Our baby girl is due six weeks from tomorrow. As I write this, Marathon Girl is sitting in a rocking chair on the other side of the room, putting the finishing touches on a blanket for Steven’s bed. Her hands move in a regular up and down motion as the needle dips through the layers of fabric. Her left arm is resting on her pregnant belly.
In my inbox is an email from a good, longtime friend. She’s asking how Marathon Girl is doing and what my boys are up to. And she asks how I’m handling this pregnancy with a girl on the way. She’s not the first to ask this question. Once we announced a girl was on the way, people seem to think that having a girl on the way would be difficult for me.
For the most part this pregnancy has been a lot easier than the first two. I better understand the ups and downs Marathon Girl goes through. I’m better at helping her with the things she needs during this time. And Marathon Girl will attest, I’m nowhere near as anxious and uninvolved as I was when she was pregnant with Aidan.
In some ways it’s been a challenge. I’ve thought back to Hope more during the last few months than I have the last two or three years. Thinking that I’ll have a little girl to hold and cherish again puts a lump in my throat.
But the challenges are nothing I can’t deal with. In an hour we’ll go to bed and I’ll put my arm around Marathon Girl and felt the baby kick and move. Marathon Girl will tell me that this little girl the most active of all our children and I keep my hand on her belly until I fall asleep.
I’m just happy to have a little girl that will join our family. A little girl that will join her mom and dad and two older brothers. Our little girl to raise and to teach and to love.
Life is good.
We are blessed.