www.BabyRaia.com

So
it was really funny, but little Andrew smiles in his sleep, and just
randomly… as we were leaving the hospital Saturday (a day earlier
because mommy is tough and stubborn), he was all wrapped up in his car
seat and just as we were snapping pics he had a big grin on his face.
Like YAY we’re going home! haha. The picture says it all!

Right now he
looks pretty "tan" but don’t mistake the complexion for having olive
skin like his Daddy. He actually is a lot more fair, but he is a bit
jaundice right now. Nothing major, they said to just keep making sure
he’s peeing a lot and to breastfeed him near the window for natural
light and hopefully it will improve with time. You can kind of see the
difference in the picture below of his pinkish cute little hands by his
face. Nonetheless he’s adorable and precious and around here we can’t
stop staring at him!

Even
ME is in awe of her little brother Drew. And she is great, gentle and
loving towards him. Truly amazing. A fellow online friend
mentioned how watching your child with your new baby ages them at that
very moment- and she is so right. ME seems so much older, so much
bigger. It’s sad that she’s not my little peanut anymore, but it’s
amazing and wonderful to see her interact with my new little peanut.
There’s nothing like watching your children bond together- truly
amazing!

Sunday we had some friends/family come to visit. It
was fun and enjoyable to welcome Drew into the family. I of course
decided to use ME’s thanksgiving dress she was supposed to wear and
never got to. We didn’t have turkey on Sunday, but some of us had
turkey sandwhiches as we ordered deli-food! haha.
The nice part is we got a couple shots of our new little family 🙂

Yea I know I look tired, but hey I just had a baby!!!!
On that note, I’m still recovering from the c-section and busy with the kids- but my goal is still to get pics up by the end of the month as there are many too-cute pics to be seen!

Thank you for all the comments that some of you have posted, and your kind notes, emails and thoughts. 🙂

ONE LAST THING: Results of the baby pool are in!!!!

–Dawn Johnson, my friend is one of the winners being right-on with the date & sex, and close with the time!

–Daniel Ray,
my brother is one of the winners being right-on with sex, and extremely
close with the time, weight and even inches… plus only 1 day off!

actual: 11/22/2007, 7:25 am, male, 7lbs 3oz, 19.5"

We have much to be thankful or this thanksgiving…
Announcing the
birth of our son Andrew Scott Raia Jr. Born at 7:25am on thanksgiving
11/22/07, weighing 7lbs 3oz and measuring 19.5in.

He was born via C-Section due to failure to progress and since this was
a VBAC attempt induction was not really an option. Though all is well,
he is healthy, beautiful, and eating wonderful (breastfeeding). We are
currently in a private room with him overlooking the hudson river at
the hospital, and we couldn’t be more thankful.

We had lots of visitors including Mary Elizabeth of course who
absolutely loved her brother "Drew" as she says it very clearly and
proudly. She helped swaddle him, held him, patted him, and kissed him.
What a great big sister.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Hope it was as special a day for you as it was for us! God Bless!

So I’m celebrating my 30th birthday today, and at 3 pm we were getting ready to leave the house to go to the mall and then to dinner. Instead, I stood up and my water started to break. To make a long story short, I’m at the hospital, my brother is typing this for me, and we are hoping things progress by the morning in order for me to have the VBAC I desire. Either way, there will be a baby tomorrow. Look for another post about the little turkey tomorrow.

It’s hospital time all-around…

Last night I went to the hospital- no worries- just for a hospital tour! I was the only non-first-time mom
there. Kinda weird huh, but I was sent to a higher level NICU hospital
with ME, had no tour or anything and well everything is so different
that it’s almost like I’m experiencing it for the first time. So I had
the tour because I didn’t deliver there before or know where to go/what
to do exactly. It was exciting, and wow under a month away- so surreal.
I
do have to say it brought back memories of when ME was born and some
good memories and not so good ones, a reminder of how very far from
normal things were, ya know. We also visited the NICU area they have
there (without going in though) and I thought about all the moms inside who must be going through
a lot. Anyway, I was glad to be there on tour though- as I’m hopeful that all
will go well this time around and I feel blessed that things have gone well up to this point.

Also last night, Andy’s cousin Christine went into labor and gave birth this morning to baby Owen. He was exactly 2 weeks late so she was pretty anxious to have him. We’re excited to meet him and from the pictures he’s adorable and precious. He came into the world this morning at 8:25am weight 9 1/2 lbs and was 22 inches long. Big beautiful boy! 🙂

Then, on the not so fun side of things- we were at the
hospital in the city today. ME was going for Dental xrays and some dental
work (done while under anesthesia). This is no minor type of dental work. Her teeth were rotting away from the build up that pools under her tongue and the lack of saliva she has due to her condition. It was inevitable she’d have problems and her teeth were rotting, especially on the bottom. So the result was 3 pulled baby teeth, 2 baby root canals, 2 silver caps put on, and some bonding/filling on the top. Basically her top teeth look good and are doing ok, and the bottom were just awful. So 3 in the bottom front are gone, and then one on each side toward the back has a big silver cap. So her bottom row doesn’t look too pretty right now. And while that is sad & unfortunate and makes us upset- we know it’s for the best as we do not want her future teeth compromised. And she could’ve gotten infections and whatnot.
Her dentist is a specialist of course, and he is one of the sweetest Doctors we’ve come across, it was obvious he cared very much about doing his best for Mary Elizabeth. He was happy to report that the xrays showed that her adult teeth are nicely aligned and under the gums so all should be ok for the future with that and that’s what matters.
For now, the only extra step we have is a fluoride rub to put on her teeth twice a week which we will do continually to keep her teeth as healthy as they possibly can be.

That’s pretty much it for hospitals now…. well until baby #2 wants to come out and be welcomed into the world – which is coming soon I’m sure as I’m over 36 weeks pregnant (less than a month left to go!)