Alyson Jay-Marie

When we found out we were pregnant, we were so excited. We had everything planned and ready. For our gender reveal, we had my husband’s sister get a cake made for us to cut into when we were ready to know.

When we showed up to pick up the cake, the bakery brought out a large blue cake and said, “This is the only one we have.” Based on the color, we immediately thought it was a boy. They later found the correct cake.

We took it home and started a video so we could keep this memory. I had dreamed it was a girl a few weeks prior, so I already had a feeling. We cut into the cake, and there was nothing. No frosting to be found. So we called his sister, and she told us we were having a little girl.

We had talked about wanting a boy for so long, and when we heard it was a girl, we were scared but excited.

In those nine months, that little girl and I became best friends. She loved listening to music, and she always had a party after dinner. She would kick me so hard sometimes that it would scare me. She also loved her dad and would kick when he talked to her.

Alyson Jay-Marie Leach was born on July 30 at 5:51 p.m. She was 7 pounds, 6 ounces and 22 inches long. We got to spend 24 hours with …