dear baby,
happy 31 weeks!
we've reached the homestretch and it's crazy/scary/exciting to think that you will be here in just a few months! we're hoping that you don't come too early since daddy will be gone for a 6 week rotation and will be done only 2 weeks shy of your due date. so try to stay in there, okay?
today we went in for our 3rd trimester growth scan. i found out today that this isn't an ultrasound that people generally do -- except your scan last trimester actually showed that you had a choroid plexus cyst on your brain, which is a soft marker for trisomy 18. although they told us that your risk of trisomy 18 was relatively low (our blood work looked 'stellar', they said) -- we were able to get a follow up ultrasound to see if the cyst went away or not. daddy and I had donuts and coffee this morning before our appointment.
thankfully, she was able to snap a quick picture and we nearly melted a million times!
you are a whopping 4 lbs and 3 oz already (almost 1lb heavier than expected at your gestational age). we have about 9 more weeks of growing to do, so don't fatten up too much! but please continue to grow well. our hearts are so full with gratitude for the way God has been growing you so far. it's so crazy to think that you went from a pea-sized bundle of cells to an actual baby with ventricles in the brain, a spine, a stomach and a little face! our God is truly an amazing creator.
as of last week, daddy and I have officially been married for 4 years. it's crazy to think that much time has passed already. this past week, we've been busy getting your nursery together, building furniture and talking and thinking about you a whole lot. you've also been kicking and jumping around a lot more these days - daddy even felt your 5 karate kicks in a row and was so weirded out! it's crazy to think how much you are a part of me. it's crazy to think that what I eat directly supplies you with the nutrients you need -- that the water I drink hydrates you and that every single thing I do affects you because we are connected (albeit via an umbilical cord, but connected nonetheless!) it's crazy because I feel like you are so "one" with me.
you'll learn this when you're a bit older, but the bible says that the only person that I am truly "one" with is my husband/your daddy. this feeling of "one"-ness with you has been making my true "one"-ness with your daddy so much more real to me. to think that, no matter how much it feels that you are truly the person that I am most "one" with, that in God's eyes that I am not one with you but with your daddy.
marriage is so beautiful. so sacred. and such a beautifully profound shadow of the "one"-ness we have with Jesus. God specifically ordained marriage to be the institution in which Christ's love for us in the gospel is most clearly displayed. everyday I experience this uniquely intimate connection that I have with you - and am reminded all the more that, my covenant unity in marriage to your daddy is something even beyond that. i'm learning more deeply what it means to be "one" in marriage, but even moreso, the unimaginable beauty of the love of Christ for us.
praying that daddy and I will be able to guard, protect and grow in our marriage even after your arrival, and praying that together we will learn more and more deeply the depth of God's love for us in the gospel.
thanks for the lessons (and the kicks!), baby.
can't wait to see you soon.
love always,
mama
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