The Beginning

This will be my first post sine I started this blog and it was meant to be an on going thing while I was pregnant with our little one, but time got away from me so instead I'll try and fill you in on what has taken place over the last 9 months plus.

We found out we were pregnant on April 18, 2010 and it was a very exciting day. Marco knew from the very beginning, I on the other hand thought I was getting sick and was surprised when the pregnancy test read positive.... I called the doctor the next day and had blood work done and within a couple of days we found out we were pregnant.  I wanted to tell the world but Marco wanted to keep it a secret at least for a couple of months but we couldn't keep it in for very long. We told the family a few days before Mother's Day while Marco was in Philadelphia and I can remember hearing how excited Dad, Mom and Jackie were when they saw the video Marco had put together. I will never forget hearing how happy Dad was and what he said to me that day.

My pregnancy was pretty normal and easy going. I never had morning sickness or weird cravings but I did want fruit ALL the time. Overall I loved being pregnant and when I felt our little one kick for the first time my heart stopped and at that very moment I realized I was going to be a Mommy.  Throughout the months my belly grew and my want for sleep increased each day.

I went in for my usual appointment in October and everything checked out, my doctor was happy with my weight gain and foresaw a very healthy baby.  Halloween came around and we were invited to Nestor & Liz's Halloween party so of course we had to take advantage of the fact that I was pregnant to come up with some great costumes. Marco was going to be a baker with the whole baker get up and I was going to be the oven and when you opened the oven door you would see the "bun in the oven." Unfortunately that didn't work so we had to go with plan b which was Marco as baker Mickey and I was pregnant Minnie. Marco had made me a shirt that had a bun with a little pink bow. We had a great time at the party. The following day we decided to go to Coronado Island to take pictures where Marco had proposed. We wanted to capture my growing belly.

I had gone in to work November 1st but was very worried because our little one hadn't been moving a lot the previous day while we were taking pictures, I was going into work with the intention of leaving if things didn't change. I called Marco after lunch and told him that our little one hadn't moved all day. He did some research and called my doctor and called me back right away and told me to head home so we could go into Labor & Delivery. We checked-in at Scripps Mercy at 3:15 p.m. and within 30 minutes we were told the baby was in a lot of stress and her heart rate was dropping so we had to have an emergency c-section, you can only imagine how surprised I was when I heard this seeing as my due date was December 26. Emotions were running high and all I could do was cry and pray that everything would be okay with our little one. November 1st had marked 6 months since Lily was taken from us and 3 months since Dad passed away so to say the least I was a bit worried.

At 4:56 p.m. we welcomed our little girl, Annalise Hope weighing in at 1 lb. 15oz and 13 inches long.

My emotions were all over the place as I waited to hear her cry and after what seemed like hours we heard a tiny cry. Marco went to be with the baby for a little bit while the doctors worked on me but returned shortly to make sure I was okay. I didn't get to hold our daughter as she was too small and fragile but the doctors did bring her by while I was in recovery so I could see her before they took her to another hospital. Mercy had a level 2 NICU and Annalise required a level 3 so she was taken to UCSD- Hillcrest where she spent 59 days receiving amazing care by wonderful people and we were by her side every single day.