grow baby, grow!!!

So, Baby Girl is a true redhead. Not only is she breech and not turning, but she's not growing as fast as we'd like. She's healthy with a strong heartbeat - heard it myself! But even though I'm eating and drinking more than when I was during two-a-days for soccer back in college, she's somehow not growing leaps and bounds like we want. My doc here went to college with me back at Trinity, and I trust him with both of our lives. He's doing a great job of keeping me somewhat calm, and we'll continue to watch her progress. So appointments have gone to two a week and we'll just keep watching and waiting.

So I said "somewhat calm," because if you know me at all, you know that my mind is racing right now. I admit that I had a mini-freakout this morning. Then I got two e-mails from Mom's side of the family. And it calmed me down COMPLETELY. (Thanks! you know who you are!) Baby Girl definitely has Francisco and Engelman blood in her -- I keep forgetting she had Mary Vener blood in her too. Reading those e-mails jumpstarted some of that blood I think.

Funny thing -- we always talk about the "stubborn ol' bitch gene." Seems I forgot that this gene is actually from Mom's family. Honest mistake if you know a lot of the Engelmans! Mom's doc gave her two days to two weeks to live, and she left this earth almost two months later. She wasn't ready. Geimps, her mom, had a pacemaker, emphysema and general heart problems (NOT due of course to her smoking like a chimney, according to her!). I swear she had those problems for more than 2 decades. And she was not going to die until she wanted to. And she didn't. The gene appears a lot -- not just when faced with illness or death. Just life in general and not giving in. I believe I have that gene top (stop laughing, everyone), and I'm pretty damn sure Baby Girl has it too. She'll grow or be delivered when she wants to, dammit.

One of my sorority sisters wrote me about her little girl, and how she thinks that before she was born, she met her late sister in heaven. Hung out, played, etc. She even recognizes her in photos and talks about her. I love that idea. So -- Mom, Dad, Marsha, Geimps, Earl, Grandma and Grandpa, and even Lexie... Baby Girl needs to put on some weight. Think in your partying and playing up there with her you could fatten her up a bit for me? She likes chocolate ice cream. No vodka, Dad, and no Jamison, Geimps. Thanks.