First Nights...

Mommy was required to stay in the hospital for the next two nights and Daddy stayed there with us the entire time. He slept on a hard leather chair for both nights and was in no way comfortable. It was so surreal to both of us that you were now here. The responsibility that came along with you was overwhelming. Right from the very beginning you just wanted to be cuddled. You were not a huge fan of just laying around in the little plastic crib and cried quite a bit. You were your happiest when Mommy or Daddy was holding you.

Because we were in the hospital and you were so new to the world, it was standard procedure to keep you swaddled tight in two receiving blankets at all times. Little did we know at the time how much you loved it! You were so cute and tiny and had the cutest little button nose. You made the cutest little faces right from the start, especially when you were nursing. It was easy to fall in love with you. Abington Hospital had such a wonderful nursing staff in their nursery so Daddy and I tried to take advantage of them during the late hours. We would send in around 11 and they nurses would bring you back when it was time for you to eat again. On the second night they brought you back and told Daddy and I that you would not stop crying and that it was because you really just wanted to be snuggled. The nurse told me that she held you for about an hour but that she couldn't anymore. We knew right then and there that you were high maintenance. We took turns holding and rocking you and we were flooded with visitors who all wanted a turn to hold our little crab.

Mommom and Moppy

After two days in the hospital they finally cleared both me and you to go home and we were so so excited. We could not wait to start our lives and introduce you Jack and Toby. Mommy had a special outfit ready for your first day home and your first car ride.

Clearly it was a little too big!

Mommy sat in the back seat with you and on that beautiful and sunny, yet freezing cold day, we drove you home. It was all finally happening. We could not wait to get you home!

Once we got there we were only home a short while before we were once again bombarded with visitors. All of Mommy's sisters and their husbands came over along with all of your cousins with the exception of Jackson because he was real sick. They brought over all of our Christmas gifts and we had our own little Christmas morning. Everyone loved you and wanted to hold you and you were soooo good. You never cried and went for about 5 hours before you even wanted to eat.

Uncle Chris

The Browns

You have such a huge family already and it is growing more and more. You have no idea yet how lucky you are, but one day you will have so many great friends in your cousins and you will know just how blessed you are. This was just the beginning.

Back Tracking....

Just to back track a tad and mention a couple of more things that happened while mommy was pregnant with you. On November 7, 2009 our family tried to surprise me with a baby shower. It was held at the Brick Hotel in Newtown. It was thrown by both of your Mommoms, and all of your aunts. They really tried to surprise me but it did not work so well (but I pretended). All of Mommy's friends and family were there to celebrate and I got tons and tons of really cool stuff for you.

This was Daddy's blanket when he was a little boy and it was made by your Great-Grandmother Barber.

We had so much fun and it was a wonderful day. I truley could not have been happier.

When Mommy was 34 weeks pregnant we met with Sarah DiCicco at The Valley Forge park for a maternity photo shoot. It was the middle of November and it happened to be a freezing cold day. It was about 35 degress and raining but I really did not want to cancel. We did tons of poses and some even included Mommy being wrapped in nothing but a small piece of linen. I tried to be a trooper for the sake of the pictures, but I think you can see my nose actually run in a few of them. They turned out just breath taking and I will have them forever!

What beautiful pictures. I am so lucky.

The Arrival

I started my maternity leave early and stoppped working when I was 38 weeks pregnant. I sat around the house every day just waiting for some sign of labor. Some days I went shopping and others just cleaning. Daddy had got you nursery all ready with lots of hard work and he repainted the most of the house. We were sooooo ready for you to come home.

Once the house was all ready is was just a matter of waiting. My due date came and went and the doctor scheduled me to be induced on December 29th. I was glad that you would be born before the new year, but I was still so worried that you would be born on Christmas. On Christmas Eve Mommy got all dressed and ready for church. I was not feeling good all night, it was almost as if I had no more room for you in my belly. Church was nice but I was so uncomfortable the entire time. Afterwards we went to Ria's like always and I was miserable. I wanted nothing to do with anyone and I could not wait to get home.

Once at home and sound asleep, I awoke at 4 am to use the bathroom and started with contractions right away. I was not sure at first that it was really contraction because they just felt like cramps. But I knew for sure when 4 minutes later the exact same pain came back and it lasted for about 30 seconds. This pattern continued and just got more frequent and more painful. I tried to ride out the pain but it was too hard, and on top of everything...it was Christmas morning. I was worried about waking the doctors and it was still dark out....I was so excited but so sad at the same time. Daddy and I came downstairs around 6 and opened our presents to each other but it was so hard because I was having contractions every 4 minutes that lasted 60 seconds each. We finally called the doctor around 7, Mommy took a shower, and we headed to Mommom and Poppop's house with Jack and Toby.

Everyone thought I was joking when I said that we were headed to the hospital but the pain on my face gave it away. They all wished us luck and we headed off to celebrate Christmas at Abington Hospital.

While in the elevator my water broke and were able to admitted right away. I was so happy that you were finally going to arrive! When we got there Mommy was only 1 cm dialated so I was not allowed any pain medicine. Dr. Carapalotti came in and told me he would be back later to deliver you and to try and stay comfy. Daddy put "A Christmas Story" marathon on tv and we just waited. Finally around 10:30 I couldnt take the pain and asked for medicine. I was already 3 cm and they gave me the epidural. After that it was smooth sailing! I did not feel a thing. It was great!! Arounf 3 o'clock they checked me again and I was 6 cm. They started me on pitocin so that you would be born sooner and the next thing I knew I was 9 cm and they told me to get ready to push. At 5:20 I started to push and was surprised at how much I did NOT feel. I pushed with the help off Daddy and the nurse Linda who was awesome! The doctor came in to check on us and said that I was doing great and told Daddy and I that he could see your hair. That was the moment when everything changed. For the first time in 9 months I was able to picture you...or something about you. I can never replace the way I felt at that very moment. You were real. You were not just in my belly, but a real little person. It was the most amazing and surreal sentance I had ever heard..."I can see some hair". Now I was so eager to get you out. I pushed and pushed, and at 6:59 pm on Friday December 25, 2009 Dr. Carapalotti pulled you out and placed you in my arms and said.."It's a, it's a, it's a GIRL!" I could not believe that you were a girl and that you were here. I remember you were so clean...not like they show you in the books. You were perfect in every way. And you were all mine. 7 lbs 7 oz and 20.5 inches long. You had just a little bit of fuzzy light brown hair and boy did you have some lungs!

This was the moment I fell in love with you.

Daddy and his little girl.

Mommom and Poppop Barber and Aunt Rachel were there first. Then came Mommom and Poppop O'Hara with Aunt Kristin. Everyone loved you and loved your name. We were all so happy! I was relieved that the anticipation was over and I was so looking forward to getting to know you and our first night together as a family.

PLACES YOU WENT

While you were inside Mommy's belly you were able to go tons of really cool places. Some we drove to and others we flew on an airplane. When I was 15 weeks pregnant we flew with Aunt Kristin, Conor, Morgan, and Daddy to Chicago to see our family. It was the first time seeing Aunt Shannon and Uncle Chris's new condo and our first time meeting your cousin Jackson. Delaney was there and being crazy as ever. On the second day Aunt Michelle showed up with Justin and Abigail. That was our fist time meeting her as well. It was so much fun having all of us in the same place at the same time. We went to the beach one day and to the water park and had so much fun. I cant wait to watch you grow with all of your cousins and build a stong bond with each any every one of the.

When Mommy was 20 weeks pregnant we took an airplane and flew to Jamaica with Mommom, Poppop, Rachel, and Daddy. We stayed at the RUI in Ochos Rios and we were there over Daddy's 28th birthday. We had such a nice time laying on the beach and swimming in the ocean. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We swam in the pool and loved chowing down on jerk chicken served ocean-side.

These non-alcoholic friuty drinks were my favorite! They were delicious!

At the end of August when Mommy was about 24 weeks pregnant we took our annual trip to Ocean City New Jersey. With us was Mommom and Poppop, The Browns, The Reillys, The Harveys, and Moppy even stayed for a couple of days. We pretty much layed on the beach all day and walked the boards at night. Mommy ate so much Mack and Manco pizza that some nights I thought I would eat a whole pie by myself. The weather was pretty good most of the time and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

It was so much fun going places with you in my belly. People always loved to ask when I was due and if I knew what I was having. As soon as I really started to show everyone swore that I was going to have a boy...I swore it too! What a shock!

Pregnancy

Mommy's pregnancy went fairly normal for the next nine months. I did all of the things I was told to do. I didnt eat any fish, took all my vitamins, drank tons and tons of water and got lots of rest. I stopped running because I was a bit too scared that I would do something to hurt you, but that was ok. Mommy only gained 19 pounds the entire time I was carrying you and I stayed pretty healthy. I kept working at the college, but I stopped working at the restaurant when I found out I was pregnant. Mostly, life was pretty normal.

I took pictures of my belly around every four weeks or so and loved watching my belly grow. I borrows a lot of maternity clothes from Aunt Shannon and Jen, and bought a few of my own. I loved Gap Maternity and anything that did not look like a Moo Moo :)

Everything was great until I was 28 weeks pregnant. It was the day of Danielle's baby shower and I was having a lot of pain. I thought I was just dehydrated or tired, but they would not stop. They lasted all day and through the night. When I woke up the next morning I was still in a ton of pain. It was the day of Aunt Rachel's 16th birthday party but I knew I had to do something. Daddy took me to the hospital and it turned out that I was having contractions. They were pretty frequent and the Doctors had a hard time stopping them. They gave me a lot of fluid through an I.V. and made me drink a lot of water, but they still persisted. After several hours they finally gave me a shot of medicine to stop the contractions that made mommy feel like she had 20 shots of espresso and that did not work either. They gave me a second shot of the medicine which finally worked and stopped my contractions. They sent me home but insisted that I stay super hydrated. I followed the doctors orders and remained okay for the rest of my pregnancy.

Early Pregnancy

Mommy's pregnancy started out super easy! My very first doctors appointment was on May 6! What a great birthday present to me huh? Dr. Zimmerman made the news official, but you were way too tiny to detect a heartbeat. They told me my due date was December 22, 2009 and I immediately knew that you would be born on Christmas. I hoped and prayed that you would come any other day but I had to wait 7 more months to find out.

Around 10 weeks I started to feel quezzy. Every single smell made me sick to my stomach. I couldnt even handle the fridge being opened. I could not tolerate anything! I ate nothing but junk....Dunkin donuts, pop tarts, brownies, ice cream, and a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I drank a ton of milk and always felt sick. Dr. Lexow even put me on chewable vitamins because I felt so ill. It was pretty tuff! I finally started to feel better around 15 weeks while daddy and I were in Chicago. While there Mommy had her first decaf latte and it was delicious!! :)

The beginning.

I recently read a blog written by a total stranger which has inspired me into a new direction. I do not want to forget one single moment that lead up to today, and any of the wonderful memories we have yet to make. So I will start from the beginning...

We always knew we wnated to have children and we knew we wanted to have them as soon as possible. We decided that we would leave everything in God's hands after we were married. We went about six months before we were blessed with the news that we were pregnant. It was April of 2009 when we found out that we were finally going to be parents. I had not felt like myself for a couple of weeks and I had taken a couple of tests but it was too early to tell. After a lunch out with my two best friends who were both pregnant at the time (Jen and Danielle) where I felt sick from certain smells I thought there was a chance.

That night I took a test but the result was unclear. The next morning I took another test but again, the result was not 100%. I called Jen and Danielle for their advice and they rushed over to see. We went amd bought a digital test which finally gave us an answer...."PREGNANT". I was so excited, nervous, scared, and anxious. I ran and told them what it said and they couldnt have been happier. How amazing....the three of us all pregnant at the same time. Not all best friends get to experience something so cool together...we were so lucky.

I spent the day in disbelief. It was such a surreal feeling. I had wanted it to happen for so long and I could not believe it was really happening. We went to Target where I bought Daddy a book about becoming a father and waited for him to come home from work.

Once he arrived I handed him the book and he asked me if I was serious. I immediately whipped the test out of my back pocket and he wrapped his arms around me, kissed and hugged me and shared in the excitement. It was real! We were gonna have a baby! We were gonna have you!

My whole life I always knew that there was one thing that I was born to do and that was to be a mother. I could not wait to watch my belly grow and feel you moving inside of me. I dreamed of this moment for what felt like an eternity and I was not going to forget one moment.

Dedication.

So...the more time I spend investigating this blog, the more I realize just what my purspose is. I don't particularly mind who reads this but my intention is to share my thoughts, feelings, and experiences that have taken place since I found out that I was going to be a mother. I inevitably want my daughter to be the recipient of all of my entires, so from this point on I will most like be addressing all of my comments toward her. When I say "you"...that means you Reese.

Maya's first birthday.

Yesterday was Maya Grace's first birthday party. Reese (who usually screams all the time and hates other people) was an angel! She was allowing random strangers to hold her and she was so happy about it. Once again she made me look like a total liar, but I couldn't be happier! I am so looking forward to this new phase of her life as a happy little peanut!

Learning to blog.

So, my very best friend told me she was starting a blog for her daughter which inspired me to step outside of my "box" and start my own. I am unsure what I am doing and why I am even doing it, but I am a tad excited to see where this takes me. Cross your fingers!