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This is a letter written the other night when your Daddy couldn't sleep.
My Dear Isabella,
I'm writing to you as I wait for you to come into this world. Your entire family is awaiting your arrival more than you will ever know. By the time you read this, you will hopefully be a healthy, vibrant young lady. But just ten months ago, your Mother and I thought we might never see you.
While you may have already heard from us how hard it was to conceive you, words cannot express the pain and sorrow we had in our hearts. It took so long to conceive you-almost two and a half years-that your Mother gave up almost all hope. It took a team of doctors eleven months to find out how to conceive you. Most parents never go through that, and I hope that when you grow up, you'll never go through it, either.
You can only imagine the joy in our hearts when we woke up Thanksgiving morning to find out your Mom was pregnant! Since then, you have had so many people rooting for you. Your family, many of our friends, people we work with, and even random people who heard our story started praying for you. They all prayed that you would make it safe and sound, nine months later, into this world.
That's why we named you "Isabella Joy." When we first decided to name you, the name "Isabella" came to mind because we found that it means "God's Promise." We gave you the middle name "Joy" because of the joy you have brought to our family.
However, Isabella can also mean "Consecrated to God," and I pray that you will be consecrated to the Lord. Rephrasing Samuel 1:27-28, "We prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted us what we asked of Him. So now, we give you to the Lord. For your whole life, you will be given over to the Lord." You are a special child, Isabella, and every day we will hope and pray that you will grow up not only loving the Lord, but serving Him as well.
Someday soon, we'll tell you the whole story of everything it took to bring you into this world, but for now, we hope that you understand that your Heavenly Father wanted you so much that He waited until now for you to be born. He could have given us a child much sooner, but then we would never have had you, and you will always be special in our hearts.
May you always know that you are loved,
And that you learn how to share God's love with others.
May you always know that you are blessed,
And one day, bless others in His name.
May you always know that you are God's gift to us,
And one day, give unto others as He has given to you.
Signed,
Your Earthly Father
Dear Isabella,
It's been quite an interesting adventure, this last month. You certainly keep life interesting, never a dull moment. I'm so thankful that you are still baking and are showing no signs that you want to come out any time. Keep doing that, you're not ready to come out yet!
So, I have to be honest with you, Izzy. I'm so excited to meet you and hold you soon. But I'm so nervous about the process of labor. I scheduled a c-section today for July 28th just in case you decide to not change positions. You have yourself wedged into a very awkward and seemingly dangerous position. You might want to think about moving, since Mommy really would love to pop you out instead of having surgery to get you out. So although I want you to keep baking, I would really like it if you could move into the correct position for birth. You don't have a lot of time left!
Your room is all set up and ready for you now. We're just waiting on your arrival. But really, there is no rush. You still have a few weeks left before you need to arrive. So just take your time and relax in there. I love getting to see you twice a week at doctor's appointments. That is more than enough for now, since I really want you to bake longer. You're getting bigger, stronger, and healthier. Soon, you'll be ready to greet the big world with your sweet self. I may be impatient and say I can't wait, but I'm waiting and I want to wait as long as I have to for you. I love you, Little One!!
Love,
Mom
Dear Isabella,
This has been the most amazing journey getting to know you before I even get to hold you. I am so much in love with you already. I had come to a place in my life where I was content knowing that God may not bless me with being a mom. And then, he blessed me with the gift of you. Each time I get to see you on an ultrasound monitor, it melts my heart. If I love you this much now, just wait until the first time I can hold you in my arms...
Having a 3D/4D ultrasound was amazing. I can't believe we could see you so well. Your chubby cheeks are the most adorable thing. I must admit that I don't like when you put your entire leg over your head. This is the reason my back hurts at the end of the day. I wish you wouldn't do that, but I know space is getting tight and cramped in there.
Hang in there for 7 more weeks, Izzy. We'll get to meet face to face soon enough. I'm excited about that day, but I'm waiting patiently. Just be nice in the meantime, no kicking me near the ribs. And please learn to calm down when it's bed time!
Love,
Mom
Dear Isabella,
Mommy has decided that you are going to be an Olympic star. With all the fancy moves you perform anymore, there really is no other profession planned out for you. You swim all the time. Your kicks are getting stronger, so I'm not sure which sport you want to play. You should know ahead of time that your Daddy is pretty stern about cheerleading. He says you're not doing it, so stop practicing all the crazy daredevil jumps. Don't think I can't feel them. I may not see what you are doing, but I feel it all!
Of course, I'm also wondering if you're practicing your future career as a beach bum. You seem to enjoy laying right on my bladder, so I guess you like being near the water to relax. But please stop laying on my bladder. It's really not comfortable.
Maybe you're going to be a musician...organist to be specific. You do like to kick my bladder, which is an organ.
Okay, Isabella, ease up on the practicing of your sports moves. Mommy really doesn't like it all the time. Your feet are bigger and so you are. So be nice.
Love,
Mom
Dear Baby Girl,
How does it feel for everything to be about you right now? You are so special and so important. All of our planning is about you. All of our cleaning and rearranging is to prepare for you. There are no words to express our joy in anticipation of your August arrival. We keep cleaning more, planning, putting things in our registry created just for you.
We are so excited to know that you are growing, changing, getting closer to your arrival in this big world. But, Baby Girl, we need to have our first real Mother/Daughter conversation. Last night, you were quite the naughty child. We need to set some ground rules. When Mommy wants to go to sleep, that does not mean it's time for you to play. Last night, your Daddy was writing a very important email to your Grandmom and it was getting very late. Mommy was tired. But you wouldn't let me sleep. I don't know if you were disco dancing or what, but Saturday Night Fever needs to wait until it's day time.
Now that we have cleared the air about that, your Daddy and I are so excited to know you are growing and doing well. I can't wait to hold you in a few months. But until then, I will love the bonding time you and I have with each other.
Love,
Mom
My Dearest Baby Girl,
I'm sorry I haven't written to you in a little bit, but it's been quite the rough week. This week, a good friend died in a very bad car accident. His wife is having a baby, too, just a month after you come. So it's been a week full of many tears. My joy of knowing you are a girl came only a number of hours before the news of J.'s death.
But, keeping it happy, Baby Girl, your dad and I are leaning towards Isabella Joy. Your daddy is so excited about this because he wants to nickname you "Izzy Gillespie." With being a trumpet player and having the appreciation for brass, your dad just gets enjoyment out of those types of things. Either way, if we do choose Isabella, we'll call you "Izzy."
I've been looking at different things for you, like a high chair and car seat. But more importantly, your daddy twisted my arm into wanting girly bedding. So we settled on this adorable set that is lavender/mauve/pink with butterflies. It's called "Sugar Plum." It will suit you perfectly! I'm so excited!!
So I discovered this week that you like brass music! J. was a tuba player, so at his celebration service, there was a lot of brass music. Your daddy played the trumpet with our church's brass ensemble. The louder the brass music was, the more you were dancing around and kicking me gently. I'm so excited that you are responding to music because your daddy and I are both musicians. I'm hoping you'll grow up to play an instrument (of your choice, of course, don't let you daddy force you to play a brass instrument) and let music influence your soul the way it does your daddy's and mine.
I still pray for you every day. I'm so excited that we are over halfway to meeting you face to face. Until that day comes, I'll keep writing you letters, love darling little girl!
Love,
Mom
Dear Little Bean,
Thursday is finally coming closer and closer. I'm calling it "Revelation Day." You will finally reveal to your Mama here who you are! I'm so excited to know if you are a boy or a girl. I've felt since December that you were a boy. But when your dad touches my belly and talks to you, I feel like you're Daddy's Little Girl! I'm so excited about Thursday.
It's been so long since I've had a sneak peek at you. So I'm excited that I get to have a peek at you again. And this time, instead of being a little blob, you'll really look like the baby that you are. That's super exciting. I can't wait!
You're starting to move around a bit more. Sometimes, I feel it. It's so exciting when I do. I can't wait feel your kicks and punches. I know your daddy is so excited and he can't wait, either. He'll be so excited when he can finally feel your kicks when he touches my belly.
It's time to run for now, my darling child, but I promise to try to write more often!
Love,
Mom
