Dear Mary Brooks,
The day I found out you were a girl was one of the most exciting days of my life, but before I can tell you about that I have to tell you about all the things that led up to that exciting day. First of all, when I was between 12 and 16 weeks pregnant I would have sworn you were going to be a twin. I was so convinced that during my 16 week appointment I convinced the doctor to do an unscheduled ultrasound to make sure "you" were not a "them". One reason I was convinced you were a twin is because I could not figure out for the life of me if I thought you were a boy or a girl. Some of the other women who were pregnant at the same time as me would say, "I just know it's a boy (or girl). A mother's intuition I guess". But for me, some days I just knew you were a boy and other days I would have bet a million dollars that you were a girl. So in my silly, preggo brain that meant I must have been having both a boy and a girl.
Also, in the beginning when I started to gain weight I felt huge. I thought surely only someone carrying twins could get this big this soon. Boy, did I have a lot to learn! At 16 weeks the doctor searched and searched during the ultrasound and promised me that there was only one sweet, little baby. However the only ultrasound he had available was an old one that he called the "atari" (You won't even know what that is by the time you can read this blog!) of ultrasounds and the image made you look like a fuzzy, gummy bear. Even though I was happy to hear that there was only one of you, I was a little disappointed that I was not able to see you more clearly.
Once I knew there was only one of you, I then convinced myself you were a boy. I was having dreams that you were a boy, when I talked about you I would say he or him, and since you only had boy cousins I just thought that we were going to be one of those families that only has boys. Also, Haven and Caroline both found out they were having girls before I did, and I just didn't think there was any way we could ALL be having girls. Once again, I had a lot to learn during this pregnancy!
Your dad and I went in for my 20 week ultrasound on Tuesday, September 27, 2011. Other than the quick, fuzzy 16 week ultrasound to check for twins, I had not had an ultrasound my entire pregnancy. At the 20 week ultrasound the nurse checked all the organs and body parts (including ten little fingers and ten little toes) to make sure that everything had developed properly. It was about a 45 minute scan. During the scan you were a little wiggle worm. The nurse blamed this partly on me because I was so thrilled to be seeing you clearly for the first time. She said my adrenaline was pumping and that caused you to be more active. I just couldn't help it, I was so excited to be seeing you! I even said to the nurse "this is the most fun I have had since I found out I was pregnant!". Since the nurse knew I was so excited she printed about 15 pictures that I could take home with me. I put one on the frig, and put the rest in my purse where I could look at you anytime and anywhere that I wanted.
This one was my favorite, and the one I put on the frig.
I love this one because it looks like you have your dad's nose and you are sleeping just like he does!
This is your sweet, little footprint.
Since our entire family could not all be there at the same time, we decided to wait to find out the gender results on Friday, September 30 when we could be with most all of our family members. When the nurse was determining that you were a girl we had to turn our heads, I think this was more difficult for your dad than it was for me. Once the nurse had determined that you were a girl, she wrote it down on a card and sealed it with tape. I took the card to Publix because I didn't trust your dad not to peek. I asked the Publix bakery to read the card, and make cupcakes with either pink or blue filling depending on what it said. We made plans with Mimi, Papa, Reecee, Boom Boom, Brie, and baby Marchal to have dinner Friday and then come back to our house for the big reveal! Unfortunately, Uncle Trey and Uncle Mario had to work. Of course dinner seemed to take forever since we were all so excited to get home. When we did finally get home everyone was given a cupcake, and we all bit into them at the same time to reveal pink filling! There was laughter, tears, and evening screaming, coming from your Mimi of course!
Although I have not been right about everything throughout this entire pregnancy, one thing that has been consistent is the pure joy, excitement, and love that both your dad and I have felt for you since the day we learned that you were a part of our lives!
I love you forever and always,
Mom
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