Last Friday I passed a pregnant woman walking through the pedway. Her perfectly round belly told me she was pretty close to her due date and I couldn’t help but notice how happy and content she looked.

She was walking with a smile on her face in a nice summer dress with a little sweater on top. We smiled at each other as we passed and a flood of memories came rushing back into my brain.

I may have even felt a little jealous of her.

I loved being pregnant. Despite swollen ankles, sickness, heartburn and hip pain, I look back on that time with a smile. In many ways I felt like I was in a secret world that nobody really understood but me. I remember doing everyday things like groceries or being in meetings at work when the baby would kick and I’d push back on the spot where they kicked. I’d look around the room and think about how I had this little person inside me and nobody around me had any idea that we were just communicating back and forth to each other.

I remember knowing that if I reclined on the couch after dinner the baby would get active. I’d just lie there rubbing my hands on my big beautiful belly while the baby stretched and moved around. The amount of love I could feel for someone I’d never seen was overwhelming. The fact that the baby and I were already so connected through my voice, touch, the foods I was eating and everything my body was doing for it blew my mind.

Like the woman I saw in the pedway, I remember having a ‘high on life’ feeling in the last few weeks. Things were wrapping up at work, the baby’s room was near completion, we started buying and receiving the ‘things’ required for a newborn. In many ways it was scary (and uncomfortable) but for the most part, it was crazy exciting. Our entire lives were changing – it was a whole new chapter and it was wild to daydream about how I was in the middle of writing the most important chapter in the story of my life.

So to the glowing woman with the flowered dress and short blond hair in the pedway last week, thank you for the flood of incredible memories. Your smile reminded me of how excited I was about the changes that were about to take place in my life. Your belly reminded me of how far our kids have come since they were able to fit in there. Your general spirit reminded me of just how lucky and blessed I am that I get to be a parent.

I know you realize what an incredible time in your life it is right now. What’s going to blow your mind is how quickly you’ll figure out that it only gets better from here.

Deanna is a Mom of three, wife, marketer and blogger – lover of travel, morning coffee, family time, belly laughs, good friends and uninterrupted showers! Follow her on twitter @DeannaCMiller