1 Relishing the early weeks when only you and your partner know your special secret.
2 Knowing you've got nine whole months to plan, dream and fantasise.
3 Choosing maternity clothes - they've never been more practical or more attractive! Take our poll and find out where Singapore mums shop for their maternity clothes!
4 Now you've got the perfect excuse to pamper yourself - spending hours in a scented bath, enjoying a massage or rubbing soothing lotions into your growing bump.
5 Maternity rights in Singapore are getting better all the time. The government has recently announced that paid maternity leave will be increased from 12 to 16 weeks, and childcare leave extended from one day to six days for both fathers and mothers.
6 You can join a prenatal class and find a whole new bunch of friends (and don't forget our BabyCenter online forum: another great way to meet people due at the same time as you).
7 For once in your life you need to get heavier - pregnancy is Nature's way of making you feel good about putting on weight. And you can 'guess-timate' your weight gain using our weight-gain estimator!
8 If this is your first baby, enjoy the next nine months sleeping late at weekends: you won't get many chances later on.
9 At last you've got the bosom you've always wanted, which means you also have...
10 ...a great excuse to buy lots of pretty new bras.
11 Sisters of motherhood will start allowing you cut toilet queues so you can go wee first! You'll appreciate this when toilet visits are more frequent!
12 At last you'll have something more than potplants and cats to care for and nurture!
13 Suddenly you'll find you're getting lots of extra attention from parents, aunts and uncles, not to mention your husband.
14 You may find you develop a closer relationship with sisters, cousins or friends who are parents themselves. Congratulations, you've just won free admission to the parents' club!
15 Telling your mum, dad, sister, brother, aunt, dog the good news and watching their faces light up.
16 New talents! Whether it's knitting bootees or assembling a flat-pack cot, you'll suddenly find yourself trying out all sorts of new skills.
17 Suddenly you'll feel a new appreciation for your own mother and all she went through having you.
18 Decorating baby's room: one of the most exciting things you'll ever do.
19 Feeling those first fluttering kicks and thinking, 'Is that what I think it is? Or is it just wind?'
20 Feeling OK for sending your husband out for chicken rice followed by a huge bowl of chendol!
21 Your parents digging out your old cot, pram or even clothes, which they've kept safely all this time 'just in case'.
22 Going for healthy walks with your husband and getting fresh air in your lungs because it's good for you and good for your baby.
23 Enjoying the extra-vivid dreams you get in late pregnancy - and laughing about them with your friends.
24 Feeling a little pair of heels prodding under your diaphragm and knowing you'll soon be meeting the little person they belong to!
25 Choosing baby clothes - or leafing through catalogues and planning what you're going to buy.
26 Writing a pregnancy diary or blog for your baby to read in the future.
27 Getting someone to take photos of you smiling over your enormous bump so that, one day, you can look back and be amazed you were ever that size.
28 Finding out how many people there are out there ready to care for you: doctors, nurses, midwives, lactation consultants...
29 Lying in bed with your husband's arms around you and your bump, knowing that love has created a new life.
30 Enjoying indulgences, such as evenings out, weekends away and anything else you might not be able to do so easily once the baby arrives.
31 Knowing that from now on, whatever happens, you'll never be bored again.
32 Making new friends whenever you go shopping - everyone has a pregnancy story to share.
33 You can spend whole evenings debating whether to call your baby Hermione or Cleopatra, Harry or William... (check out our yearly lists of Top Names in Singapore!)
34 Imagining what he or she will look like. Your sweet little ears, of course, and his sexy eyes!
35 Dreaming about, "My daughter the laywer/actress/brain surgeon."
36 Looking at your growing bump in the mirror and realising there's a person in there!
37 Making out a squirmy outline on the ultrasound monitor. Asking for the picture to take home and pinning it up next to your work station, or just keeping it in your bag to sneak looks at.
38 The expression on your husband's face as he sees the test strip turn blue, looks at your growing bump or feels the baby kicking.
39 Buying that first little cuddly toy for your baby, not somebody else's.
40 Making that phone call to your husband to tell him that - we're off! - labour has started.
41 Trying out all those exercises you learned at prenatal class and finding out that they actually work!
42 Being held and supported throughout a contraction by your husband/midwife/labour companion and knowing that you can trust them totally.
43 Finding out, as the contractions get tough, that your repertoire of swear words is far more extensive than you ever realised!
44 Making an informed choice about pain relief and finding that it's right for you at thatstage in labour.
45 That huge rush of pleasure and relief when, suddenly, all the pain and effort stops.
46 Looking into your newborn's eyes and falling utterly in love.
47 Watching your husband shaking hands and hugging the midwife, the doctor, cleaning lady, security guard and anyone else he can find because his joy and pride are overwhelming.
48 Trying to figure out which features your baby has inherited that are yours and your husband's!
49 Making all those phone calls to announce the arrival. Telling everyone the news and hearing the excitement in their voices.
50 Waking up to see your baby sleeping next to you and thinking, 'Wow! This is real. I'm a mum!'
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