Hi, Lefty. Yup, that's you, in the picture to the right, sucking your thumb like my son or daughter was inevitably going to do. Sadly, I sucked my own thumb until I was 9. I always hoped my own kids wouldn't succumb to the sweetness of the thumb, but it seems that some of these decision are made in utero. I call you Lefty cause it looks like you're sucking your left thumb, but what do I know about ultrasound imaging? Considering that your dad, granddad on your dad's side and one uncle on your dad's side are left-handed, it wouldn't surprise me if you ended up being a lefty, too. I thought I hurt you on Sunday night. I was facing a bout of food poisoning (I'm pretty certain I'm allergic to almonds, because this is the fourth time in seven years I've reacted to processed almonds - twice to almond flour this year, and twice to almond butter seven years ago [pretty sure it was rancid]) and let's just say it wasn't pretty - your dad had to clean up after my projectile vomit. At least he'll be great at changing poopy diapers. Strangely, I've never felt so loved in my life. Anyways, every time I vomited, I couldn't help thinking that I was squishing your poor little body. I told myself, "shake your head, you're going to be squeezing this little thing (although I'm sure it will feel ENORMOUS) through your vagina in four and a half months, a little intestinal upset and vomiting reflex won't hurt." I still had to Google "the effects of vomiting during pregnancy", though, and I was four hours from going to the hospital to get rehydrated, but thankfully my body decided it'd had enough and I stopped puking.
Fast forward to Tuesday morning: our 19 week ultrasound. I was so afraid you wouldn't be moving. I didn't share my fears, because I was pretty sure they were unfounded, but let's just say when I saw that heart beating and you flipping around on the screen, I was so relieved. The ultrasound was about half hour long, much longer than I was expecting. And you cute little thing, you were sucking your thumb. We saw your spine, we saw your feet, all ten fingers and toes, and your face (I'm still convinced ultrasounds make fetus' faces look like Mexican wrestling masks.) And the best part of all? Seeing the joy on your daddy's face. Note: the ultrasound tech made me take out my belly-button ring. I've had this thing since I was 17. I walked around all day without it, and every time I looked at my tummy, I felt so naked. So I put it back in. I wonder how long I can go before I really have to take it out?
I decided for the privacy of our little family, I'd refrain from posting your ultrasound picture to Facebook. A few hours later, I received an unexpected text from your father: "can I post the ultrasound picture online?" Well, of course. Welcome to the Information Age. Hope you don't mind having your first embarassing thumb-sucking photo posted online for all our friends and family (and possibly random strangers) to see. Love you... and can't wait to meet you.
