Rastelli Family Blog: October 2009

As soon as I called my mom (aka Nana) with the news that I was in labor, she got to work on changing her plane ticket so that she could fly down immediately to help out. Ray picked her up from the airport the very next morning, and then brought her back to the hospital just in time to bring Giovanna and me home.

As we were heading home I warned my mom, "When we get to the house you will see why I have been so incredibly stressed out for so many weeks." Our house had been in TOTAL upheaval for a couple of months, as we had been in the process of painting and re-decorating rooms and re-finishing furniture.

As we walked through the door, Nana took a moment to assess the chaos and then simply said, "Well, this is why I am here".

Over the course of the next three weeks, she helped me accomplish more than I thought humanly possible. Thanks to "Super-Nana", we...

... cleaned and organized almost EVERY room in my house... put on Sophie's birthday party, including making the cake... kept laundry folded and the kitchen cleaned... soothed Gia whenever she was fussy... finished Sophie's total room makeover... helped Ally with homework... changed TONS of diapers... put dinner on the table every night... scrubbed down bathrooms... got all three kiddos dressed and out the door when necessary... snuggled with and read to the girls at bedtime...

And this is just the tip of the iceberg!!

But along with all of this, my mom also filled my days with friendship, encouragement, understanding, and hope. She is truly a remarkable woman, and I am so very blessed to be her daughter.

I also have an incredibly generous dad, who let me have my mom for THREE WHOLE WEEKS!! I know it wasn't easy for him, but he knew how much I needed her.

And to show you how much of a sweet, thoughtful romantic he is, here is what my dad had delivered to our house on Sweetest Day:

For my mom

For me and our three girls

Thanks again, Dad!

And to my amazing mother...

"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
~Proverbs 31:29

Our sweet Giovanna Marai Rastelli has arrived!! She threw us for a loop by arriving 2 1/2 weeks early on Wednesday, September 30th at 8:56 a.m.

OUR STORY:
Ray had just come to bed around 3 a.m. after completing a work project, and I woke him at 4:15 a.m. with the shock and disbelief that my water had just broke! Our conversation went something like this...

Melissa: Oh no! Ray, my water just broke!!

Ray: Are you sure your water broke? I don't think your water broke.

Melissa: Ummm, it's my third baby. Believe me, my water just broke. We are having this baby TODAY.

(Sudden panic hits)...

WAIT!! I don't have time to have a baby this week! Ally's school pics are on Friday, and Sophie's 4th birthday party is on Saturday. My mom doesn't even fly down for two more weeks!!! I don't have a thing packed for the hospital, and my friend Kris has the car seat because she is making a cover for it! Oh no!! (I jump into the shower because there is NO WAY I am going to the hospital in current state of funk.)

Ray: (Sudden panic hits)...Oh no! I have to move offices today! And I have major projects due at work this week!

Melissa: Well, we have to figure something out, because this baby is coming TODAY... (pause for contraction)... ok, if I can have the baby by noon today, then maybe they will let us come home tomorrow and I can finish getting everything together for Ally's pics and Sophie's party and...(another contraction)...I'll go call my mom...

Ray: And I'll call the office and work out some of those details...

OK, LET'S GO HAVE THIS BABY!!

We kicked it into high gear - got the girls packed for school and overnights at friends' houses (thanks again, Sammi and Tracey!!), grabbed what we could remember to pack for the hospital, and off we went! Labor went REALLY fast, and Ray and I sat there shaking our heads later that morning with our beautiful new daughter in our arms saying "I can't believe we just had a baby and it's not even 9 a.m.!!"

Every detail that had concerned us fell into place. Nana (my mom) changed her flight and came into town right away, Ally went off to school looking adorable for her school pics, and Sophie's birthday party was a huge success. My mom even helped me make the special butterfly cake I had promised Sophie I would make for her party!

The car seat situation worked out too - my friend Kris had awakened on Wed feeling an urgency to work on the car seat cover, and had JUST finished it when she got the call that our baby had arrived that morning! How's that for God's timing?!

SO... it has been a little crazy around here these past couple of weeks, but our darling new baby girl is fitting in just fine. And Giovanna has brought us more joy than we ever thought possible. Just like her name means, she is truly "a gracious gift from God"!

Here are LOTS and LOTS of pictures...

Minutes old - 6lbs 8 oz, 19.5 in long