The Night Before You Were Born

Dear Baby,

My darling, tomorrow is your birthday!! It's been 5 years since we began our journey to parenthood and now we will meet you in a matter of hours.  And, while 5 years seems like a long time, we've really been waiting our whole lives for this moment. Every experience has shaped us and brought us to this exact spot, and there is nowhere else I'd rather be. Who knew, that when I met your daddy 9 years ago (almost to the day) that we would be sitting in Mumbai anxiously awaiting your arrival. Our hearts are filled to the brim with gratitude.

It's completely surreal that tomorrow we will see your face and hold you in our arms. Tomorrow we will begin a chapter of our lives we've been dreaming of for so long. I'm certain my heart will burst out of my chest when we meet you. (In the best possible way!) We thank God for you, and what an indescribable gift you are. We can't wait to start new adventures with you and introduce you to all those who love you already!

Thank you for making this long journey to us. We are so proud to be your parents. Words can't express how excited we are to meet you tomorrow! We love you, we love you, we love you so, Dear Baby.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Baby--39 Weeks

 

Thank you all so much for following along with us on this most incredible journey. I thought it was appropriate to make a little video message today, since that's how this whole thing got started nine months ago! We are truly blessed and thankful for every single one of you who has prayed for us and sent us love and encouragement along the way. We ask that you continue to pray our baby into our arms! Sending y'all the biggest hug and so much love.

 

 

Dear Baby,

Hi, Honey! Well, if you can believe it,  we leave for India TOMORROW. That's just about the wildest thing. We are excited beyond words to come and get you, sweetie pie.

When we left for India last December, I had this feeling that our lives were about to change drastically. It was the butterflies in my stomach as we ventured off into the unknown, leaping blindly and hopefully towards our dreams. Now, nine months later, I have that same feeling. Our lives are about the change, in the very best possible way. You are the answer to so many of our prayers. Every tear shed, every aching moment we spent longing to become parents, is worth it. I'd do it a thousand times over again if it meant I could meet you, hold you, know you, raise you and love you. You are truly a miracle and a gift from God. I promise you will always know how loved you are. There angels among you, whom I know are watching over you closely. They are watching over us, too. Every day, twice a day, I see the clock at 11:11. It's something that connects me to your brothers, and lets me know they are okay and watching over us all.

I want you to know that while this has been such an amazing adventure, you are truly our greatest of them all. While I'm sure we will be far from perfect parents, I am certain we will love infinitely. We will figure it out together, and we will cherish every single moment.

 There is a song called "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz, and when it plays it really speaks to me. There's a lyric I especially love, and think of you when I hear the words.

And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

I won't give up on us

 

I think of you because even though you are a brand new baby, I feel as though you've made such a journey to get to us, just as we have to get to you. I believe you know your siblings and that they are helping you make it to our arms. Your soul is undoubtedly wise, as you have already come so far to meet us. We have never given up, and neither have you. We are grateful beyond measure to be your parents.

 

So, my littlest love, we will begin our journey to meet you tomorrow, and within a week or so, we will have you in our arms. We pray that God continues to keep you safe at all times, and brings you and A safely and smoothly through delivery. We're thankful to our whole wide village who is praying you right into our arms, as well. We're so proud of you, my darling. You keep growing big and strong and know how deeply we love you, we love you, we love you so, dear baby.

 

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

 

 

Dear Baby--38 Weeks & Nursery Pictures!

Dear Baby,

My sweet! You are 38 weeks 4 days. Can you believe it? This week you are the size of a pumpkin, which is appropriate as we approach fall! We think you'll be born in the late summer season, as the first day of fall is September 23rd. It's such a special time of year, as your daddy and I met on September 22nd. We got married on September 26th. We love September but even more so now because it's your birthday month! 

Making it to 38 weeks is such a gift from God. I have these prayer cards, and each week of your development I move the cards from one stack to the other. It's been amazing to focus my prayers each week and to see the stack we've already experienced grow and the weeks remaining get smaller. Here's what it looks like this morning. Just two more cards left! You are full term, and you can come any day now. (Please wait for us to get there, if you have any control over that, sweetie pie!) We just pray that you make it safely into our arms and are not in danger at any time. We're so close to meeting you-- and that is, you are, a dream come true. 

 

Our bags are packed and we're ready to go! Unless we get word to leave sooner, we will leave on Tuesday! That's just six days from now!

 I thought I'd share some pictures of your room. It's just about finished except we are still waiting on the glider to be delivered (any day now!) We also need to add your personal touches to the room with your name and pictures and either some baby blue or gold and pink to go along with the navy and white!

These precious outfits are ready for you. A sweet boy and girl one. Be still my heart!

     

               

 

We are beyond ready to meet you, sweetheart! Thank you for doing the most fantastic job. We can hardly wait to celebrate your birthday, whenever that may be! We pray you stay safe and get everything you need until you're placed in our arms, where we will love and protect you always. We are so proud of you! We love you, we love you, we love you, so, dear baby.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy 

Dear Baby--37 Weeks

**We haven't left for India yet! I've got some prayer requests today as we count down the minutes until we leave to meet our sweetheart! Thank you so much for your continued love and prayers!**

1- Baby and A are doing great, Thank God! On our update today the doctors did say that the cord is looped once around Baby's neck. This makes me SO nervous, but they said the baby is not in danger or distress, and since he/she is not in head down, ready-to-go position, that by moving will be able to get out of the loop. There is so much we can't control, and I'm just thankful the doctors are on it and watching Baby so super closely.

Please pray that Baby isn't in any danger, and will not have the cord wrapped around his/her neck any tighter, if at all.

 Please pray that the doctors will be able to intervene immediately if the baby becomes distressed in any way.

 Please pray that mommy and daddy can continue to stay calm and relaxed as we prepare to meet our baby any day now!

2-We don't know when we are going to be leaving for India. We may get a call any day saying A has gone into labor, is showing signs of labor. Or, we will leave a few days before the planned delivery and be there ahead of time. The most important thing is that our baby is born safe and healthy. Every ounce of our beings wants to be there from moment 1, so I pray that is going to be possible! 

Could you please also pray that we can get to India in time to see our baby being born? Like I said, the most important thing is getting our baby here safely. 

Thank you so much for lifting us all up in prayer! It has carried us through the past 9 months and beyond! 

Dear Baby,

Hi, my love! You are 37 weeks 3 days, and are the size of a winter melon this week. At your latest scan on Friday, you were measuring right on track and estimated to weigh right around 6.2 pounds. Some say 37 weeks is full term and others say it's 38 weeks. Either way, you're very very close! Most of your systems are fully operating and mature, but each day you stay in helps you to be healthy and stronger. You're practicing your grasping skills this week and are probably sucking your thumb. 

It's hard to believe it's September! We'll officially have ourselves a September baby, and that is amazing. Back on January 1st when we had our embryo transfer in India, we so looked forward to returning in September. And as we've experienced each day since then, we've kept ours eyes on September. At times it seemed like it would take forever to get here and at others it's come quickly. And, here we are! You will be born this month, on your birthday. And that is absolutely incredible. We can't express how excited we are to meet you!

We pray for your safety and that you continue to grow big and strong, getting everything you need from A, who is doing a fantastic job taking care of you. Back home we're getting things all ready for you and can't wait to show you everything! The dogs seem to have an idea that something is going on around here. They try to lay in your room and Sadie seems to think your lovies are also hers for the taking. :) We just know you'll love them, too!

You are doing so wonderfully in there, my sweet. You keep growing big and strong and know that we are counting the minutes until we meet you very soon! You are our miracle baby and we are so so proud of you. We love you, we love you, we love you so, dear baby.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy