A few "firsts"

We had a super weekend! Sleeping a little more during the night which is great for all of us. Vanessa met the first of the Boston crew this weekend when the Wells family came to town! Mommy told her all about Richie and what a good boy he is...it must have worked because Vanessa was quite the good girl and made Mommy and Daddy seem like big fat exaggerators with their talk of "fussy baby". We also ventured out for our first meal in public (oh no...PUBLIC!) which went super smooth since little Vanessa slept pretty much the whole time (see mommy - no need for new parent panic).

More smiles

More smiles!! Are you starting to think all this girl does is sleep and smile?? We WISH...mind over matter right? If we believe it to be true it will? We sure have lots of sleep and our share of smiles......of course they're not as cute when it's 3am or when it's feeding time. Oh well, we're all learning.

Waking up is hard to do

We love our snoozes!

We're Home (again)

Well...it's been a long couple of days (mostly for mom & dad) for us three Blanco's. We spent the last 48 hours in the hospital being treated for Jaundice. The Jaundice was only slight when we left the hospital after birth and the doctor thought it should clear itself out. Despite good eats, pees and poos.........Vanessa's coloring wasn't clearing as quickly as it should and at our doctor check-up on Wednesday we were told to go to the hospital for blood work. The bilirubin level was much higher than it should be (22.48) so we were told to "walk over to admission, we're admitting your little girl". Mommy teared up at those words! Of course nothing to really be upset over since Jaundice is a fairly common condition and the treatment required was nothing more than laying on a bed under special lights -- sitting in Tahiti as the nurses called it. The only thing that "hurt" little Vanessa was an occasional prick for some blood to keep a check on her levels. Turns out mommy's breastmilk was interfering with the absorption of the bilirubin so we had to switch to formula for 48 hours. We're home now and her levels are down to 10 which is great. We're back to breastmilk and our coloring has improved dramatically! We're hoping to save any more trips to "Tahiti" until we're graduated from college (notice the "graduated" part since mom & dad don't want to even thing about the words Spring Break).

Opa comes to visit

Vanessa got to meet Opa (Juan's grandfather) and Debbie for the first time as they came thru Saratoga for a visit. Opa's not quite sure which one of us she looks like...but he sure does like her little face.

Smiles

no...it's not gas. She smiles at her mommy and daddy!!

First Father's Day

Vanessa loves her daddy!

My first slippers

Just had to post pictures of Vanessa's first pair of slippers. LOL!!! Too stinkin' cute. They are from her new friend Lucine.

One week old!!

Little Vanessa is one week old already!!! Man...you parents weren't kidding when you said it goes by fast. The visiting nurse came by today and Vanessa is doing great.....she now weighs 6lb 9oz (when we left the hospital she was at 6lb 6oz+ and was at 6lb 7oz at her pediatrician visit on Wed) so she is eating well.

Our first walk

Finally the humidity broke! We ventured out for our first stroller ride and some fresh air. I think we're going to like taking walks!

Heading home!

We left the hospital on Sunday (6/08) afternoon, even though it's only a 2mile drive home it felt very long. WOW....we have a baby in the car! Vanessa took a liking to her carseat and dozed off on the ride. Now we're home and getting to know one another ;-)

Grandma's Angel

It wasn't long after Vanessa opened her little eyes that we learned why the events of the night took so long --- God works in mysterious ways and all things happen for a reason.

Throughout the day Melissa's mom (Grandma Victoria) was having pains in her side when she took in a breath. Not thinking it was anything serious - maybe a pulled muscle of some kind. By the time she heard the news that Vanessa was indeed now healthy and happily in her mommy's arms, her pain had progressed and she decided to take advantage of her surroundings (being in the hospital) and head down to emergency "just to see". No sooner did she enter, take a deep breath and nearly fall to her knees in pain. The nurses all gathered around and rushed her over for testing. It turns out that grandma had a blood clot in her lung.......the doctors words "your little granddaughter likely saved your life". Had Vanessa been born earlier or had grandma not been in the hospital right then, only god knows how things could have turned out. Grandma was admitted to the hospital and for the next two days her and Vanessa were "neighbors". There's always a special bond between grandma's and grandchildren, but we think there may be something extra special between these two.

Hello new world!!

39 weeks and 3 days later......we finally meet Vanessa Mercedes!! What a long, long, long (did I say LONG) day and night it was, but very well worth it. Mommy's contractions started around 8:00pm Thursday night and lasted all night long - coming about every 8min. By morning they were pretty strong and had progressed to 6min apart. The doctor had said "it was time" once they consistantly reached 5min (or less) apart.............by 6:00AM Friday mommy said "IT IS TIME, WE'RE GOING". Contractions were now 5 min, 4 min and some even 3 min apart. We called the doctor and arrived at Saratoga Hospital around 6:45AM. After much waiting, the real "action" started around 7:00pm and we finally had our little angel at 10:47pm Friday night June 6th. Can't even begin to find the words to explain the feeling. All the cliche's we've heard over the years became true instantly. There's nothing like holding YOUR child in your arms for the very first time. Insert any and every emotion you can think of. Suddenly there's no thoughts other than .......................WOW........and that's the best way to describe it............WOW.