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Pareja’s unique book—a collection of letters from the expectant father to his unborn baby—is a beautiful expression of the love and anticipation the author experiences during the months that he and his wife are experiencing the arrival of their first child. Pareja writes about the daily goings-on of the future parents, and specifically their preparation for the child’s birth, as well as sharing with their future baby boy all of the changes and nuanced emotions both parents feel as they prepare for their child to enter the world. He writes with candor about the stages of fetal development the unborn baby is going through, the “miracle that nature” has given the couple, preparation of the nursery in their home, emotional ups and downs his wife experiences, frank descriptions of the bodily changes his wife is going through, and all of the movement and kicking around that the baby performs, especially as the delivery date nears.
While often it is the mother who may write pregnancy journals, this book is exceptional because it is completely written from the point-of-view of the father-to-be. One can empathize with the author’s excitement and concern for the health of the child as well as his absolute amazement with the miracle that is childbirth. He writes in an entirely accessible and plainspoken voice, rather like diary entries. In this sense, the reader cannot help but share in Pareja’s exhilaration. This is truly a tender book. It is joyful to imagine that one day in the future the child, when old enough to read on his own, will have a special keepsake in the form of a manuscript of what are essentially love letters from his father, all written while the child is in utero.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review