He's HERE!!!

Ryan Michael Santilli

6lbs 8 ozs

19 1/4 inches long

After about a week of being in early labor with contractions every other minute, Ryan Michael finally decided to grace us with his presence on April 11th at 3:49 am. I left work on Thursday morning because I was having contractions, and spent the night in the hospital only to find that even with contractions every other minute, I wasn't dilating further. I asked to leave and try to finish out early labor at home.

We went back on Saturday around 2:30, Mike and Katie were actually at the hospital too because Katie wasn't feeling her little guy moving enough. I think Ryan just wanted to be near his cousin :). Katie and baby were fine and Ryan was ready to come out. All in all, a good trip to Central DuPage Hospital!

The Dr. broke my water around 5:30, from there things moved quickly. It's true what people say, I have already completely forgotten how much contractions hurt and I think I will want about 6 kids!

At 3:49, I watched Ryan greet the world and yelled out "it's a little boy!" I was the first to see that he was a boy, and it was such an amazing experience! They put him on my chest and I immediately began to cry. May be hormones, but I call it love. Joe and I are absolutely beyond obsessed with him.

Our whole family was in the waiting room when he arrived. Joe went out with the video camera to catch everyones reaction when he told them it was a boy. Such a priceless moment caught on camera!

For the next few days, we had visitors like CRAZY! We are so blessed that so many people couldn't wait to meet the little guy!

Now we are at home and loving every minute of it! Joe is sooo good with Ryan, totally a natural! It's really amazing to see him as a daddy.

I will continue to update the blog with pictures and just me bragging about my new little boy :)

Joe would also like me to inform everyone that Ryan will be an all star athlete. At only 4 days old, during his first tummy time experience, Ryan rolled over from tummy to back. Thank God, Joe decided to video tape his first tummy time otherwise I don't think anyone would believe us, but it's true!

2 More Weeks~

Well, I am 2 weeks away from my due date and I am definitely getting anxious to meet this little baby!! We celebrated Easter last weekend, and my cousin Brittany took some photos. I knew I was big, but actually seeing myself in pictures was very eye opening! I look huge!! I am actually still taken by surprise when I see my reflection, I guess I never knew my tummy could grow so much, it’s pretty amazing to see your whole body transform to make room for this little person.

I have about 2 more weeks left of work, and then I will be taking 12 whole weeks off to spend with our little baby, I can’t wait!!
One of my co-workers and best friends, Shannon, gave me the sweetest gift this week. She can tell that I am getting a little anxious and a little uncomfortable, so she made a gift bag full of items that have been known to induce labor, I will be trying them all! Wish me luck! :)

Nearing the End~

Slowly but surely, I am nearing the end of this journey. For the most part, I have had a pretty great pregnancy, and I am so thankful that God has blessed me with the ability to get pregnant and carry a child. I have seen a new side of Joe that I absolutely adore. He has been so good to me even when I ask him to get me a cup of water with 4 ice cubes in it... yes 4, its the perfect amount :) He puts lotion on my feet and helps tie my shoes, sometimes it's just way too hard to reach my feet. He helps me around the house and he is even learning how to clean and not just straighten. If he tells me he cleaned something, I say "okay it's clean, but is it "Teresa" clean? because there is a difference" He is learning :)

There are a few things I love about pregnancy and a few things I hate... here is my list.

Love:

-Eating whatever I want and never feeling guilt

-Fruit smoothies, I would love to own a Jamba Juice!

-Feeling the baby wiggle around in my belly all day... and night

-Watching the numbers on the scale go up and knowing that its exactly what should be happening

-Sitting on the couch while my husband does the dishes for me

-Shopping at Babies R Us

Hate:

-Extreme fatigue

-Indigestion

-Lack of clothes that fit

-Sleepless nights, I know sleeping won't be a breeze when baby is born, but I would much rather wake up to my baby than to use the bathroom every hour

Thats all I can think of for now, but I am sure as the next 4 weeks go by, that list of things I hate will greatly increase :)

Soon I can post about how baby is doing, I really can't wait for that!

36 Weeks

ONE Month To Go!!! :)

This little peanut is due in 1 month!!! We have pretty much everything done and ready for baby to join our lives. I am feeling pretty good, just tired and a lot of trouble sleeping. Besides that, I really can't complain. I still plan to work up until the day I go into labor so that I can spend as much time as possible at home after baby is born.

Joe's leg is finally healed for the most part, still no sports, but mobile and driving and no more crutches. But since Mike and Joe like to do everything together, Mike has now torn his ACL and will be needing surgery :( When Katie and I got pregnant at the same time, that was GREAT, this...not so great!! We need the next few weeks to FLY by so he can be well into recovery when Katie goes into labor. What are the chances of 2 brothers tearing their ACL in the same year, doing the same thing, while their wives are pregnant?? Someone needs to tell them they aren't 16 anymore huh? (good thing Joe doesn't know how to delete blog posts, or this would magically disappear :))

Keeping our eyes on the positives here, in 10 short weeks, we will both have our babies and our husbands will both be healed... and banned from football!! I can't wait for a summer full of babies :)

Getting Closer!!!

I am now almost 34 weeks, about 6 more weeks to go!
Last weekend, Joe and I went to Babies R Us to get the last of our needed baby items and we started packing our hospital bag so we will be ready. I also washed all of the baby’s clothes, it was really cute to see all those little tiny socks in my dryer!
We already took our Infant Care class and by the end of this month, we will be done with all of our classes and feeling really ready for this baby to greet us!
I feel pretty good, but I am really excited for the next phase!
People keep asking if I have really intense cravings for anything, and while I LOVE ice cream, cereal and fruit above anything right now, the other day, I really really wanted a churro. So I decided to try to make one using what I already had in the house. Spray butter, cinnamon and sugar on a tortilla…. Yeah, it doesn’t work. I really do not recommend trying that.
I look forward to Sundays when Katie and I walk around Costco trying each sample (like 10 times!). I think the sample ladies just laugh at us now. Then before we leave, I will order a piece of pizza, and ice cream and a churro… I’m not even ashamed! :)