21 weeks old!

Dear Jorie,

So not long after I wrote the last letter, you got your very first fever. It's apparently a common side effect from one of the shots you were given. It topped out at 101.3, which isn't that high, but me and your father were a wreck until your temperature came down. You were a little grumpy but mostly just sleepy. Me and your father woke up and took your temperature ever couple of hours all night, and the fever started coming down around 6am, much to our relief.

There really isn't much to report other than that, life is chugging along as normal. Which is to say, busy, but nothing that notable. Me and your father have been trying to work on getting you used to the crib a bit, so we can transition you soon. I'm still not looking forward to that.

You don't really know it yet, but yesterday was a very important election, especially for you little girl! There was a presidential election where one of the candidates was backing certain political factions that were pushing things like the "personhood amendments" which would effectively end the legal use of birth control, and repealing the Lilly Ledbetter act, which guaranteed equal pay for women. It was scary for us women out here for a bit there, but luckily enough of the country kept it's collective head and that candidate was not elected. In fact, during the same election a few more states ratified marriage equality laws.

Sometimes I wonder what you will think when you look back at the time I grew up in. My hope is that you will look back on the laws I lived under for most of my life with a kind of wonder and horror that we ever restricted a women's right to choose what to do with her body or a person's right to choose who to marry. Oh baby girl, I hope so strongly that you will grow up in a world much more fair and free than you were born into. I hope with all my heart and soul that when you grow up and get a job, your lady parts wont matter one bit to someone hiring you, and will be no one's business but your own (and whomever you share your life with.)

Last night I caught a glimmer of hope that that might be a true future. I love you baby girl. Grow up strong and proud.