The "It's a Girl!" Weekend

Dear Baby Girl,

Lately I’ve probably been getting overly sappy. There’s these things called pregnancy hormones and sometimes they take my letters to you to the level of a dramatized teen romance. So let’s get a little more light hearted here—at least for the time being.

So we found out you are a girl… YAY! Thirty minutes after we cut the cake, this is where I found your father:

Bags packed and headed for the train station.

Don’t worry; this is about the state he was in after we decided to get married, and so far so good on that front. Your dad tends to get really nervous when little bits of news turn his world upside down (he is a creature of habit, after all), but once his head shifts gears there’s no going back. You will have him wrapped around your tiny little finger the moment you are born.

It’s funny—back in the day, years ago, when your father and I were just friends and coworkers, I’d hear stories about his dating life (this is probably a little weird for you to hear, but just roll with it). In any of these stories where a side needed to be taken, I would inevitably take the girl’s side, and tell him, “Tony, I can’t wait until you have a daughter!” And that day has arrived, my dear. Work your magic on the man. I’m sure you and he will both teach each other valuable life lessons.

Now back to where I found your father waiting on the curb for an Uber—this was actually a prescheduled trip, not a runaway Dad scene. He had a work conference in NYC and was going up a day early to see Orf and Chrissy—but nonetheless, a picture-worthy moment when taken out of context. This trip actually worked out well for both of us. He got to hang out with his friends so they could loosen him up a little, and I got to go on a baby girl shopping spree with your Grandma Tracy. I will spare you the pictures of the beginnings of your new wardrobe, but we did pick up a couple of other random items I want to share with you:

Left: We got this football hat for the Annual Leavitt Thanksgiving football game at Gram's house.
Right: The elephant is for the nursery. We are going with a pink & gray theme.

Now let’s go in reverse order here for a second and jump back to the earlier part of the weekend. Mammy and Grandma Tracy were both in town (Mammy making a pit stop en route to Maine). At a ripe age of…87, I believe… Mammy isn’t the most mobile, but it was on her bucket list to visit our house, and I like to make dreams come true. We had a great time. Although her body is giving out, Mammy is still as sharp as a razor, and had some great one-liner zingers. If you can skirt around the fact that she asks to be dead every so often, she is actually quite pleasant to be around. She still smokes like a chimney, and I made her go out to the back deck for this activity. We had one bad moment where we found her on the ground on the back deck because she had fallen—terrifying of course—but Mammy provided us with some comic relief as we found her unhurt and still puffing away on her cigarette while completely disheveled on the ground. Even in her younger years, Mammy’s goal has traditionally been to preserve her cigarettes at all costs. This used to bother me, but at 87, I believe she can do as she pleases.

3.5 generations of ladies. Hopefully at some point we can get a picture of all four.

On Friday we had your 20-week ultrasound (the day before your gender reveal). At this one we saw your heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, and all other vital organs. I was delighted to hear that they are in excellent condition, and you are doing quite well. You are in the 68^th percentile for size, so that provided me with some relief, as I am now definitely convinced my belly size has shrunk (even my coworker said something to me about it), but I suppose it can only be attributed to first trimester bloating. This appointment was at the hospital, and I had another appointment with my regular OB on Tuesday. The back to back appointments were quite nice. I’d have one weekly if insurance would allow for it, but as your father says—I am crazy.

That’s all for now, Baby Girl, much more to come.

Love,

Mom

These pictures aren't quite as clear as the 3D one I posted the other day, but still solid pictures.
The bottom one is your tiny little left foot. It looks like you might have flat feet, like Dad.