man that I can't explain. I just went out and bought the ugliest shoes I've ever owned b/c they make my feet feel good. That is something grown ups do. I also enrolled Blake and I in parenting class next month. Grown ups do things like that. I think I can be a grown up and still have fun though. I mean, how grown up can I really be when Tommy Boy is one of my favorite movies...
5. I love other people who will give you their old baby stuff for FREE! They're so happy to see it go that they'll just overload you with their stuff. Honestly, I really don't think Blake and I have had to buy more than 200 dollars worth of stuff for this kid; that includes the crib and stroller. The best part? We get to do the same thing someday for someone else starting out. Share the love I say!!!
6. Pregnancy is what you make it: By that I mean, if you are a naturally nervous person then you'll be a nervous pregnant person. If you tend to take life as it comes at you, then that's how you'll view pregnancy. The problem comes when you get those two worldviews in the same room, or worse, in a conversation together. See, I tend to see pregnancy as the latter. However I know several moms whom I've come in contact with who are the nervous type who are convinced you are going to kill the kid because of X, Y or Z that you are doing (or not doing). I use to defend my position but now I simply smile and nod and think to myself "You are going to make your baby a nervous person simply b/c you are a nervous person!" Here's my over-arching thought on a daily basis: Women have been having babies for millinea and 99 percent of them are just fine. We've been pregnant while settling a new land, crossing the Red Sea, Traveling to a new world, during war time and drought, feast and famine and still, babies are born healthy, happy and moms keep going, so I'm not going to freak out about every single thing I should stay away from, not eat, eat, do, see, be a part of, or otherwise. Call me crazy, but it's how I keep my sanity. All those nervous women can worry about that stuff. I'm out.
7. There are a few things I'm careful about. Here they are: Putting my feet up any chance I get. No sushi. No alcohol. Sleeping with a back support and reading a good pregnancy book. That's it. I've read the recent studies on caffeine-inconclusive, a little caffeine won't kill me or Little. Lunch meat, cookie dough, over medium eggs, and the HOST of other things nervous women worry about don't bother me. This is America, our food is, for the most part, safe for consumption and I bank on that. Call me crazy.
8. Things I'm curious about? (notice I didn't say nervous) Breast Feeding, healing after delivery, loss of sleep and returning to work, dropping him off at daycare for the first time and seeing Blake as a dad.
That's it for now. I know not everyone will agree and to that I say, that's what makes our country great.