05/01/2007

And so God grants the desire of Nick's heart:

Nia Madelynn Jones

Nathan accompanied me to the ultrasound. Nick was in absentia as he had to work. The ultrasound tech went through a thorough examination of this little one; two arms, two legs, two ears, a busy heart, well-developed mind, two eyes, a nose, and lips. She looks like she's developing perfectly, and much to my surprise is "a little peanut" for her age (according to the measurements and estimates that they are able to make). The tech asked me if we wanted to know the baby's gender and I said we did. It only took about 10 seconds for her to say, "This is a girl." I said, "How sure are you? Because I don't want to tell my husband it is a girl and then have that be wrong." She said, "I'm not taking a guess based on what I don't see...I can clearly see something, and that something is GIRL!"

I asked Nathan Paul if he was happy to have a baby sister and he started to bawl. I really don't think he'll mind. He has recently developed a fascination for babies. It was just SO hard to sit still while everybody paid attention to Mommy. The doctor was actually very attentive to Nathan and let him sit on the bed with me while she did the ultrasound. Nathan kept pulling up his shirt to expose his belly (Guys, shouldn't we check me out, too?). The doctor obliged and ran the sensor over his belly. He was thrilled!

I drove to Old Navy and bought a teeny-tiny plaid jumper that is clearly for a girl. I kept it in the bag and put in the print-outs from the ultrasound. We drove to Starbucks, gave the bag to Nick, and I said, "We might be needing this." It was fun! This evening we undertook a fun project that we had done after finding out Nathan was a boy. We went to Build-A-Bear and made a bear to sit in Nia's crib waiting for her. Nathan has loved on the bear that we made him. It is in sorry condition, but I like that! We built it with lovin', spit-up, tears, drool, and all other manner of baby wear-and-tear in mind. For those of you who are not familiar with Build-A-Bear, you have an opportunity to kiss a little fabric heart that gets sewn into the bear. Nathan kissed the heart for Nia's bear. Will he be a good big brother? I think so.

This has been a happy day for our little family. We had a very special name in mind should God choose to give us a little girl. I hope that someday God will say to our daughter, "Well done, Nia Madelynn! There is someone here named Nia Ann, and I really think she'd like to meet you." The past and the future are inseperable. When Nick's mom died, the footprints she left on his heart were permanent. Where the footprints of that first Nia stop, tiny footprints of the same name will begin. It is strange how acknowledging the loss of someone in this way (by naming our child in honor of those gone before) helps heal a little more of the wound. We are thankful for the opportunity to name our baby Nia. We had been hoping for the chance to do so since before we were even married.

Nia Madelynn, We love you! We cannot wait to meet you. We pray that you will love God the way your Grandma Nia did. We'll be waiting and getting ready for you. Our arms want to hold you, Daddy and Mommy