Something I wrote while pregnant with my first daughter

There are so many things I want to tell you about and to remember.
Like the day your father and I found out that you were going to be born.
Or the day I first heard your heart beating and cried.
Or the first time your father felt you move inside my belly.
And the time you made a game of hide and seek with dad and your baby toes.
There were hours that I spent just fascinated with your movement.
And the magic of realizing that you are really here and alive!

I want to tell you about how we lived at your great grandma Delores' house before we told anyone that we were expecting you.
How we picked your name.
How I dreamed of you several times.

I want to tell you about the changes you caused in me -- so miraculous.
The first signs of my breasts getting larger and more tender.
The nausea and the cravings.
How excited I was when I first started gaining weight.
My moodiness.
My breasts leaking and stretching out all in blue and red marks.
My huge belly that wiggled with your life.

I want to tell you about the night your grandma Annis and my best friend Angie felt you hiccuping inside me the night before your father and I were to be married.

I want to tell you of how you were conceived out of so much joy between your father and I, and how much we have loved you since that day.
And soon, I will also want to tell you of how you were born.
But all this will wait until tomorrow.
 

More articles by Laurie Morgan
(these articles do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Compleat Mother magazine)
Are Castor oil and other so-called natural inductions safe?
How long should a woman feel comfortable going overdue?
Is pain-free birth really possible?
Is all pain in childbirth due to fear?
Letter to my unborn first child
Cierra's Joyous Birth (short story)
It hurts to be silent
 

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