It’s 4AM. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to bed so early. The words are back and it’s time to write. I owe baby M at least one reflection on my pregnancy.
I tried in the beginning to write, but it was too hard. I felt so sick. Then there were all the uncertainties and school started again and time flew.
Now, 37 weeks, 3 days. The exact point where labor began with her big sister.
It’s not time yet, but things are getting real.
At this point with E, it was all about the future. I dreamed about our adventures to come. I was ready.
With M, it’s about the present. I haven’t had the luxury of so much time. I haven’t laid awake talking to her in the middle of the night. Instead, I’ve worked and taken care of her sister and tried to take care of myself. I’ve folded all her clothes and gotten all the gear ready. I’ve done my best to prepare E for what’s to come. But, still, I haven’t figured out how to slow down and be fully present.
There have been moments. Like when we got to see her face by surprise during a growth scan. Her lips and expressions somehow mirroring her big sister’s. I cried and she was real. Of course, I feel her all the time. Her little knees and feet and elbows skimming across the right side of my belly, her body head down but turned toward my right. The day we found out she was a girl was surreal. Sisters. Of course, I’d thought she was a boy because of how sick I’d felt all summer, different than with her big sister.
Everything has been different. At our first doctor’s appointment we learned her due date was way off and held our breath for two weeks until we could return again to find a heartbeat. Then we discovered a possible challenge with her placenta. So far everything has been alright, which has taught me to take a google search of any diagnosis with a grain of salt. Mix in an extra crazy world and wow, this baby is brave.
Since the beginning, I’ve told her it’s by the grace of God she joins us. We hadn’t planned so soon, but still she’s a wished-for child. Two sentiments reflected perfectly in her name, or at least in the name we hold for her until our eyes meet and we know for sure.
Miriam Grace.
Leap of Mama 
Love the name, particularly her middle name. It’s beautiful.
Thank you for sharing this. As you know, I love to hear of your experiences with your children (soon-to-be). They are so real and you express things that I felt once upon a time but have lost in the years that have flowed by. I need those memories now and then.
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Olivia, I have always loved to read your writings, and to read about such a precious subject this morning feels like Grace! I am very excited for you and family. I don’t know sometimes what I would do without my sisters, so I am glad your for your two little girls.
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Looking forward to holding a sister on each arm!
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