Baby letter #1– The early weeks

Brandon and I are expecting our first child. Shortly after we found out, I began writing letters to my baby. I write one every month. When they are finished, I will print them out and include them in our little one’s baby book. I hope one day our son or daughter enjoys having his/her development chronicled. For now, they are mostly something I do for myself. Writing is how I relate to the world, and my first letter was the beginning of my bond with my baby. Aside from the usual (life, genes, a family, a home), my writing is the greatest gift I can give to my child.

So here we go…

Baby Letter—The Early Weeks

Hello my tiny darling,

I haven’t picked a good nickname for you yet. As you will know one day, your mom is really into personifying things that are inanimate, or in your case one degree of animate, with little nicknames. I have been known to accidentally get attached to unimportant things in this way. Luckily, that won’t be an issue with you, because I get to keep you forever.

You are almost eight weeks in uterus age, and so it is time for Mom to start writing to you. My goal is to write you one letter for every month until you are born, plus this first letter to incorporate your early weeks, and save them for your baby book. Maybe each letter will have a theme. Maybe it will just be an update. I’m not sure yet.

(Here’s what I’ve learned so far: I’m probably going to have to teach you a lot of words specifically so you can read the letters. Mom and Dad often get teased for the way we talk, odds are you will too. Why not start you early? Also, Mom bluntly says things like uterus and other words that oddly wimpy people are too nervous to say. Body parts aren’t icky. They’re just normal.)

But for now, we’ll talk a little bit about you.

According to the infallible internet, you are about the size of a raspberry. I pulled up pictures of what you look like right now, and I’m going to be honest with you sweetheart, you aren’t cute. You look sort of like an evil, deformed shrimp. It won’t be your best look. But we’re kind of into you anyway, so don’t worry. Now that you’re eight weeks along, we feel a little more comfortable getting attached to you. We did our part to get you started, but that tenuous early time was up to you. I think you made it. And my tiny darling, your first weeks were no lazy daydream. You took us by surprise a little, and started to sparkle just as Mom and Dad were packing up the house, driving around the country, buying a house, and sleeping on bare floors. Mom wasn’t taking it easy or getting plenty of rest. You materialized in my stomach while I loaded everything we owned into boxes and tested the limits of my strength. You were forged of steel. So, well done you. You are one tough little nugget.

And you were really nice to Mom, up until about two weeks ago. Now you’re being kind of a jerk, and I am looking forward to you calming down.

Here are some things you like so far:

-Sleeping. I could sleep all day if people would let me. I didn’t know I could possibly feel this tired

-Naps. See above.

-You used to like warm baths, but if I tried to take one now I would fall asleep and drown.

-Goldfish crackers, chicken broth, sparkling water, and lemon slices. See below.

-Pickles. And I feed you the pickles, but seriously, this is a bit cliché.

 

Here are some things you don’t like:

-Eating. Pretty much everything I send down makes you turn up your not-yet-formed nose. I am queasy every hour of the day. You reluctantly accept chicken broth and goldfish crackers. Sparkling water and lemon slices make you feel a little less raucous.

-Not eating. Ignoring food altogether makes the nausea SO MUCH WORSE.

-Walking.

-Standing up.

-Sitting up.

-Smells. You hate basically all smells. Any kind of nut is the worst.

 

That’s all to say for now. In about a week, we get to see you for the first time. It’s exciting. In the next few months, I’ll tell you more about your family, life, the world, and of course, you. There’s a lot to learn.

See you in October,

Mom