Thanksgiving Letter To Baby

Dear Baby,

Today is Thanksgiving Day, something you don’t know about yet.  In school someday you will learn about Native Americans and pilgrims and will make painted turkeys to celebrate this holiday.  But at home, you will learn that Thanksgiving Day is a special day each year because the day gives us a chance to remember to be grateful for what a wonderful life we have... something that is easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  In our house, it is also about eating massive quantities of yummy food (wait until you taste daddy’s family’s cooking), but that just helps make us even more grateful for what we have.  I just wanted to give you a sneak peek at the wonderful things waiting for you out here…things you will soon be adding to your “gratitude list.”

You have an amazing family.  I’m not talking about me and daddy (although he will likely tell you many times how awesome he is).  I’m talking about your extended family.  Daddy and I have fought so hard to have you and, as much as we love you and consider you the missing piece that made our family complete, you should know that our family doesn’t stop with the three of us.  You have a whole huge family of men and women, related and un-related to you, who have been waiting for your arrival.  You will soon learn that “family” isn’t just about who you are related to…it’s about who loves you.  And you are so loved, Baby.   It is sad that not every child can say that.  Hopefully you will learn to pay forward all of the love you are shown and to be generous to those children who don’t have the same blessings you do.  You have some great examples to show you the way in that area, as your extended family is generous and kind…attributes I hope you will learn from them.

Another thing you have to be thankful for is that there was an amazing woman who, not quite a year ago, agreed to give your mommy and daddy the most amazing gift anyone could give.  We tried so hard to bring you into the world, but we were having trouble doing it on our own…and even with the help of doctors things just weren’t working for us.  But then, an amazing woman agreed to donate some of her eggs to us, so we could use them to make a baby…and that baby is you.  I like to think that she knew how much your daddy and I would love you, and that she cared about all of us enough to help us make our family whole.  You will always be my baby, but we will never forget or stop being grateful for the gift that extraordinary woman gave us.

Someday, you will hear the story about how you tried to make your appearance into this world a little early…about 10 weeks early!  Perhaps you inherited your patience, or lack thereof, from your mommy and daddy.  Or, perhaps you just had such a fun time at your baby shower that you decided you wanted to come out and play with all of the neat gifts you received.  Either way, although your daddy and I have had a very hard time waiting for your arrival, we are willing to wait a little longer to see your smile.  We don’t want you to come see us too soon, as that would mean you could have some health problems that we don’t want to see you have to go through.  As I write this, you are officially at 32 weeks gestation, a big milestone and one that the doctors and nurses didn’t think you and I were capable of.  But we are an awesome team, and you are so strong, I think we are going to keep beating the odds for awhile.  We’ve done it once already, right?  Still, we couldn’t have done it without the superior healthcare and attention we’ve received.  When you get a little older, I’ll tell you about everything that happened and we can talk about how grateful we are that you – our little turkey (I can already hear the “Oh Mom” groan) – decided to stay in my belly and keep on cooking for awhile longer.  We can also talk about how important it is to have good healthcare and kind and compassionate care providers.  We can be grateful that people chose to spend their Thanksgiving 2011 working in a hospital, taking care of you and me, instead of home eating Thanksgiving feasts with their families.  And whenever you decide to make your appearance, I have complete faith that you are going to be a healthy and happy baby…and we can talk about how grateful I was/am for that. 

Most of all, Baby, I want you to know how thankful I am for you…that you chose to come bless us with your presence.  Daddy is thankful too…he just doesn’t express his feelings in words as often as I do.  You are a miracle in so many ways, and I love you so much (even when you are kicking me in the ribs).  Out of all of the blessings I have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, you are by far the greatest.  I can’t wait (well…just for a little longer I can wait) to have you in my arms, to start showing you the love this world holds for you.  You will get to learn all of the blessings you have in the coming years, but mommy and daddy already know how blessed they are.

Love you so much,

Your Mommy