You already know that having a baby will change your life dramatically, but you may not know exactly which things will change the most. You are sure to have many, many new things to appreciate as you get to know your precious little one. There will be other things that you will miss like crazy after baby arrives. Whether you have a few weeks or a few months left of your pregnancy, you may want to pay close attention to and allow extra time for savoring the following things that may fall by the wayside once baby arrives.
Sleeping in. Even if you can only sleep in on the weekends, that is two more days than you will be able to sleep in once your baby arrives. Sure, there is the occasional baby who sleeps until nine most mornings, but that baby may also be sleeping until nine because she has been up a few times during the night. Many babies get up fairly early, and even if you are sharing those early mornings with a supportive spouse or partner, it can be tough to adjusting to the fact that you are no longer in charge of when you wake up in the morning.
Your clean house. It is true that newborn babies are too small to be crawling or running around and making messes like their (slightly) older counterparts. It is also true that there does not have to be someone actively making messes for a house to become messy. All it takes is a reduction in the amount of time that you normally spend keeping your house clean. Even a slight reduction in that amount of time can cause laundry and dishes to pile up and things to start looking less than tidy. Taking care of a baby takes time, and you may find that you have a lot less time and energy available to care for your home. This is normal and perfectly okay, but you may want to stop and smell the freshness of your squeaky clean bathroom and admire your tidy kitchen a few more times before baby arrives.
Other things that new parents often find themselves missing include long baths or showers, or even daily bathing; sitting at the dinner table and enjoying a meal and conversation with their spouse or partner, and going out to do anything alone.