The greatest thing ever

Baahh!! I've fallen so behind again! Baby H: Weeks 25-28, Weeks, 29-32, and Weeks 33-36 coming soon, especially since Baby H himself could be arriving any day now and I may not get another chance to write these. Lord have mercy! But of course, instead of playing catch up, I've decided to write a blog post about something that has surprised me these last few weeks of pregnancy. :)

At about 32-33 weeks, the people who see me on a regular basis (husband, church friends, co-workers, etc.) started to notice a change in my bump a.k.a. "Whoa that thing came out of no where! It's like overnight you just popped!" Yes, people, there is quite a large baby boy in there *written with a sarcastic tone and rolled eyes.* And around the same time, poor baby started getting knocked around a little more. I felt like I was running into everything! Baby has gotten hit by the car door as I've climbed out of my car in tight parking spaces, I've run into open filing cabinets at work, and the list goes on. I swear, he's going to come out with a dent in his head! But this isn't the surprising part of pregnancy I'm talking about.

{bump}

This morning (mind you, I'm almost 37 weeks), I stopped to get to get gas and a cup of coffee on my way to work. As I was pouring my coffee, a gentleman walked up next to me to reach for a stir stick on the counter and in trying to make room for him, I accidently ran my baby bump into the counter. I quickly apologized. "I'm sorry sir. There's a lot going on right here," I said with a smile and a rub of the belly. He looked sweetly at me and said, "Oh no worries! It's the greatest thing ever." 

The greatest thing ever. I've heard many versions of this phrase over and over again the last few weeks. I expected to hear it from women, but surprisingly, it's the men who keep saying this to me. And they don't just spat it off nonchalantly. It's always said in such an endearing way that almost makes me tear up. It's like all these dads see my big ol' belly and take a couple of seconds to reminisce on the joy of fatherhood and the blessing it truly is.

My boss does this to me all the time. We'll be talking or joking about something related to parenthood and he'll get into this serious mood for just a couple of seconds and say, "It's the best job I've ever had." And on Friday night, Luke and I went to dinner at Lupe Tortilla and ended up having about a 30 minute conversation with a guy named Jonathan who has two little girls, 3 and 7. He kept telling Luke, "It changes you man. I'm not the same guy I was before my girls. It's the best thing that could ever happen to you. I'm so excited for you guys!" Seriously? I don't know why this shocks me so much, but I can't even count the number of dads that have gushed over having children to us.

I guess I just wanted to remember this aspect of pregnancy. Their sweet dad faces that look off just slightly into the distance and reflect fondly over the life-changing experience Luke and I are about to go through, their sweet words and the grace they give this momma-to-be for the way her bump runs into just about everything these days, and the last few days before Luke becomes a dad that I pray will think back fondly over this adventure called fatherhood. Thanks to all you sweet dads out there. You warm this momma's heart.