My Sweet Mae Mae -
I have been trying to create this post for nearly 8 weeks now but you have not really wanted to share me with the computer. I am sitting her typing this with you laying against my chest fast asleep making your precious baby squeaks, grunts, snorts etc. Your sister and I call these noises "tootin' around." Sayler will come up to me and say, "Mama, Sissy is tootin' around in there." When she sees you waking up from a nap.
I wanted to take some time and tell you the story about the day you were born and the sweet special days that followed when we brought you home. It is the day that I realized my heart could double in size in just one instant. You came in and changed it all my sweet girl...turned our whole world upside down and intensified a love I didn't think could get any deeper.
Your Daddy and I found out we were pregnant with you on July 12th. We were very surprised and quite speechless for days. After the news sunk in we could not contain our excitement. We found out on October 18th that you were our precious little girl! How could we have known how much we would love you? Here are some pictures of you growing in Mommy's tummy from the beginning.
We scheduled your delivery for Thursday, March 15, 2012. I was 39 weeks and 5 days along the day you were born. We wanted to make sure Nana and Papa would be with us to take care of your sister while we welcomed you into the world. Nana arrived the night before and we got her all settled to take on the task of caring for Sayler and then we got up early the morning of the 15th to head to St. Luke's hospital on the Plaza. Here is a picture of you and Mommy right before we left.
We drove to the hospital and kept talking about how surreal it was that the empty car seat in the back would be filled with our sweet baby girl the next time we drove that route. We arrived at the hospital close to 7:30am and got all checked in and ready for the big day ahead. Our nurses were SO awesome and called you by name the entire day. You kept moving all over and they couldn't keep the heart monitor on you. As soon as they would find you, get the monitor hooked up to monitor your heart rate and walk towards the door, you would move and they would say, "Maesyn!!! Come on baby girl...work with us here!" It was so funny. Mommy kept having to move and get into all kinds of crazy contortions so they could monitor you. Dr. Moore arrived at about 8:00am and broke my water. They started giving me Pitocin (a lot of Pitocin I might add...you were playing hard to get for a while) and then Jesus with an MD (the anesthesiologist) came and gave Mommy her epidural. The epidural I had with your sister failed...miserably. So I was nervous about the same thing happening with you. It didn't work 100% but I would give it a C+. I pushed that pain pump until my thumbs were numb...and we got through it. Here's a picture of Mommy before we got down to the business of the day.
It took us all day but finally you were ready to make your grand entrance. Four pushes later and...
How could we have known how much we would instantly love you.
I was so worried about how I would be able to love someone as much as I loved Sayler. And as soon as they placed you on my chest you found your thumb and we laid there together and my heart.just.grew. I am completely and utterly head over heels in love with you.
They gave you the once over and you were perfect.
You weighed 7 lbs. 14 ozs. and were 19.5 inches long.
Your Daddy could not wait to get his hands on you. He thinks you are the bees knees.
Then they took you to the nursery to give you a bath and I thought your Daddy would have a panic attack. He followed right behind the nurses as they wheeled you around and made sure you were being handled with kid gloves.
They gave you a bath and the nurse told Daddy that all babies love having the faucet run over their head like this. I have tried it at home...not so much.
I mean seriously. Who is cuter? No one.
I just cherished those days in the hospital. The accommodations were miserable and I got about 45 minutes of sleep total for the stay with all of the continued poking and prodding from the nurses, but the 3 of us just nested, and snuggled, and loved on one another for 2 days and it was bliss.
Nana came...and instantly fell in love with you.
Papa too.
And then we got ready to go home.
You wore the outfit your sister wore home from the hospital.
The hat and sweater were Mommy's baptism outfit and your great grandma Knittle crotchet the blanket. Your sister wore these too and Mommy is going to have them all framed to hang in your rooms.
Daddy was so excited to take you home and show you off.
All buckled in and ready to go.
Your sister could not believe you were actually real. We had been talking about baby Maesyn for months and months and then we showed up on St. Patrick's Day and you were actually a real live baby that she could hold, and kiss and love. She has not been jealous of you for even an instant (but I assure you that will change once you start getting into her stuff ;)...steer clear of her blankies and Goofy doll if you know what's good for you). She loves you so much and always asks me, "Mama...dis my baby sisser?" I tell her, "Yes she is your baby sister." And she replies, "Yes her is!"
She was just beside herself and overjoyed. She couldn't believe she was finally a big "sisser"!!!
She wanted to get right to work.
And checked in every once in a while to make sure she was doing it right.
She was pretty into burping you and sang the little song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, "top top, bottom bottom, middle middle middle!"
And then she wanted to help change you.
The rest of the day you spent hanging out in the swing and getting loved on by all of your family.
Big sissy got some gifts for being such a good girl while we were at the hospital. And she took care of opening your gifts too. She made sure we understood they were your "pwesents" and not hers...or ours for that matter.
You were and continue to be the sweetest and easiest baby. You were a good sleeper from the start and started giving Mommy between 4.5 - 7 hour blocks of sleep at 2 weeks of age! i know you will be sleeping through the night soon and for that I could just weep!
Maesyn you will never understand how much love and laughter and light you have brought into our lives. We can't imagine how we ever lived without you.
We can't wait to spend the rest of our lives being your family.
You are Mommy's sunshine baby girl...love, love, love you! Happy Birthday!!!
