And Baby Makes Three: 24 Weeks, 25 Weeks and 99 Days to Go!

99 DAYS TO GO!

THE "DOUBLE DIGITS" COUNTDOWN BEGINS!

AH! Look at YOU!
You don't just look like a baby; you look like OUR baby!
Such personality in that little smirk.
In the bottom picture, the ultrasound tech caught you yawning!

Dear Baby Girl,

You are one beautiful little baby! At 24 weeks, we had our last ultrasound at the hospital barring any complications. This means it was the last 3D ultrasound, and you went out rather photogenically. The technician was able to capture a couple of solid glamor shots, despite your head being nudged against my uterus (that’s why it gets blurry at the top). I think you definitely look like your father (nose and mouth), but he thinks you are too young to tell. That would be typical. I do all the work, and then you look like him! That’s okay though. He’s a handsome fellow.

More importantly, you are healthy and on track. You’re in the 64^th percentile for size, and kicking a lot more often. I love it when you kick. Because the placenta is in the front, I feel it less often than others who are 25 weeks, but when I do it makes me happy. Dad is brave enough to touch my stomach now (before it made him nervous), but he hasn’t felt you kick yet. You seem to get shy when he puts his hand on there, and you’re very sporadic with your kicks—always keeping me on my toes.

What’s going on in the world while you’re in there? Well, the presidential primaries have concluded. It’s going to be Donald Trump v. Hilary Clinton in November. Zika is on the news just about every day, but I got a tiny bit of relief when one study found that pregnant women who contracted the disease in the third trimester had no issues with birth defects. We are about three weeks away from the third trimester, but I’m going to stick with the bug spray and mosquito net hat until you are born (of course I have a mosquito net hat)!

Did you REALLY think I was kidding?
Audrey and I enjoying a nice outdoor backyard BBQ. More on Audrey in a bit.

One more positive event in the news (and there have been a lot of negative ones)—the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley cup! Afterward, Dad officially declared 2016 “a good year” (obviously it was already going to be the best year of his life). He was a nervous wreck during the series. He gets so worked up that he has to watch the games in the isolation of his man cave. He has his Pittsburgh group text going, and yells at the TV to his heart’s desire. I watched some of the playoffs with him, but the 8PM games did not jive well with my 9PM bedtime. I did manage to be there and awake when they actually won. I was very happy for him. I even bought him/you a couple of Pittsburgh Penguin onesies for Father’s Day.

HI BABY GIRL!
Your Aunt Joanne sent us these Penguins T's from the home games.
And on the right is exactly how Dad watches every game.
Sad that the XL shirt fits me pretty well.

I read that your hearing is pretty developed at this point, so I’m trying to counterbalance all the yelling/snapping I do at your grandfather and father with “The Mozart Effect.” Everything I’ve read tells me that classical music will not make you smarter, but I continue to believe otherwise. It WILL, dammit! I also have absolutely insane dreams. I feel like if I could get myself out of bed at 2AM I could easily crank out a teen fiction novel (in fact, I think this is how “Twilight” came about). I actually finished the entire series of “Game of Thrones” in one dream. There’s some 2016 pop culture for you… “Game of Thrones” might be the hottest show out there.

You’ve been raking in the gifts, and the other day when Audrey came over for a “Fuller House” marathon (a reboot of my favorite childhood show) she brought what has probably been the most amusing of all gifts. Audrey “gets” Dad and me. She’s one of my best friends from college, and I’m sure you will be on a level with her where you call her “Aunt.” She almost lost it when she saw the nursery. Audrey has been there for me through so much, and I know she will be there for you in the same way. She’s very excited about your arrival. You will do well to pick up some of her sarcastic nature.

ONESIES!
Top Left: From Audrey- "Home Brewed Baby"
Top Right: I bought this for Grandpa Steve, but it applies to both
the Cicala and Leavitt side of your family.
Bottom Left: From Audrey- "lil' lager" baby bottle
Bottom Right: The Pittsburgh Penguins onesies I bought for you/Dad

HA. My new favorite children's book. "Go the f*ck to sleep."
Audrey also had the same idea as your Aunt Joanne with the Star Wars bedtime story.
I told you... she "gets" us.

I’m doing poorly lately with “the bump” photos, but that’s because we have so much going on with Grandpa Steve and Uncle Jimmy working on the house. That is going to be another letter entirely, so I will wrap this one up for now.