Michael Cohen Alemany - Welcome to the world!

It has been such an incredible week. I can't really explain it, but it feels like everything has changed completely, and then at the same time it's all still the same. I love being a Mom already. It's been really interesting, because I always knew that I wanted to be a Mother, and listening to society it sounds like your making this huge sacrifice to do the job of staying at home and raising kids. Even though I've only had Cohen a very short time, I feel so blessed and honestly a  little selfish that I have this incredible opportunity to stay at home and raise our beautiful baby. There is absolutely no where else I'd rather be. We are so excited Cohen has come to our family, here's the story...

Our little buddy joined us exactly on his due date 6/2/2012. I was rather impatient for him to arrive (So excited to be a MOM!!), and I really wanted him to come early (those of you who know me well, know that patience is definitely NOT my middle name)...I was definitely in the "terribly uncomfortable all the time" stage of pregnancy.

Just to give you an idea of how HUGE I was...

My mom came into town on May 28  to be sure she wouldn't miss Cohen's arrival. That whole week we went out walking, ate spicy food, ate tons of pineapple (also supposedly helps to induce labor...not sure if it worked), drove around on the crazy bumpy NYC streets all in the hopes of inducing labor. That whole week I'd been having contractions. They started an hour apart, then they'd get closer and closer until they were about 15 minutes apart and then they'd stop. I was becoming frustrated and finally decided that this kid had a mind of his own and would just us when he was ready. Friday night (6/1), I decided that he wasn't coming anytime soon so we should go about life as usual, mom and I went and bought movie tickets to see Snow White and the Huntsman, came home, made dinner and waited for Michael to get home from work. When he got home we ate and then left for the movie. While driving to the theater my contractions started getting more intense and closer together, but by this point I was so use to them coming and then just stopping, so I figured we had at least another couple of days. Well, when I say Cohen has a mind of his own... We sat down in the theater got through the previews and about 20 minutes of the movie, by this point my contractions were coming approx. every 3-4 minutes and were becoming increasingly intense. It finally hit me that I was actually going into REAL labor this time! We left the movie early (I still really want to see it!!) and headed to the hospital. When we got there they didn't even examine me they just checked me right into a labor and delivery room...apparently they could tell I was in a lot of pain and it was the real thing. We checked into the hospital at about 8:30pm with my contractions coming every 3 minutes. When they checked me I was 3-4 cm dilated. 3 hours later I was ready for the epidural...

Yay for epidurals, I was able to sleep that night! 

At 8:30am the next morning I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push! Apparently Cohen was a little apprehensive to come into this world, I pushed for 3 hours and he FINALLY made his appearance! Michael was and is the best support system I could ever ask for, he's already the best Dad to our little guy, it's so much fun to watch them interact!

At a whopping 8 lbs 9 ounces it's no wonder it took me 3 hours to get him here! He's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen, and I can't believe he's really our son. I've had so many overwhelming feelings of love, concern, worry, joy, peace and contentment over this past week. I've felt this immense love I have for our son, and have gotten a small glimpse of how much our Heavenly Father really loves us, and I really do stand all amazed. I feel like I would do anything for Cohen, and I truly can't imagine how God feels about all of His children. I know that He wants what is best for us, and would do anything and everything in His power to help us. I'm so grateful that Michael and I get to be parents to this beautiful baby boy! Welcome to the world Cohen. 

So tuckered out after the hard journey...

His favorite position to be burped

Wide awake! 

Proud Daddy

I don't think I've ever been this exhausted in my entire life!

Thrilled Grandma! 

Going home from the hospital...he loves being swaddled!

Sweet, sweet baby Cohen

Loving being a Mama!

Cohen's first stroller adventure!

Already the World's Best Dad!

Cohen's Houdini foot...he loves being swaddled but also loves his feet out and loves to have his hands by his face

Cohen found his fingers :) 

We love being parents already and can't wait for all the adventures to come!