Hannah's Here!

Well little miss Hannah was impatient and decided to make her appearance into the world 3 weeks early. Friday was my last day of work, she didn't give me one day off! :) My water broke Friday evening and we headed to the hospital around 3:00am. By 7:00 am I was dilated to 4 and then just one hour later I was dilated to 9.5! We thought we were going to have her here before lunch time, however when they had me start pushing her heart rate dropped from 140 to 90. It got a little crazy in the delivery room as more hospital staff rushed in, put me on oxygen and told us she was going to have to be delivered by an emergency C section. They also repositioned me in bed and in doing so her heart rate slowly began to climb. The doctor then decided that since her heart rate was steady, they'd give me meds to slow down my contractions and give both Hannah and I a rest. After another couple hours they gave me petosin to speed up the contractions and decided to have me try pushing once more, however this time they were prepped for an emergency C section if her heart rate happened to drop again. Fortunately it did not and I proceeded to push for 2 hrs. She was making progress, yet not as quickly as they wanted her too. She was so close yet something was holding her up. At the end of the 2 hrs. they decided both Hannah and I were too exhausted and decided to make one last attempt to get her out using the vacuum before resorting to the C section. Fortunately with the help of the vacuum and after 2 sets of pushes Hannah made her way out into the world. Apparently she had her hand right up next to her face, which prevented her from making it out with just me pushing. Hannah was born at 1:13 pm and we were so excited to finally have her in our arms. She is more beautiful than we could have imagined and we are so in love with her. Josh and I look at her and still can't believe she's here and she's ours. Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful calls, texts, visits, flowers, meals and love. Hannah is lucky to have such a wonderful family and group of friends.

Meet Hannah Nicole Heald :)

6 lbs 5 oz 19 in
Meeting mom for the first time

Meeting DadMy family

Time to get all cleaned up

She enjoyed her bath

All clean
Auntie Nicole is so proud

With Grandma Deanna

Being held by Grandpa JoeWith Auntie Nicole and Uncle SeanWith dad ready for our night in the hospitalReady to head homeShe looks so tiny in her car seat

Arriving Home

With Grandma Jan With Grandpa Paul

With cousin Mazzy Hanging out with mom and auntie in her room
Before grandma and grandpa Musone left
Ready to head to our 3 day appointment

Night Away Before Hannah's Arrival

Josh and I decided awhile back that we really wanted a night away, just the two of us, before Hannah's arrival. The past 3 weekends have been filled with events, as are the next two weekends, so we took the opportunity during Josh's spring break last week to get away for a night. We decided to head down to Tiburon and stay the night at The Lodge at Tiburon, a place we've seen and always wanted to stay at. (http://www.thelodgeattiburon.com/) As you can see below, our room was beautiful and relaxing. We were right down the street from the shops, restaurants and bay. We had a delicious Italian dinner, followed by a walk on the docks as the sun set. It was so nice getting away from R.P. just the two of us. The next morning after getting up and having breakfast, we headed to The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. (http://www.calacademy.org/) We had been wanting to visit it since it's reopening. We had a great time except for the fact that my feet, hands and ankles got really swollen toward the end while we were in the Rain forest. Last summer Josh and I visited the Smithsonians in Wash D.C. and I would say Academy of Sciences was like a miniature version of all the Smithsonians wrapped into one. Definitely worth the visit if you have never experienced something like the Smithsonians. After getting away for the night we both felt refreshed and relaxed. It's crazy to think that our next trip away will include our daughter!

Our roomWalking along the docksChecking out "The Living Roof"I couldn't get enough of the penguins

Inside the 4 story Rain forest

A tiny Poison Dart Frog

One busy weekend after another!

These past few weekends have been a constant on the go! I meant to put up a post about last weekend all last week, however by the time I got home every night I was so exhausted that I just want to put my swollen feet up and rest. Last weekend was busy from start to finish and filled with so many great memories. My parents, sister and Sean came up Friday night and we went Barrel Tasting in the Healdsburg/Dry Creek area all day on Sat. It was so nice spending time with my family and visiting some of our favorite wineries. At our second winery (Unti) my sister was surprised with a proposal from her boyfriend Sean. (Josh caught it on camera) It was so romantic! I am so excited to have Sean as my brother-in-law, he's been a part of our family for over 10 years and now it's official! We went to one of our favorite Italian restaurants Nicolino's, to celebrate Sat. night. On Sunday, Josh and I went with his brother, wife and our niece Mazzy to Fairfield and met up with his dad, Donna, sister, brother-in-law and niece Camryn for lunch. We had a really nice visit together. Camryn and Mazzy are such happy babies, I can't wait for them to meet their cousin Hannah soon here! This weekend was yet another busy weekend filled with family and friends, a baby shower for Hannah put on by Karina and a bridal shower that I threw for Andrea. I'm hoping to get those pics up soon here. :)

Barrel tasting 2009 ~ At Armida Winery Unti Winery

The proposal

The newly engaged couple!
Couldn't be happier for my sis!

My sister in laws Cassie and Mel and mother-in-law Donna

Josh with his dad and brother Dustin

Cassie, Camryn and A.J.Camryn loved smelling the flowers
Mazzy with grandpa

Baby Showers

The last two weeks were filled with 3 baby showers. My staff had a shower for my coworker Tracy and I a couple weeks ago. We had such a great time! Let me start by saying that I work with the most amazing teachers, many of which are my close friends. Mandy and Heidi planned the shower and did an incredible job. The games we played were hilarious ....we laughed so hard! They also had our students create a book of baby advice for us, since we are both first time moms. We are 1 month apart and are both having girls. :)

Last Friday my students and their parents surprised me with a baby shower at school. While I was on my lunch break and the students were at recess, the parents decorated my room and got set up for the shower. Although my students had made a couple comments that week that made me suspicious, I had no idea they were going to go to the extent that they did. Hannah was once again showered with thoughtful gifts and my students were so excited watching me open each one of them. I am constantly grateful about the class have this year. They have made teaching while pregnant so much easier, I'm going to miss them so much when I leave them in less than a month!

Following the baby shower thrown by my class, I drove up to Fortuna for a shower that my sis, mom and aunt put on. Everything was so perfect! The decorations, food, family and friends able to make it, thoughtful gifts, etc... I had such a great time. Hannah is so lucky to have such a large group of family and friends that love her so much already. I can't wait for her be here!

Work Baby Shower

Tracy & Me with our hostesses Mandy(left) and Heidi(right)My incredible staff

Opening gifts

Surprise Baby Shower thrown by my class


It's hard to read it on the white board, but it says

"Welcome Hannah Nicole Heald" :)

Opening gifts

My wonderful 2nd graders

Fortuna Baby Shower

Beautiful cake that my mom designed

Adorable decorations

My sister made Hannah's name for her room (I was so excited!)

Sooo many cute clothes...

The girls

Baby book from Grandma Musone
With my diaper cake made by Ang and Amy

With Auntie Nicole

Maternity Pics

Last weekend our close friend and photographer Ian Myers (http://www.sonomasierraphotography.com/) , took maternity pics of us at 32 weeks. I'm so glad we have pictures of this special time. I love being pregnant and time is flying by so quickly! We have less than 2 months to go and we are so excited to meet our daughter.

Kisses from dad

shoes from Grandma Musone