"She's Here!"

^ This was the text message my friends received on Tuesday, June 12th, without any warning at all of me being in labor. Hell, I barely had any warning of being in labor. All those rumors about exercise during pregnancy making for a shorter labor are definitely true.

At 12:15 my water began to break, so I called Eric to give him the heads up that he may have to leave work early. And it's a good thing he did - he was at work a half hour away, and once he got to the hospital, little Hannah made her grand (and fast) appearance into the world within 45 minutes. From start to finish, my entire labor was less than 3 hours. Certainly beats the 25 hour labor I had with Lyla. However, it went so fast that I didn't have time for my beloved and much wanted epidural, so this little girl was born all natural.

The entire first day she was born, I was in shock. It was almost too fast to fathom what had just happened. I kept asking Eric if i was dreaming, especially because for some reason, I was in very little pain afterwards. I was up and walking within minutes of my delivery. All of our visitors were poking fun at me for being in such disbelief of Hannah actually being here. It didn't feel real. And on top of that, she was an amazing nurser and sleeper. What? Is this newborn for real? I had to wake her during the night for all her feedings otherwise she would have slept right through them. Foreign territory for me since Lyla was up nearly every hour as a newborn - and even still wakes during the night at almost 3 years old.

And as if all of that wasn't enough to make me question if I was dreaming, Eric and I have been getting along better than ever. He's been simply amazing; if he's not holding Hannah, he's playing with Lyla. If he's not with the girls, he's helping with the dishes. Another foreign territory for me. Aren't we supposed to be sleep deprived and arguing over who works harder and who got the most sleep? He even took a week off from work after Hannah was born to stay home and help me adjust to everything. I keep waiting for the storm to roll in since this feels like the calm. It can't be this good, this easy, can it?

Hannah is doing amazing. She nurses so well that I've nearly lost all my pregnancy weight and she's only 9 days old. Unfortunately my belly won't fully shrink until my uterus goes back to its normal size in about 5 weeks. But this little girl loves to eat and sleep - it's made the adjustment from 1 to 2 much easier with her being such a good baby. She only cries when she's hungry, and once she's fed she's either contently awake until her next feeding, or snoozing away. This has made for an easy adjustment for Lyla, too. She pretty much ignores her most of the time, until she's fussy and ready to eat. Then Lyla will pretend to cry and say "no Mommy, I need you" which broke my heart the first time she said it. But I've incorporated her into Hannah's feedings by reading her favorite books to her, which so far as worked out well.

It's hard to believe that Hannah's really here. Just over a week ago we were doing all we could to start my labor, and now she's really here. She's perfect, with 10 fingers and 10 toes, happy, and healthy. Hard to believe Lyla was ever that little, and even harder to believe that Hannah will grow up to be a big girl like her sister. I'm appreciating all these surprisingly easy days, and prepared for the hard days to come. But either way I'm enjoying the ride and loving watching our family grow. So glad you're here, baby girl!

Now vs. Then

I can't tell you how different it is expecting a child with your husband, who you are in love with, in comparison to an unplanned pregnancy with someone you had no real feelings for. I've said it once and I'll say it again - it has all made me realize why people wait until marriage to be intimate with one another. Of course, you can't look back and regret, because then I would never have had Lyla, the little love of my life, and I can't imagine life without her. I am, however, looking forward to having a different experience with the birth of Hannah.

I love thinking back to when Eric and I first started dating - it was so fun and filled with childhood giddiness. All the cliche high school moments from counting the days until we saw each other again, to the "no, you hang up first" phone conversations. I would time Lyla's nap perfectly to give myself enough time to primp myself for my man's arrival, and give us a few moments of "gosh, i missed you so much" hugs and kisses before she woke up. We spent our days at the playground with my baby girl, and our nights sipping wine and getting to know each other. I was always surprised at how well he did with Lyla, and how he never felt he was missing out on going on dates or out with friends all the time. He was the guy I never thought I'd find, and 4 months later when we were engaged, I knew he'd be the guy that never got away.

Now 9 month into our marriage - and 9 months pregnant, I can't help but feel a different form of excitement about the arrival of our baby Hannah. I almost feel guilty talking about this, because I never want Lyla to read this and think that I love her any less than her sister just because circumstances with her father we different. In fact, with all the love I have for Lyla, I'm wondering how I can produce enough for our newest addition to the family. But, as I've been told by all moms with more than one child, there's always enough.

Most of my excitement comes from the thought of Eric seeing and holding his daughter for the first time. This is a moment I never experienced with Lyla, because I was more concerned with my friends love and emotions towards my new daughter than those of her own father. I couldn't wait to show her off to all my other friends and family members, and never really had that "new family" feeling. This time, there will be no one in the delivery room for support except for my husband, and when she finally makes her grand entrance into the world, I cannot wait to basque in that moment - just us 3. We just get to stare at her and know that we made her because we love each other. And then, of course, Lyla will join us to meet her baby sister, and our family of 4 will be complete. I have asked my mom to bring Lyla in before any other visitors so she can be one of the first to hold and bond with her. I can't imagine the mess of emotions I will be that day, watching the two people I love most in this world welcome this little (or not so little if she stays in there much longer!) bundle of joy into our family.

This little girl will have all the love in the world, that's for sure.
We cannot wait! So, what are you waiting for little Hannah!?

Friendships

One thing I absolutely cannot stand is a selfish person. I think I have such a limited group of really good friends because a friendship, much like a relationship, takes effort. And why put in effort for someone who isn't worth your time or doesn't show any interest in you?

I have had the same best friend my whole life - literally; all (nearly) 23 years of it. And my other close friends I have known since our early teen years. What makes our friendships flourish is our effort to stay in each others lives, and also, to show an interest. If a friend has been sick, I want to make sure they are feeling better. If they enter a new relationship or end an old one, I want all the details. And what's better is that I know the questions will be returned. These friends contact me regularly about my daughter, marriage, pregnancy, you name it. And sure, these are all facts they can gather on their own with the wonderful world of the social media, and my tell-all approach to it, so it's comforting that they make the extra phone call or visit to catch up on things I'm sure they've read about.

I've recently noticed how many people had been in my life because I was the only one making the effort. I made the plans, I asked the questions, I held the friendship together. So, after our wedding, I put some serious thought into not only who I care enough about to keep in our new lives, but who cared enough about us to be in them. Needless to say, I've lost contact with several people who I thought I needed, and have felt no change whatsoever. My small group of friends still remains strong, and all I need.

I'm a ridiculously friendly person; always saying hi, always showing an interest in others lives, always smiling - so when I go about my norm, and don't even get an "and how are you?" in return, I just realize how much of my energy I just wasted on pretending I was interested in what this person has been up to. I guess because of how friendly I am, I don't understand how someone can sit there and talk about themselves for quite some time, and never even give the other person the time of day. Who doesn't love to talk about themselves? Most people, especially girls, do. But it takes a back-n-forth conversation to sustain a true friendship.

Breaks My Heart

Lately, out of no where, Lyla has often been asking about her father. She'll say things like "Eric is my step daddy, but where's my daddy?" Although I reply with a very nonchalant "Your daddy is just at work", it makes me more sad than you know.

May 17th will be one year since Lyla has seen her dad, and I can't help but think of how unfortunate that is - mainly for him. Think of all he has missed. Sometimes when I go to the gym for an hour, Eric will have taught her something new while I was gone and I am sad to have missed that, let alone a whole year of learning, development, and love. I also feel sad for Lyla that someone can up and walk out of her life like that. I'm just glad it happened when she was so young. However, because Ben and I still currently have shared legal custody, he has the ability to walk back in at any ol' time. Because of this, I feel that it is my job to not shut out the idea of "daddy" completely.

He's still in her baby books, which for months I debated on whether or not to remove them. We've gone through them in the past few months in preparation for baby Hannah, so I can show Lyla how little she used to be, and how much she's grown. But for now, I left pictures of Ben inside so that if he does decide to come walking back in, she has some idea of what he looks like, who he is, and that he used to be around. It doesn't seem to bother her, though, because when she comes across his picture, she'll just happily state "and that's my daddy" and move on to naming other people and things inside the book. Lyla was shy of 2 when she last saw him, and lucky for that, she has no real understanding of what his absence really means. Even though it doesn't make her sad, it really breaks my heart to hear her ask about him, and just know that he exists and doesn't see her. I feel even more guilty now because he recently lost his job, so now when I tell Lyla he's at work, I'm lying.

It's not my job to take out my anger with him on the subject with Lyla. It's my job as her mother to protect her, and that doesn't involve making negative remarks about her father infront of her. I never carry on a conversation about him, but when he is brought up, I just handle it calmly and change the subject. Everyone asks us if we have her call Eric "daddy", and we don't. I've always said that it is her decision; Eric is not her biological father, but he is her dad in the sense that he lives with us, helps raise her, and loves her as if she were his own blood. Even if Ben never comes back in, Lyla will never be without a father figure. And if she decides to join the band wagon after Hannah arrives and call Eric "daddy", then it's her choice. If she calls him Eric for the rest of her life, than that's okay too.

As any mother would say, I just want what's best for my little girl. I want her to be raised well, knowing right from wrong, protect her from what I can, and give her endless amounts of love. Knowing someone can walk out on someone so precious is a painful thought, but it only makes me thrive to be the best mother I can be, knowing (or feeling like) I have some void in her to fill on my own.

Establishing "us" time before baby

Recently, I've realized how little I feel like I see my husband. He gets home from work, I (sometimes) go to the gym, one of us makes dinner while the other entertains Lyla, we juggle bath, story, and bedtime, and by the time our big girl is asleep, we turn into blobs on the couch. Sure, we'd have a few hours together after Lyla's bed time...if we could stay awake. "What an old married couple we are" we always joke. Although our routine works, and allows us to spend shared time with Lyla, I began to realize just how much more tired we'll be after the arrival of our baby girl, and how much less time we'll have together. I wanted to put an end to this as much as possible so we can get into a better routine of togetherness before these 5 weeks until d-day fly by.

The thing we do daily is catch up with each other's day over dinner. Lyla shares her favorite part of her day with Eric who has been at work, and Eric shares his work out and work day with me. I'll ramble about the crafts Lyla and I did that day, or something funny/frustrating that occurred. It's the one time we're all sitting together, with no distractions, and can connect as a family. I always grew up having family dinners, and it's something I plan to make a staple in our household, too.

Dinner time has always been our time together, but we needed more. With us both being so exhausted at nighttime - with Eric waking at 4am for the gym and me being nearly 9 months pregnant & chasing my toddler around all day - it's difficult for us to not want to snuggle under a fuzzy blanket with the DVR and fall asleep by 9pm. But I miss my husband! So we agreed that at least once a week, we would have a game night (talk about old married couple!) We also agreed that at least once a month we would have a kids-free date night, where we would go out to dinner, go bowling, sit at the bar with a few drinks...something just the two of us. We're lucky to have so many willing friends and family to babysit - hopefully that sticks once we add a newborn to the mix ;)

I love our marriage because we have the ability to talk about & through anything. Now more than ever I am looking forward to the arrival of our baby girl, especially knowing that Eric and I will be making a genuine effort to spend more time together, on top of juggling our busy schedules. It's not going to be easy, but it's a life we signed up for and, most importantly, a life we love.

You Look Foolish

Every chapter that I read in "I do, Now what?" by Giuliana & Bill Rancic has not only been inspiring, but reassuring to my own marriage. One Chapter in particular stuck out yesterday, because it was something I couldn't agree more with, but also something that I see often in relationships, not just marriage: You should never publicly put down or talk poorly about your partner.

The chapter discusses some solid points about what happens when you share negative things about your significant other with friends, family, or the worst, in my opinon - the social networking systems. When you blast your guy or gal for the public to read, not only does it build negative thoughts on this person for your friends and family, but it also makes you look foolish for choosing to be with them. No one wants to see someone they care about get hurt, let down, or be disrespected, so it can be difficult for loved ones to read such posts and sympathize staying in the relationship when you're making it so obvious that you deserve better. Not to mention, most of these social outbursts are posted on impulse, and are likely resolved before your friends and family even have time to react. Then, the next day you're tweeting or posting on their walls about how much you love them. Heart heart, kiss kiss. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a relationship quarrel through the social network, get loads of "back up" from their friends, and then act as if the whole thing never happened with new posts of kissy-face pictures and updates soon after.

In my opinion, it's immature. A phone call to your mother or close friend to help talk through a tough situation is one thing, but putting something so personal on something so public, just says "attention seeking" to me. No couple is perfect, but you'd never see me trashing my husband for the world to see just because we had an argument. Marriage is sacred, for better or worse, and when we took our vows on September 10th, we vowed to work through things together, no matter how big, small, or difficult. I don't need people I talk to once every few months chiming in on my Facebook page to tell their opinions, or that they're on my side. The only person I want to talk to about my marriage is the person I'm married to - it's no one else's business. I think this should apply to those just dating, too. What is working through an argument or problem via the social networking systems really going to solve? Nothing, but making you look foolish, giving your friends and family the wrong impression of the offender, and lots of confused faces when you flip the switch the next day.

Having an Advantage

My previous post about relationship comparison sparked a conversation between Eric and I about different life styles, which lead to discussing parenthood and the advantage we may have over other couples.

Eric came into my life when Lyla was 11 months old, and quite obviously because of this, he has always known me as a mother. He had the advantage of seeing how I parent, and also see my availability (or at times, lack there of) to him on top of caring for my baby. I also had an advantage in this situation: I got to see Eric in action with Lyla. As our relationship grew and we became engaged, Eric's role with Lyla went from playful pal to respectable father figure. This was such an attractive quality because I was a package deal; I could have dated the perfect man for me, but if he wasn't good with my daughter he was getting the boot. Not to mention, the 10 month span where Eric and I were engaged & Eric became more of a disciplinary in Lyla's life, it served as a window into out lives together: could he really handle being thrown into the life of a husband and father figure all at once? From the very beginning of our relationship, we were forced to find time together after putting Lyla first. This may sound like a burden, but I truly do consider it an advantage.

Tonight, we were discussing how different our lives would have been without Lyla: I'd be working full time, we'd be going out more often, on dates more often, and not be shuffling whose turn it is for bath time. This may sound ideal, but I disagree. Having had Lyla, we built our relationship around parenthood - one of the most important aspects to any relationship in want of children. We were able to surpass the "shock factor". We didn't have to make the life style change from going out to staying in, sleeping in to up all night. I didn't have to watch my husband go from energetic and caring to exhausted and short tempered. He didn't have to watch me go from out-all-night to nursing all night. There was no arguing about how things "used to be" before baby. These were all things we were both immediately aware of given our situation, and allowed us to build our relationship and marriage on this knowledge. Eric was made aware of my parenting preferences, and although we don't always agree, he helps me raise Lyla with the same understanding and expectations that I have. This diffuses any arguments couples may have over differnt parenting methods, and paves the way for raising our future child.

Although Eric wasn't around for the newborn stage with Lyla, at least we have the advantage of the fact that one of us has gone through it. I've spent this pregnancy sharing stories of when Lyla was first born, as well as the hardships of her first several months. And even though each child will be different, I'm hoping that the fact that we, together, have been parental figures from the get-go will only help us with the arrival of our baby girl. It'll still be a shock for us both, going from one to two; from an easy going toddler to a needy newborn, but with the experience we have and the support from one another, I'm confident in us.