Dear Gestating Baby - 16 weeks

Dear Gestating Baby,

Wow! Another two weeks have flown by already. Here you are, 14 weeks old, and I’ve missed my third period. With every week that goes by, you feel more and more real to me. Just last week, we got to hear your heartbeat for the first time, which was an unmistakable sign that you are in there, happy and healthy, and that I didn’t just imagine you! Your dad and I were so excited to hear that sound. In fact, we even recorded it and sent it to some relatives. I play it once in a while when I want to remind myself of how lucky I am, and feel close to you again.

I guess it sounds funny for me to say that I want to feel close to you, when you are inside me – after all, how much closer could we possibly be? But the truth is, most of the time there aren’t many signs of your existence. Sure I’ve gained some weight, and sure I don’t feel perfectly healthy all the time, but those things could be easily explained away by other causes. And while I think about you a lot, and even talk to you sometimes, you don’t answer back at all. So this one-way communication can feel a little lonely, sometimes. But that will all change over the next few weeks, when you will begin to make your presence completely obvious by moving and kicking strongly enough for me to feel.

According to the expert websites, these days your time is filled with thumb-sucking, making faces, and playing with your umbilical cord. Your body is also hard at work as always, growing stronger and bigger every day. Already I can’t believe how fast you are growing – some websites say you’re already 5 inches long and weigh 5 ounces.

An exciting piece of news this week was that your dad and I might have found your name. We’re not completely sure yet, but we both really like this name and feel good about it. This is big news as usually we don’t agree on names at all. In fact, one of the reasons we want to find out whether you’re a girl or boy is so we have fewer names to argue about. So if we find out in a few weeks that you are in fact a girl, we may already have a name ready for you, and can start practicing it. But if you’re a boy, we’ll have to go back to the drawing board. (I’ll tell you a secret: I already have a favourite boy name picked out as well, but your dad needs some convincing.)

A lot of our friends have had a rough couple of weeks lately with one thing and another, and it just makes me so much more grateful to have you, and to have your wonderful dad by my side supporting me. He already loves you so much and I know he’s going to be wrapped around your finger in no time. You may not have the most money or the best toys, but you will be more loved than you can imagine, and I’m pretty sure that’s what counts in the long run anyway.

Well, time for me to sign off and get back to work now. Keep growing and changing, little baby, and we will see you in May.

Love,
Momma