Letter to my nearly born child

I have a rare minute alone so will spend it writing to the one who has been such good and close company the last nine months. When our lives were stable and we thought of having another child it never happened. When our lives become more itinerant and tumultuous you decided the timing was just right. Something about the scent of adventure and lavender and fresh baked croissants attracted you into existence. How fitting that I discovered of your existence in a motel in Hawaii after going for a snorkel. I alleviated nausea with micheladas and smoothies in Colombia and cravings with divorced eggs and onigiri. You have been there while we built snowmen, swam in Onsen, ran under cherry blossoms, sweated in the desert, gorged on shaved ice, and lazed around on beaches. We have had so much fun together these past months. You have been a champion of the nomadic lifestyle. Not every baby can claim to have visited  11 countries and 5 continents before being born. 

You didn’t make a fuss when I put on baggy shirts so I could jump on trampolines, rock climb and take your sisters on exciting excursions well into my second trimester. You have put up with cold ocean swims every day for the past month. You have thrived through numerous diet and lifestyle changes. Thank you for being a great travel companion. Thank you for letting me climb mountains until your arrival. 

Your sisters have been eagerly awaiting your arrival since the moment they found out you existed. They are already plotting all the fun things they will do with you and bickering over who gets to hold you when. They name you thirty times a day. They clamber over my growing form in the hopes of getting kicked. You are a lucky baby to enter into so much love and devotion. 

The sun is shining on our small island off the coast of Africa. Eager hands wait to hug you. The horizon is endless and hopeful as we excitedly await your grand arrival. If you ever feel lonely or daunted in life just think of how loved you were right from the very beginning. So much excitement lies in the unknown. 

Your team

A nice place to be born