Dear Baby Girl,
Merry Christmas! You are not here yet, but it feels like you should be. It felt weird for me to not buy pajamas and gifts for you this Christmas because it feels like you are already here you are so much a part of our family already. I can't believe you will be here in just a few weeks! Even though it feels weird not having you here for Christmas I am glad you are still growing inside me. I am hoping you will stay in for a few more weeks, at least until the middle of January.
Merry Christmas baby girl! I'll see you soon!
Love,
Mom
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Dear Baby Girl,
I saw the cutest thing today - it was an ultrasound of you. You were chewing on your fingers and sucking on your thumb. I can't believe how adorable you are already. You are about 2.5 pounds now and so beautiful, I can already tell. I loved watching you on the ultrasound. I am so excited to meet you soon.
Love,
Mom
I saw the cutest thing today - it was an ultrasound of you. You were chewing on your fingers and sucking on your thumb. I can't believe how adorable you are already. You are about 2.5 pounds now and so beautiful, I can already tell. I loved watching you on the ultrasound. I am so excited to meet you soon.
Love,
Mom
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
29 weeks
Dear Baby Girl,
Happy 29 weeks! I get so excited as the number of weeks gets higher and I know you are growing bigger and getting closer to coming into the world. I am looking forward to meeting you. Lately I have been thinking that I might name you Magdalena, Maggie for short. My first choice for a girl name was always Abigail, but it is so popular now and wnile I still love the name I don't want to subject you to a life of being one of many Abbys in every school class and group you are in. Maggie was another name I always really liked. I thought Maggie would be short for Margaret, but then I married your daddy and we want to use a Czech name, so we thought of Magdalina, which I think is pretty, and reminds me of Mary Magdaline in the scriptures. I think I would like your middle name to be Joy, after my mom, who is the nicest person in the world, and your aunt Joydell, who is also so great and unfortunately very sick right now with cancer. I am afraid you will never know her and I would like her name to be a part of you somehow. I have also thought about giving you my grandma's name, Florence. She was such a great lady whose no-nonesense ways I appreciate more and more every day. And I have thought of using my own name, but that seems selfish after giving the reasoning for the other two options. Things could change before you are born, or when I meet you, but for today you are Maggie Joy/Florence to me. And I love you baby girl. I love when I feel you move inside of me. Each time you move I tell you thank you because it reassures me that you are okay. Sometimes I just can't imagine my good luck that I get to be your mommy. I so much look forward to the moment that I will be able to look into your eyes and see your pretty face and hold you in my arms. And at 29 weeks I know that moment is 12 weeks or less away. I'm looking forward to it.
Love,
Mom
Happy 29 weeks! I get so excited as the number of weeks gets higher and I know you are growing bigger and getting closer to coming into the world. I am looking forward to meeting you. Lately I have been thinking that I might name you Magdalena, Maggie for short. My first choice for a girl name was always Abigail, but it is so popular now and wnile I still love the name I don't want to subject you to a life of being one of many Abbys in every school class and group you are in. Maggie was another name I always really liked. I thought Maggie would be short for Margaret, but then I married your daddy and we want to use a Czech name, so we thought of Magdalina, which I think is pretty, and reminds me of Mary Magdaline in the scriptures. I think I would like your middle name to be Joy, after my mom, who is the nicest person in the world, and your aunt Joydell, who is also so great and unfortunately very sick right now with cancer. I am afraid you will never know her and I would like her name to be a part of you somehow. I have also thought about giving you my grandma's name, Florence. She was such a great lady whose no-nonesense ways I appreciate more and more every day. And I have thought of using my own name, but that seems selfish after giving the reasoning for the other two options. Things could change before you are born, or when I meet you, but for today you are Maggie Joy/Florence to me. And I love you baby girl. I love when I feel you move inside of me. Each time you move I tell you thank you because it reassures me that you are okay. Sometimes I just can't imagine my good luck that I get to be your mommy. I so much look forward to the moment that I will be able to look into your eyes and see your pretty face and hold you in my arms. And at 29 weeks I know that moment is 12 weeks or less away. I'm looking forward to it.
Love,
Mom
Monday, September 26, 2011
Its a ......... (As posted on the Powell Family Blog)
We had our 20 week ultrasound last week. Here is the latest picture of baby number 2.
And it's a ............................................
Girl!
Unfortunately our exciting "It's a girl!" news was a little dampened by some concerns. As if there aren't enough things to worry about with pregnancy the darn doctor who did the ultrasound found something specific for us to worry about.
This is what has gotten us worried. It is a two vessel, or single artery, umbilical cord (SAU). This is sometimes associated with abnormalities in the baby but since we got excellent results on our integrated screening (a test that checks for chromosomal abnormalities) we are trying to push those concerns aside. And their is nothing they could see that really made them concerned. So the next concern is that babies with SAU often have trouble growing. Right not our baby girl is measuring with a due date of February 9th when she is really due on January 31st. Because babies with SAU often don't grow so well in the womb they often choose to deliver them early so they can grow more out of the womb. We will have frequent ultrasounds to check the growth and if they find that she is not growing well they will want to induce and deliver her early. Our next step is a more thorough ultrasound which we will have on October 24th. At that appointment they will do a more thorough exam of the baby's development, check her heart etc. And they will check her growth to see if she still seems to be growing slowly. It seems forever away! The first half of this pregnancy went so fast, but since we got the news about the SAU time has slowed. Its so hard to just "wait and see".
The perinatologist who did the ultrasound is a worrier. That's what I like about him and why I chose him. I like someone who is thorough and honest about things. His concern got me worried, but I am trying to put it in the context of knowing that he is a worrier. Our OB doesn't worry about anything. She was very reassuring and didn't seem concerned about things, but I know that she doesn't get worked up about anything so I am trying to put that in context too. We are trying to balance between the two and have found ourselves in a place of being cautiously very optimistic. What ever is going on with this little girl she is a mover and a shaker. I feel her move more than I remember feeling Max move. Our doctor said that is a good sign that she is healthy since babies that have severe abnormalities and/or chromosomal abnormalities usually don't move much. So every time she moves I take comfort.
I don't want to end this post on a downer so here is another adorable picture (at least to me its adorable, but I know mamas see things through different eyes) of our sweet baby girl.
Awe. : ) Look at the air bubble. What a cute baby!
And it's a ............................................
Girl!I honestly couldn't decide which I would have been happier with, a boy or a girl, so I am glad that I was not the one who had to decide. It is weird for me to switch from all things boy to thinking about a little girl. I'm sure I will make the switch pretty easily once I see the cute little thing.
Unfortunately our exciting "It's a girl!" news was a little dampened by some concerns. As if there aren't enough things to worry about with pregnancy the darn doctor who did the ultrasound found something specific for us to worry about.
This is what has gotten us worried. It is a two vessel, or single artery, umbilical cord (SAU). This is sometimes associated with abnormalities in the baby but since we got excellent results on our integrated screening (a test that checks for chromosomal abnormalities) we are trying to push those concerns aside. And their is nothing they could see that really made them concerned. So the next concern is that babies with SAU often have trouble growing. Right not our baby girl is measuring with a due date of February 9th when she is really due on January 31st. Because babies with SAU often don't grow so well in the womb they often choose to deliver them early so they can grow more out of the womb. We will have frequent ultrasounds to check the growth and if they find that she is not growing well they will want to induce and deliver her early. Our next step is a more thorough ultrasound which we will have on October 24th. At that appointment they will do a more thorough exam of the baby's development, check her heart etc. And they will check her growth to see if she still seems to be growing slowly. It seems forever away! The first half of this pregnancy went so fast, but since we got the news about the SAU time has slowed. Its so hard to just "wait and see".The perinatologist who did the ultrasound is a worrier. That's what I like about him and why I chose him. I like someone who is thorough and honest about things. His concern got me worried, but I am trying to put it in the context of knowing that he is a worrier. Our OB doesn't worry about anything. She was very reassuring and didn't seem concerned about things, but I know that she doesn't get worked up about anything so I am trying to put that in context too. We are trying to balance between the two and have found ourselves in a place of being cautiously very optimistic. What ever is going on with this little girl she is a mover and a shaker. I feel her move more than I remember feeling Max move. Our doctor said that is a good sign that she is healthy since babies that have severe abnormalities and/or chromosomal abnormalities usually don't move much. So every time she moves I take comfort.
I don't want to end this post on a downer so here is another adorable picture (at least to me its adorable, but I know mamas see things through different eyes) of our sweet baby girl.
Awe. : ) Look at the air bubble. What a cute baby!
Dear Baby Girl,
You had me so worried yesterday. The doctor told me that it is a good sign that you are healthy because I feel you move so much. Now every time I feel you move I take comfort. So yesterday when I didn't feel you move all the worries I have about you grew and grew. I asked your dad to give me a blessing. I wanted him to say that you would be okay. He didn't say that, but he said some things that brought me some comfort and some things that seemed very personal to me and this situation. Basically he said three things. One, I need to have faith. He reminded me of the scripture that if you knock it will be opened to you. This is something that doesn't come naturally to me so it seems really personal that I need to work on it. And I understand that this is something that will be really personal and something that no one else can do for me. Two, he instructed me to enjoy this time and talked about how special and unique a time it is when a woman is expecting a baby. I so much want to enjoy every moment of this and sew you lots of cute things, but I am having a hard time letting myself do this because I don't know if you will be okay and if I will get to keep you. Three, I have friends and family that love me and care for me and they can help me with whatever I need and I should trust in this and rely on them. That part makes me a little nervous, wondering what I will need help with. But overall I found comfort in it and I found that it gave me enough instruction to feel like I have some sort of direction and task to work on in a situation that feels so out of my control.
That night, after the blessing, I was laying in bed reading. Your dad had his hand resting on my stomach. I started to feel you move, but I didn't say anything to him. I wanted to be sure it was real. I wanted to sort my feelings. I wanted to enjoy the feeling. Suddenly your dad laughed. He felt you move. I knew it was real. We had both enjoyed it. I gave him a kiss on his big smile. It was the same kind of excitement as learning for the first time that we were expecting you. It was a very special moment.
Baby girl, please keep moving inside me. I find so much comfort in it.
Love,
Mom
You had me so worried yesterday. The doctor told me that it is a good sign that you are healthy because I feel you move so much. Now every time I feel you move I take comfort. So yesterday when I didn't feel you move all the worries I have about you grew and grew. I asked your dad to give me a blessing. I wanted him to say that you would be okay. He didn't say that, but he said some things that brought me some comfort and some things that seemed very personal to me and this situation. Basically he said three things. One, I need to have faith. He reminded me of the scripture that if you knock it will be opened to you. This is something that doesn't come naturally to me so it seems really personal that I need to work on it. And I understand that this is something that will be really personal and something that no one else can do for me. Two, he instructed me to enjoy this time and talked about how special and unique a time it is when a woman is expecting a baby. I so much want to enjoy every moment of this and sew you lots of cute things, but I am having a hard time letting myself do this because I don't know if you will be okay and if I will get to keep you. Three, I have friends and family that love me and care for me and they can help me with whatever I need and I should trust in this and rely on them. That part makes me a little nervous, wondering what I will need help with. But overall I found comfort in it and I found that it gave me enough instruction to feel like I have some sort of direction and task to work on in a situation that feels so out of my control.
That night, after the blessing, I was laying in bed reading. Your dad had his hand resting on my stomach. I started to feel you move, but I didn't say anything to him. I wanted to be sure it was real. I wanted to sort my feelings. I wanted to enjoy the feeling. Suddenly your dad laughed. He felt you move. I knew it was real. We had both enjoyed it. I gave him a kiss on his big smile. It was the same kind of excitement as learning for the first time that we were expecting you. It was a very special moment.
Baby girl, please keep moving inside me. I find so much comfort in it.
Love,
Mom
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Dear Baby,
You are a girl! I'm thrilled (and still adjusting to the news). Now when I talk about you I can say "she" and its a bit of an adjustment. When I was pregnant with your brother I used to see all the cute baby girl things and wish I could buy them or make them for my baby. But then I got used to all the cute boy things. Now I am trying to adjust back to thinking of all the cute girl things. But, baby girl, you have us worried. During the ultra sound they found that our umbilical cord only has one artery instead of two. This means there is a higher chance that you have some sort of "abnormalities". We did some testing earlier in the pregnancy for chromosomal abnormalities and the results were very favorable that you didn't so I am trying to take comfort in that. But still I am so worried. If you don't have any "abnormalities" there is a high chance that you might not get enough nutrition. And you are already a little on the small side. It means you might be small, which has risks, and you might have to be delivered early, which also has risks. Dear baby girl, I pray that you are alright. There is so much to worry about during a pregnancy anyway and now I have a dozen more worries than I did before. But no matter what you are my baby girl and I will love you and take care of you. But baby girl, will you always worry me this much? First I couldn't hear your heart beat, and now this. Dear baby girl, mama's worry enough already, please don't worry me anymore.
Mom
You are a girl! I'm thrilled (and still adjusting to the news). Now when I talk about you I can say "she" and its a bit of an adjustment. When I was pregnant with your brother I used to see all the cute baby girl things and wish I could buy them or make them for my baby. But then I got used to all the cute boy things. Now I am trying to adjust back to thinking of all the cute girl things. But, baby girl, you have us worried. During the ultra sound they found that our umbilical cord only has one artery instead of two. This means there is a higher chance that you have some sort of "abnormalities". We did some testing earlier in the pregnancy for chromosomal abnormalities and the results were very favorable that you didn't so I am trying to take comfort in that. But still I am so worried. If you don't have any "abnormalities" there is a high chance that you might not get enough nutrition. And you are already a little on the small side. It means you might be small, which has risks, and you might have to be delivered early, which also has risks. Dear baby girl, I pray that you are alright. There is so much to worry about during a pregnancy anyway and now I have a dozen more worries than I did before. But no matter what you are my baby girl and I will love you and take care of you. But baby girl, will you always worry me this much? First I couldn't hear your heart beat, and now this. Dear baby girl, mama's worry enough already, please don't worry me anymore.
Mom
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Dear Baby,
Tomorrow we will learn if you are a boy or a girl. I honestly mean it when I say that I will be thrilled either way. Once I know I can start picturing you in more detail. For some reason I picture a blond haired little boy or a dark haired little girl. I really can't decide which I would want more, so I just trust that God knows which would be best for our family. Know matter what you are and what color your hair I promise that I will love you forever.
Mom
PS For fun I did some gender prediction test. The Chinese calendar says that you are a girl. I took three old wives' tell test, one said girl, one was slightly boy and one was 50/50. I dangled a ring over my belly and for a short time it said boy, then for a really long time girl, and then boy again. For extra fun we tested daddy. According to both the old wives' tell test and the ring over his belly he is definitely having a boy.
Tomorrow we will learn if you are a boy or a girl. I honestly mean it when I say that I will be thrilled either way. Once I know I can start picturing you in more detail. For some reason I picture a blond haired little boy or a dark haired little girl. I really can't decide which I would want more, so I just trust that God knows which would be best for our family. Know matter what you are and what color your hair I promise that I will love you forever.
Mom
PS For fun I did some gender prediction test. The Chinese calendar says that you are a girl. I took three old wives' tell test, one said girl, one was slightly boy and one was 50/50. I dangled a ring over my belly and for a short time it said boy, then for a really long time girl, and then boy again. For extra fun we tested daddy. According to both the old wives' tell test and the ring over his belly he is definitely having a boy.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Dear Baby,
Today is my Birthday. Each year on my Birthday I like to reflect on my year. It has been a big year for me. I can't believe that in the last year I have been pregnant with two different babies! I am excited to have you growing inside me. I'm having a hard time right now. mostly because of money. I have to work and as a result I have to start your brother in daycare tomorrow which makes me so sad. And even with me working we can barely pay the bills. Its very frustrating. When I think about it I get so discouraged. But I have your brother and I have you growing inside me and I am so excited to meet you and have you as a part of our family. The joy of having you and your brother far outweigh all the sadness and stress of other things. So happy birthday to me! I am so blessed!
Love,
Mom
Today is my Birthday. Each year on my Birthday I like to reflect on my year. It has been a big year for me. I can't believe that in the last year I have been pregnant with two different babies! I am excited to have you growing inside me. I'm having a hard time right now. mostly because of money. I have to work and as a result I have to start your brother in daycare tomorrow which makes me so sad. And even with me working we can barely pay the bills. Its very frustrating. When I think about it I get so discouraged. But I have your brother and I have you growing inside me and I am so excited to meet you and have you as a part of our family. The joy of having you and your brother far outweigh all the sadness and stress of other things. So happy birthday to me! I am so blessed!
Love,
Mom
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Dear Baby,
Today I had a doctor's appointment and I heard your heartbeat. It was beautiful! Apparently you are a very active baby - the doctor had to chase you around to hear your heartbeat. Everything looks good with you. I am so happy that you are growing and developing well. I can't wait to meet you baby.
I have started to wonder if you are a boy or a girl. I haven't been to anxious to know because I really feel like I will be thrilled either way. I admit, when I was pregnant with your brother Max I was hoping he was a girl. I just couldn't imagine what I would do with a boy. But now that I have him I know how much I love having a little boy and I would be thrilled to have another one. But if you are a girl I would have a daughter and that is pretty special. I think that every girl dreams about having a little girl of her own one day. So either way I will be so happy. I imagine a boy and I am in love. I imagine a girl and I am in love. I am just wondering which one I should be imagining most. Which one are you?
Mom
Today I had a doctor's appointment and I heard your heartbeat. It was beautiful! Apparently you are a very active baby - the doctor had to chase you around to hear your heartbeat. Everything looks good with you. I am so happy that you are growing and developing well. I can't wait to meet you baby.
I have started to wonder if you are a boy or a girl. I haven't been to anxious to know because I really feel like I will be thrilled either way. I admit, when I was pregnant with your brother Max I was hoping he was a girl. I just couldn't imagine what I would do with a boy. But now that I have him I know how much I love having a little boy and I would be thrilled to have another one. But if you are a girl I would have a daughter and that is pretty special. I think that every girl dreams about having a little girl of her own one day. So either way I will be so happy. I imagine a boy and I am in love. I imagine a girl and I am in love. I am just wondering which one I should be imagining most. Which one are you?
Mom
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Dear Baby,
I felt you move today. Twice. My eyes teared up the second time. Suddenly you seem real. I know I have seen you, but to me I couldn't connect that the baby on the screen was a baby in me. But today I felt you move inside of me and suddenly it all came together. I wish I could make you move when I want to but I have to wait for you to do it on your own. I could just imagine your little body (about the size of my fist right now) doing summer salts and your little legs kicking. Welcome to my life sweet baby. Thanks for making yourself known. I hope you enjoy growing inside of me.
Love,
Mom
I felt you move today. Twice. My eyes teared up the second time. Suddenly you seem real. I know I have seen you, but to me I couldn't connect that the baby on the screen was a baby in me. But today I felt you move inside of me and suddenly it all came together. I wish I could make you move when I want to but I have to wait for you to do it on your own. I could just imagine your little body (about the size of my fist right now) doing summer salts and your little legs kicking. Welcome to my life sweet baby. Thanks for making yourself known. I hope you enjoy growing inside of me.
Love,
Mom
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Dear Baby,
You are real! I saw you today. I have known for several weeks that you were growing inside me, but it was just hard for me to believe. Your big brother is still very little himself. And you came to be so quickly. I thought when I heard your heart beat at my first doctor's appointment you would seem real to me. But then I didn't hear your heartbeat. So I wouldn't let myself believe you were really in there. I would talk about "if" I was pregnant. Minus not hearing your heartbeat all things pointed to the fact that you were in there, so it shouldn't have been such a surprise. But when they put the ultrasound wand on my belly today and you showed up on the screen your dad and I were both shocked and oohed and awed in amazement. You are real! You have fingers! You have only been growing for 12 weeks and you have fingers! Your heartbeat is fast and strong. The person who did the ultrasound says you look good. I'm so relieved! And so happy that I can finally start preparing for you. It will be so nice to have you join our family. And now that I know you are real I find myself wondering so many things about you: Are you a boy or a girl? What will you look like? Will you have a mellow temperament or be a little more firey? Will you have hair when you are born? So many things to wonder!
Dear baby, I am glad that you are real!
Love,
Mom
You are real! I saw you today. I have known for several weeks that you were growing inside me, but it was just hard for me to believe. Your big brother is still very little himself. And you came to be so quickly. I thought when I heard your heart beat at my first doctor's appointment you would seem real to me. But then I didn't hear your heartbeat. So I wouldn't let myself believe you were really in there. I would talk about "if" I was pregnant. Minus not hearing your heartbeat all things pointed to the fact that you were in there, so it shouldn't have been such a surprise. But when they put the ultrasound wand on my belly today and you showed up on the screen your dad and I were both shocked and oohed and awed in amazement. You are real! You have fingers! You have only been growing for 12 weeks and you have fingers! Your heartbeat is fast and strong. The person who did the ultrasound says you look good. I'm so relieved! And so happy that I can finally start preparing for you. It will be so nice to have you join our family. And now that I know you are real I find myself wondering so many things about you: Are you a boy or a girl? What will you look like? Will you have a mellow temperament or be a little more firey? Will you have hair when you are born? So many things to wonder!
Dear baby, I am glad that you are real!
Love,
Mom
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