Baby's first photo shoot

These pictures were taken by a photographer at the hospital the day that we were discharged, when baby Frank was two days old. He looks like a little angel in the first picture, and he is smiling in the second! So cute.

Happy Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving this year at our house so that my grandparents had a chance to come meet and celebrate the holiday with baby Frank. It was very special to have four generations of Proesch's together. My grandma reminded me that Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday for Frank & I--he first met my family when he spent Thanksgiving 2003 in Houston with us; he proposed to me on Thanksgiving of 2005; and now, we welcomed baby Frank into this world in time for Thanksgiving 2010. I loved having everyone in town, and my Mom and sister did an excellent job cooking the big feast and hosting. It was a little different than our usual Thanksgiving since we had to plan our meal around the baby's nursing, but I was able to sit down and eat a huge plate of turkey and stuffing, so I was happy about that! The Texas A&M Aggies were also able to beat UT, which only made the day sweeter! I think Baby Frank is the aggies' good luck charm.

This year, I am so thankful for my beautiful, healthy baby boy, my sweet, patient husband, my wonderful family for helping out so much the last week, and all of our thoughtful friends and coworkers who have stopped by, sent gifts, or sent their congratulations. God has blessed our family with the most precious gift, and I am so thankful that we are all able to celebrate him.

Here are some pictures of Thanksgiving week, 2010:

the spread & the Proesch crew

holding my baby boy

proud parents

Al & Steve

me & my handsome hubby

four generations

great-grandpa

grandpa

great-grandma

uncle Tyler

exhausted after my first doctor's appointment

sporting my shades

lovin on Daddy

Home sweet home!

My big baby boy is already 5 days old! That is so hard to believe. I am absolutely loving getting to know my son. We got to come home from the hospital on Friday, and we spent the weekend at home with my parents. They were a big help, taking some of the night shifts so that we could sleep, going to the grocery store, running out to pick up nursing bras--we really appreciated having them here! My Dad left yesterday to go back to Houston, but my Mom is staying through this week to help us out.

So far, Baby Frank has been a very good little baby for the most part. He is good at taking naps of up to 2-3 hours, and he is generally not very fussy unless he is hungry. We are working on breastfeeding, which is definitely a challenge! I am trying my best, but it is by far the most frustrating and difficult part of being a mom.

I am feeling better, less sore and more like myself, but I definitely think that the physical recovery from childbirth is harder than I imagined. I am so ready to get back to my old self, so hopefully I will continue to heal and feel better every day.

I want to thank everyone for their congratulations, prayers, and well wishes. We received so many beautiful flowers, gifts, and cards, and it makes us so happy that little Frank is so loved already.

Here are a few pictures from the last few days:

with Nana and Grandpa watching his first Aggie football game

must be good luck--Aggies win!!

I surrender!

Aunt Allison

Grandpa

Nana

on the car ride home--slept the whole way

ready to come home!

in my cute going home monkey onesie

my precious bundle of joy

that's my Daddy!

proud parents

I'm your mama

meeting my son

proud daddy

first picture with daddy

cheers! So thankful and blessed.

Baby Frank is here!

Yesterday at 6:45 p.m. we welcomed our son Frank Edward Bernardo into this world, and our lives are forever changed! He is a big, healthy, strong and precious boy, and we already love him more than anything in the entire world. I wanted to write out his birth story now before I forget all the details. We arrived at the hospital yesterday for our induction at 7:30 a.m. The doctor came in and inserted prostaglandin gel in my cervix at 9:00 to try to get labor started. I had already been having contractions on and off for a week, and my cervix was dilated to 2 and 80 percent effaced when we started. He let the gel work for about three hours, and then he checked me at noon and was dilated to 3 and 80 percent effaced. They broke my water at 1:00, and my contractions instantly got much more intense. I waited until about 2:30 to get the epidural, and wow, once I got that, everything got a little bit easier! I was so scared of everything in the beginning--inserting the gel, inserting the IV, cervical exams, breaking my water. But once the epidural was in, they could do whatever they wanted and I did not feel a thing. It was crazy to feel like the legs that were attached to me belonged to someone else.

After they gave me the epidural, the resident checked me around 3:30 and said I was 4-5 cm dilated and that the baby had dropped even more. She told me I had between 7 and 12 hours of labor left, on top of 1-3 hours of pushing. Luckily, that was not what my body had in store! I dilated to 8-9 cm by 5:00, and was 10 cm, 100% effaced, and ready to push by 6:00. I pushed for 30 minutes, and Frank was born!! He weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. The doctors were amazed that I pushed a baby that big out so easily. I had a second degree tear, but it is healing nicely. I didn' t think I would want to look at the mirror while pushing, but I did, and it was such an awesome experience. It was so hard to push without any feeling in my legs, but having the mirror there really helped me focus. It was so nuts to see his head come out!
We are so in love with baby Frank already. Big Frank has been great with him, and he was wonderful helping me out with labor and my recovery. It is so sweet watching him hold and sing to the baby. My heart has grown so much in the last day, it is really unbelievable. We are so blessed, and we thank God for this healthy, beautiful baby boy!! He looks exactly like Frank did as a baby. Such a cutie!!!

39 weeks--induction scheduled

I went to my 39 week doctor's appointment yesterday, and the doctor said that I am 3 cm dilated, completely effaced, and "very favorable." He said the baby has dropped, and my bishop score is 12, which apparently means that induction should not increase my chances of a long labor or c-section, so we decided to go ahead and schedule the induction for tomorrow morning! We are going in at 7:30 a.m., and my doctor will apply a prostaglandin gel that will hopefully get labor started. I have been having contractions on and off for a week now, so hopefully we will not even need the pitocin to get labor going. If all goes well, we will get to meet baby Frank tomorrow! I am so excited and ready to meet my little man!

I went into work this morning and then left around 12:30 to meet Frank for lunch and spend my last afternoon/evening at home before the baby comes. I am trying to relax and enjoy some time alone. Everyone please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we go through labor & delivery. We will keep everyone updated and post pictures as soon as we can.

Blessings

As I begin what is most likely my last week without a child, I have been feeling extremely emotional and thinking a lot about how much my life is about to change. I am so excited to meet my son! I have always known that I wanted to be a mom. When Frank and I were dating, and even just after we got married, he told me that he was not sure if he wanted to have kids. But, I could see how he had bonded with his niece, and how child-like and innocent he himself can be, and I knew deep down that he did want children. I never would have married him if I truly believed that he did not want kids. A lot of my friends thought that I would be one of the last ones to have children. I have always been very focused on school, my job, working out, shopping, and I don't exactly display my maternal side to many people. I have been so blessed to have a great job, a wonderful home, great friends, and the ability to buy nice things and go on amazing vacations. But honestly, I would give all of that up in order to have a family. I am so incredibly excited and ready to begin that wonderful journey.

I am also feeling very scared and nervous about taking on responsibility for another life. I am scared that it will be so hard to get used to no sleep, having someone being completely dependent on me, and having to forgo personal time and time alone with Frank to take care of the baby. I am scared that I will not be attentive enough, or that I will not be able to balance being a wife and a mother, or that I will feel guilty when I have to go back to work and leave baby Frank with someone else.

Most of all, I am feeling incredibly blessed. I feel so lucky that God blessed us with this baby so quickly, and that I have had an uncomplicated pregnancy. As I get ready to have the baby, I pray that he is healthy and that everything goes smoothly. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband, who has been so supportive and helpful and excited throughout my pregnancy. I feel closer to him than I ever have, and I can't wait to experience this new adventure together! Come on Baby Frank...we are ready to love you, spoil you, dress you up, and give you kisses.

Please pray for us as we get ready to welcome Baby Frank and embark on this new adventure!

38 weeks--almost there?!

I went to the doctor this morning for my 38 week appointment, and he said that I have progressed even more this week, and that he will induce me next week if I want him to. Frank and I will go back to the doctor on Monday next week and discuss induction further then, but we will most likely have a baby next week! I am so excited, anxious, and ready to meet my son.

Frank finally came home on Friday, and he is going to be with me in Dallas until the end of November. Baby Frank held out for his daddy, so we are very happy about that! On Friday night, Frank and I went out to a nice dinner to celebrate his being back in town and one of our last free weekends without a baby. Frank worked at the Air Force Reserves all weekend, and I had been looking forward to spending a weekend at home by myself to relax and get some stuff done. But, I had so much nervous energy that I never could really relax, and instead I found myself just wishing that the weekend would hurry up and end.

I have been having a TON of braxton hicks contractions all day today--hopefully that is a sign that Baby Frank is going to be here shortly!

Ready to POP!

I just don't know how much bigger my stomach can get! My skin itches from stretching so much, and I have the lovely stretch marks on my belly to prove it. I know that I will love my baby boy, but I can't wait to get him out of me and get my body back!! Frank comes home in 2 days, and then I hope Baby Frank decides to come as soon as possible.

37 weeks--full term!

I am so happy to have made it to 37 weeks! I am now considered full-term, and it is safe to deliver Baby Frank at any time. I went back to the doctor today, and everything still looks great. I lost a pound since last week, which was a pleasant surprise. The doctor was not even going to check me for progress this week, but I asked him to since Frank wanted to know whether he should go out of town on a planned business trip or stay here with me in case I went into labor. The doctor checked and said that I had not made any progress since last week, so it was "extremely unlikely" that I would have the baby this week. Of course, he cannot say for sure because labor is so unpredictable, but it is comforting that I will most likely have the baby after Frank gets back in town on Friday. He will then be home through the end of November, so I am very excited about that! We had another busy weekend, getting things ready for the baby. Frank set up the monitor and put together the jogging stroller and swing. It is amazing how much stuff one tiny baby needs.

We had a great, busy weekend, watching the Rangers in the World Series, going out for a date night on Friday, and having some friends over on Sunday to watch the game. Mark and Julissa came over, and it was so good to see them and catch up, since we had been trying to get together for months but could never work out our schedules. They brought Baby Frank a sweet basket full of goodies, including an A&M onesie. Our neighbors, who just had their little boy 10 days ago, also stopped by with sweet Baby Bennett for a little while. Astyn let me hold Bennett, and he is so tiny and precious, I was afraid I was going to break him! We actually just learned that another of our neighbors is pregnant--so that makes 4 of us on the same street that are having babies within a few months of each other. It is pretty neat that Baby Frank will have a lot of little friends the same age as him to grow up with.