17 weeks, sweet Belly Boy, and yesterday we celebrated Christmas with homemade pizzas and singing you Christmas Carols. I think you liked them! We can't wait for next year's holiday season and getting to make all of these holiday memories with you! We watched It's A Wonderful Life and, let me tell you, it really is.
This week, you're 17 weeks of pure magic. You're the size of a pear (or a coconut, depending on who you ask). You're practicing your breathing, now, to prepare yourself for earthside and you have fingerprints! I read somewhere that your fingerprints are developed from touching the womb and, if so, how special to know that you'll always carry a piece of now with you. Long after you forget the months we spent taking care of each other, as a singular entity, your fingers will tell the story of this time. I can't wait to kiss them. Over dinner, this week, I started to feel persistent flutters and knew you were reminding me that you're there (as if I could ever forget). This week, between Christmas and New Years, your daddy and I are slow-working, spending days cuddling on the couch while we get our tasks done. We are reading our books and going on long walks (at least 10,000 steps, every day)! Your daddy did his 300th spin class: he is working so hard to be healthy to run around and take care of you forever. Your mommy is only spinning in circles but she has taken to organizing parts of the house for your arrival. We also officially announced your arrival, in 2024. Now, the calendar has changed, we will soon be halfway through this pregnancy, we have picked our doula--and we can't wait to meet you.
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Week 16 and you're the size of an avocado, Belly Boy!
Speaking of healthy fats, this week your skin (that's been pretty translucent) starts to get a little plump, as fat formation begins. Oh, I cannot wait to kiss your cheeks! Your amazing heart is pumping 50 pints of blood a day! And, if you can believe it, your first poop is already starting to form in your bowel. You are such a proactive over-achiever and I am so proud. This week your ears start to pick up on the silly songs and stories we're already telling you! We hope you can hear how much we love you. We're still pretty nauseous, which has been challenging. But we're also still into salty-brine-y things and loving olives and half-sour pickles. You also really seem to like honey mustard pretzels and other more savory treats. You must have your daddy's taste buds. You're getting better at chicken (we have not been able to stomach at all for weeks) but, honestly, it's been pretty hit or miss on the poultry front. The week started pretty rainy but it also started with us getting a little more organized and plotting out the months for big steps. We will be ready for you, baby. You hear?! You're the size of an apple this week, Belly Boy.
Moving around all of the bones in your arms and legs are fully formed, your head is rounding off, and you're developing just as you should be! This week started pretty rough for your dad and me. Lots of big feelings and even bigger responsibilities. You see, Belly Boy, we are determined to make this world good enough for you. Loving enough to lift you up. And joyful enough to support you through all of your biggest moments. This week, you received your first registry presents! And if that doesn't scream YOU'RE COMING, I don't know what does! BUT it's also birthday week for both of your parents and, as we count down to the end of 2023 and the promise of your arrival, we could not be more excited for you; the best gift. Our miracle. For mama's birthday, we went to Beacon Hill Books & Cafe for a delicious and wonderful three-course meal. We walked to Beacon Hill from Cambridge and passed Christmas lights and outdoor ice skating and when we stopped to pee in an ice cream shop, they gave us free ice cream for my birthday! Such a special way to spend the day! For daddy's birthday, we went to Karma in Concord for sushi and treats...and then your mommy had one of her crazy ideas and booked an impromptu weekend trip to Newport, Rhode Island. In Newport, we took you to your first dueling-piano bar, ate delicious food, danced under the Christmas lights, and walked on the Narragansett Beach. I think you like blueberry pancakes just as much as I do, Belly Boy. And, as we were sitting by the water, watching the cotton candy sky, we kept talking about how much fun it would be to bring you back with us, next winter. We can't wait to share the world with you. This week is the anniversary of when your dad and I fell in love, seven years ago! It is also the beginning of Hanukkah!
In fact, my sweet holiday-baby, we are 100 days pregnant on the first night of Hanukkah! The world was so dark before you joined us, you are my miracle of light. This week, you've been yawning up a storm and are able to rub your eyes (so cute), you're growing hair on your head (and eyebrows and eyelashes)! I wonder if you'll have curly hair like baby me or straight hair like baby-dad, with his sole Superman curl. I guess it's apropos that you're the size of a peach this week--you just may be equally fuzzy! You're feeling heavier in my belly and definitely seem to like it in your womb. You also seem to like latkes, just the way your daddy makes them! And are still having some aversions to food and drinks. This week, your cousins met you and we took you to an Immersive Disney exhibit where we danced with your cousins and sang songs I can't wait to teach you! I've started seeing some stretch marks and, while I'm using so may different lotions and potions to keep them at bay, even these marks are proof that you're growing...that you're in there. And nothing is more beautiful. We've started calling you Belly Boy this week and, Belly Boy, we love you so. We're out of the first trimester, baby! WE DID IT!
Every day, your dad and I sing you songs and say a little prayer for you. We can't wait to meet you. This week was huge: We went in for your first anatomy scan and the doctor said you were perfect: your heart had a flawless beat, you had two arms and two legs, your stomach and your little bladder and your kidneys and your precious profile. It was all there! And we always knew you would be perfect--you will forever be perfect to us. You were a little camera shy, baby, but you also couldn't stop moving. We can't wait to dance with you! We are eating hummus and...really nothing else. Just hummus and food that is a vessel for hummus--but, even with the nausea, I could not be happier. You are the light of my life, already, baby. We are PLUM crazy about you, sweet baby plum! It has been twelve weeks since you started making yourself at home here and, every day that passes, we get more and more excited to meet you! This week, you guessed it--you're the size of a plum. All of your organs are developing into their final shapes and you're growing fingernails (I have been sending your dad that gif from Juno all day Your Baby Has Fingernails!) So many of your sweet relatives are holding onto clothes and things for you, as we all await your arrival! This week we held onto the joy of you, celebrating Thanksgiving and the end of the first trimester! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving that really gave us time to reflect on how far we have come, how much we have grown---and how ready we are for you, baby. For much of Thanksgiving weekend, you had me down for the count. We rested and watched The Gilmore Girls and nibbled on mangoes and blueberries. Your Aunt Carrie brought us Esti Hummus from Brooklyn (only the greatest hummus ever) and it looks like you're also a fan! We've been devouring it all weekend. We also decorated for Hanukkah this week! And just imagining how we will include you next year brings us so much joy. We can't wait to meet you, baby. We just can't wait! Double digits are pretty exciting, baby. We are further along than we've ever been and a week away from the end of the first trimester! You are the size of a lime and your organs are developing beautifully. You're officially able to bend, stretch, and kick and--though I can't feel it yet--it does make me wonder who you'll be: Will you be sporty? Or dance-y? Will you run fast? Will you have feet like your dads?
This week was pre-Thanksgiving and your family rallied around you, celebrating that you are on your way! Originally, we planned to tell them all of your arrival this week at Pre-Thanksgiving but, sweet boy, we couldn't hold on to our happiest news that long! But this week was a great opportunity to celebrate your coming! We gave the entire family shirts to celebrate their new statuses and are so excited for you to meet your Auntie Boo, Auntie Schmoop, Uncle Gabe, Bubbe, Uncle Ben and Aunt Emma. You are so loved already, sweet boy. We can't wait to meet you. Thank you for being the thing we are most grateful for. This was a big week for you, Strawbaby. On the inside, you formed your vital organs, the placenta is officially providing your body with nutrients (and I am officially off ALL extra hormones!! HORRAY)! And your heart is beating so quickly it's almost like you know everything that is happening on the outside! This week, we took a quick trip to New York! YOUR FIRST M U S I C A L : We saw Merrily We Roll Along with Daniel Radcliffe, Lindsay Mendez and Jonathan Groff! You especially liked the parts where everyone was laughing and Dan Radcliffe jumped on Jonathan Groff's back! YOUR FIRST C O M E D Y S H O W : Your Auntie Boo performed in her first comedy show and you were there! You thought she was very funny and were really proud of her confidence. After we went with your Auntie Boo and Uncle Ben for Café Mogador and shared delicious food together. They are so excited to meet you! This weekend you also ate several bagels, saw friends, and told your grandparents that you were coming! It was a big week for you, sweet boy! We are a quarter of the way through this pregnancy and we can't wait to meet you! WEEK 9: You're 9 weeks on Halloween and the spookiest part of pregnancy so far has been the never-ending nausea. We are hitting the peak nausea window and, I guess, this is a good thing? But jury's out. Just as long as we can keep you safe, baby. In honor of your 9th week starting on Halloween, this week we shall depart from fruit-sizes to talk chocolate, you're the size of a HERSHEY KISS! This is the last week before you really look like a baby, in the traditional sense. But, even this week, you little Voldemort baby, your fingers and toes are separating, your eyes are moving around, and your joints are starting to move (all the better to kick me with)! This week, you might be the size of a Halloween treat but, tonight, you're the size of a meatball because your dad and I are dressing up as Prego and the Pasta Chef! We can't wait to (Hershey)kiss you, sweet little meatball. Every day you become more and more real and as we dip our toes into November, and all of the beauty this month brings (so so so much to be thankful for), I can't help but just feel overwhelming gratitude and joy. You are everything we ever wanted, baby. The greatest treat. There have been quite a few graduations, for your dad and I: The year we met, I got my masters and we celebrated quietly with love and joy. This past May, your dad got his masters, graduating from his Harvard program and we celebrated by taking a tip to Italy and having a special sushi dinner! But, my little baby, on your 8th week, we had a very different kind of celebration! First, you graduated! You made it through hell and high water: shots and transfers and sticking! And now you have a beautiful yolk sack, a healthy little heartbeat of 160, and are developing your fingers and toes. When you popped up on the screen, fully taking shape, I cried. We have waited so long for you, sweet boy. And we can't believe you're finally on your way! Your dad brought his graduation cap which, made even our doctor laugh, as we celebrated this milestone! However, unlike all of the graduation celebrations of yore, while there is much love and joy, this was not a quiet celebration. More of a projectile time; my morning sickness is hitting an all-time-peak. On Wednesday, I could not keep any food down all day and on Thursday we had to go to the ER to double-up on fluids and check-in on you. I joked that I partied too hard...but that's not really my style. Luckily, you're healthy as can be! You're just maybe trying to kill your mommy. (HCG: 138,779) And so, today, armed with an anti-nausea medication that our OB suggested and trying to keep down nutrients for you--we are continuing the dream...and looking forward to a time when it gets a little easier (if only a little). Only 31 weeks and 4 days to go! To celebrate your graduation, your Bubbe came to town and spent the weekend going to Wilson's Farm, eating yummy BBQ, and talking about you! We can't wait to meet you! |
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March 2024
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