Our Little Ladybug

The most beautiful song of praise to God I have ever heard
was the sound of my little girl taking her first breaths last night.

My husband's thoughts on 4/23,

the morning after Maelee Marguerite was born.

Wow. What a week it has been!

As you can see from the last post, God has answered our prayers. We can not believe our sweet girl came into our lives just seven days ago. We are all so incredibly smitten with her and we're just enjoying this phase while it lasts, knowing she won't stay like this for long... sigh.

For now, we love to watch her sleeping peacefully or when she's alert and wide-eyed making all sorts of expressions. She has not been a big fusser so we're just trying to count that blessing, fully aware that could change at any moment! Either way, she is one adored little lady. Mommy has been spoiled not just by Maelee, but also by the doting daddy and Nana-Lin (Becky's mom), and an amazing church family who has made sure we are all well fed. We're all excited to see her Pop-Pop (Becky's dad) and Uncle Dan (Becky's brother) this weekend. It has been a joyous time, indeed.

April 22nd was quite a day- much different than expected or "planned" (hehe). As always, I enjoy making lofty plans, fully aware that things most likely will not go at all how I envision. The labor/birth was about as different as I could've imagined! I didn't expect to be part of the 10% of women whose water breaks, nor did I expect a shorter than average labor, and I especially did not expect thigh labor! I didn't even know that existed!!! Well, trust me, it does. And it stinks. Bizarre? Yes. But pretty awful.

We had hoped to stay at home in "early labor" as long as possible (we had labor projects, mind you- cleaning, some remaining preggie pics, etc...), so when we went to the hospital, traveling by NYC's finest MTA bus with only Becky's purse in hand for our scheduled non-stress test, we were pretty bummed to learn that we weren't allowed to leave as my membranes had, in fact, ruptured. We were ecstatic at the prospect of seeing our little girl soon, but didn't want to be stuck at the hospital the whole time! Ironically, it was all for the better as the intensity kicked in and picked up pretty immediately, never letting up until her arrival that evening.

There seems to be an idea out there that "short" labors equal "easy" labors... Well, I don't think ANY labor could qualify as easy, and while I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate that there were no complications or unnecessary interventions with mine, and I'm certainly thankful that it did not go on any longer, it was still the most difficult, intense, and yes, painful, experience I have ever been through.

But, it was oh-so-worth it, and we are truly thankful for God's little gift to us! Steve and my doula, Lisa, got me through (despite Steve's sore hands from pretty much rubbing my thighs for 8 hrs straight or so) and my parents arrived about 20 minutes after she was born. Again, not part of the "plan," but an amazing experience for us all.

We have now finally gotten through the hundreds of pictures her Pop-Pop and Nana-Lin took and some beauties that Steve shot so there is a sampling below, as well as a slideshow of MANY more, and a video Steve and I took on her 4th day of life.

I'm still dazed, but she is treating us well. More pics are sure to come soon!

Day 1
After enjoying some time on mommy, Maelee gets to look into her daddy's face-
not even 30 minutes old

Back with mommy

In awe...

The incredible labor "team"- doula Lisa and Steve

Back in our room

Day 2
And in love

View from our room

Proud Parents

Proud grandparents

First car ride, on our way home

We're home!

Day 3
with "Auntie Kim" (Steve's sister) and her boyfriend, Karl

First sponge bath

Warming up

Day 4
First cab ride, on way to Pediatrician's

What are you doing to me???

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8
One week old

First outing, to Starbucks

And here's a slideshow of many, many more pics:

And a video of her sweetness on day 4:

http://vimeo.com/11253147

Password: Maelee1

Patience is a Virtue (that I don't have...)

I'm beginning this post on the "due date," but something tells me I won't be holding our little girl by midnight. Sigh... Pray that she will make her entrance into this world on her own and SOON!!!

In the event little Maelee wanted to be an early bird (always a thought on my mind, especially as I was born 6 weeks early!), I tried to get as much done as possible, as early as possible.

Hehe, little did I know I'd (almost) run out of things to do.

But, in my busybody ways, I seem to find more and more things to organize, clean, and prepare and am already thinking of projects for next week. Why is it so hard for me to just chill and relax??? Hopefully, it will all remain on a someday-to-do list though :)

Her room is about as finished as it can be right now so I think I can safely cross #2 off the "Before the Baby Arrives" List-

2. Finish Maelee's Room!!! Lots to do here - finish getting rid of all the random stuff in there that doesn't need to be in there, paint a couple pieces of furniture, and DECORATE!!!

I'm in the process of printing up some pictures of the great-grandmothers she gets her namesake from, and some pics of her daddy and me (to go in the little picture holders), but no more frames can be filled without her!

Mommy trying to be crafty with a memory box

The pictures that started it all...
Steve's picture of a ladybug on a rose taken on our trip to France

Little did we know what a hit the "ladybug theme" would be...


Nightlight from my mom

Trying to be clever by covering the knob with a sticker


A little touch on her "memory board"


The adorable wings from my shower, along with onesies decorated by friends,
and a lamp that my dad made for my aunt in 7th grade!!!





Just some overall views


The bath/health "station"


The "memory board"


A vase from our wedding, a picture of me as a baby with mom, grandma, and great grandma, and three heart picture holders that will eventually showcase
the women Maelee is named after



Changing station


Her "closet"- Steve's handiwork (with Joey's help!) in removing drawers from an armoire and adding a rod. Seriously, the clothes just kill me. Too cute.

Stuffed animal hammock to keep them out of the way!

More NYC style storage

With some corners filled with stroller gear and stuff she won't be needing yet, that just about does it! I must say, it has been quite a task, but fun :)

I'm also gonna go ahead and call a "completed" on #1-

1. Finish getting the apartment ready! At this point, that mainly entails going through lots of papers/documents, etc, and trying to get more organized and be more space efficient.

Although, I think there's always room for improvement in this department! But things are about as sorted as they're gonna get for now.

We've definitely done as much of #7 as we can and we're so thankful to many of our friends who made it a win-win deal for both of us by letting us mooch off their laundry facilities! (I think we've done more laundry in these past couple of months than in our almost 7 years of marriage- no lie.)

7. Babysit for friend's kids while we still can! Have gotten a pretty good start on this, but still have a couple other special families we want to help out while we can.

So as far as "the list" goes, the only one that doesn't look like we'll check off is #5-

5. Go to a Broadway Show! Just the two of us.

Time and $$$ are just NOT gonna let that happen!

BUT, we did take in my "cousin" (technically my step-uncle as he's my Too-dad's wife, Mary Catherine's son, but cousin seems more fitting!), Mark's Pace University production of "The Putnam County Spelling Bee!" He's the music director there and this is the 3rd show of theirs we've been to. They are phenomenal! We'd actually seen the Broadway version before, and theirs was every bit as entertaining so it'll count for us!!!

We've gone on more date nights than usual at least, and hope to be very intentional about this after she's born! Just last weekend, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at a delicious restaurant a few blocks down-

One 83 Restaurant

Steve's pasta with bacon


Becky's Maine lobster with ravioli in a sage butter sauce

Yum.

You know, it seems some people think we have some sort of warped view of what our life is going to look like when she arrives like it'll be this blissful time where she's the perfect little angel who never cries, sleeps and eats like a dream, and giggles as soon as she gets home from the hospital, cause we're often only reminded of just how tough those first few months are going to be. Well, we do realize we can't even BEGIN to imagine how our life is going to change, how incredibly difficult it's going to be, how insanely exhausted/emotional/frustrated/overwhelmed, etc we're going to be and just how UNprepared anyone ever is for a new baby...

BUT, daggonit, we still can't wait to meet her and we're just so thankful that ultimately GOD is in control and will see us through! And we're also SOOO thankful for the many amazing friends who couple their warnings with plenty of encouragement and support, too, as that is what will really help us through those difficult times!!!

(So, no "I told ya so's" please!)
:)

I've been writing her letters throughout the pregnancy and still can't believe I will actually meet her soon. In so many ways, I feel I already know her, I feel so connected already. And it's weird to think that who she's going to be and what she's going to look like could be sooo completely different than this picture I have of her (which is of a perfect little angel, of course! J/K...).

So many hopes, dreams, fears, prayers. I don't think words will ever be able to describe how new mothers and mothers-to-be feel about their children and I just can't believe the time is almost here when I will actually be a mother!!!

Come on, baby Maelee- get here soon!

Re: A much needed bREak

A friend recently commented to me,

"I think you're the only pregnant woman who will actually have
less on her plate after the baby arrives."

Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't expect a lot of rest and relaxation after she's born, but in a few other ways, I sure hope my friend is right! It has been a busy several months...

Luckily, we got to enjoy some of that R & R at a B & B in East Hampton last weekend, and checked off one of the items from the "Before the Baby Arrives" List,

6. Take a "Babymoon!" Even if it's just one night away, we gotta do it.

The only thing we had a lot of on our plates there was FOOD! Here are some other "R's" that we enjoyed:

Rejuvenating. Recuperating. Revitalizing. Reconnecting. Restoring. Rejoicing. Renewing. Retreating.

Who knew so many great words start with the letters "re?" We could come up with many more to describe our recent getaway to the 1770 House, but the above selection does a mighty fine job of summing up our time. Our three night trip was just wonderful- filled with lots of reading, talking, eating, celebrating, massages (!), and just being with each other. God has revealed an awful lot to us in this last year of marriage, more so than any other, and He has done some amazing work in our relationship. We are so grateful for where He has brought us, and where He continues to work in our lives, and this trip gave us such an important opportunity to reflect back on it all.

To commemorate some of the milestones, Steve had written numerous haikus for me, with a different focus on each day- the first day was in celebration of the completion of my degree, the second a celebration of our baby girl-to-be, and the third in honor of my birthday. It was pretty special, indeed. Here are just a few pics from our time:

Our Room

The Restaurant

First night at a delicious restaurant that we happened to hit during "Restaurant Week!"


Day Two: Steve's gifts celebrating our pregnancy

Day Two: Enjoyed a "couple's massage" and also lucked out that it was "spa week!"

Day Three: Despite the 30 degree temp, we couldn't resist a walk to the beautiful beach!

After a HUGE dinner thanks to my mommy and daddy's gift on my birthday

Check my Facebook page in a few days for more pics of our trip!

Another highlight and time of rejoicing this past month was a baby shower in NY hosted by some of my very sweet friends- BIG thanks to Desiree, Heather, Jessa, Lauren, and Shawna for putting it together, AND to my incredible friend, Sarah, who made the trip all the way down from MA to be there!!! It was an absolutely lovely time and I was so impressed and touched that so many sweet friends actually ventured out into the treacherous downpours (no lie- worst wind/rain I believe I have EVER been in... sigh) to celebrate with me.

Some pics from that joyous occasion!

Sweet onesies

The AMAZING hostesses: Heather, Lauren, Shawna, and Jessa (we missed you, Desiree!)

My INCREDIBLE Sarah

More SPECIAL, SPECIAL friends: Ginger, Katy, and Shawna

SWEET gals from our community group: Brooke, Whitney, Annie, Heather, and Radhika

The very GENEROUS gift spread!!!

It was a very special day. And again, if you want to see more pics from that, check my Facebook page!

This past month has also been filled with:

* finishing up childbirth/childcare classes

* more lessons out at Stony Brook

* many get togethers with friends

* organizing, preparing, and serving a meal of over 80 servings for residents of the Ronald McDonald House

* more sorting and organizing of our apartment

* a quick but great visit from my mom while she helped me get further along with #2 on the "List"

* a very cherished lunch with my Too-dad, Mary Catherine, my Aunt Viv, and my parents at the Waldorf Astoria




* a grand finale concert by my teacher, Carol Wincenc, where I joined in the huge flute choir for the last piece

* a big LOVE146 fundraising event that we couldn't make, but Steve was able to have two of his photos auctioned off

* the awesome and sacred Easter services with Apostles where we got to see my cousin Bill and his family (wife Lori, daughter Hanna, and Hanna's friend) and enjoy brunch with them during their visit to the city



While pretty much all of the above equal "fun times" and I'm so thankful for them all, I'm looking forward to some downtime with a more open calendar over this next week as Maelee's due date approaches.

But first, here are some more "checks" off the "Before the Baby Arrives" List:

8. Pregnancy photos - the for real kind with both of us. Steve couldn't talk me into doing a belly cast.

Well, by "the for real kind," I kinda meant professional, but as I'm constantly impressed by my hubby's mad photog skills, and he has actually been paid for some of his works, we figured why not save some dough and do our own? We had a beautiful setting outside the 1770 House and took advantage of the beautiful day (but FREEZING! As in, temps in the 30s.... sigh) so here are some of the faves (although, I couldn't convince him to get enough of US as I was hoping...):




9. Learn how to swaddle.

Much to Steve's dismay, this is in no thanks to the cat, but thanks to our "babycare" class. But he is trying to recruit the cat to get his diapering skills up to par.

10. Finally get new prescription glasses. I've been wearing the same pair that I got when I first needed glasses, in my senior year of high school. Scared. And they're ugly.

Ok, so they didn't end up being as cute as I was hoping, but again, gotta save the dough where we can.

I can't say we're "finished" with Maelee's room or organizing our apartment, but we sure are getting closer! And it's hard to tell if we'll make it to that Broadway show before she arrives... We'll see! The next post could very well be announcing her arrival! Stay tuned... :)