Baby ROCCO

Gian Carlo and Mateo have been asking for a little brother for awhile now. I wasn't sure I was ready for another child so soon. I was getting back to my pre-baby weight, got a new hair-do, was feeling a lot better about myself - getting the "old" Irene back; and Gilbert was loving it too. But God had other plans for our family...we were pregnant with Baby #3! It was better this time around because our dear friends the Messicks and the Caos were also expecting too.

Our third pregnancy was difficult from the get-go. Doctors were sending us to get tested for things I hadn't been tested for before with my first two; which were perfectly fine. It was stressful at times, and most times I felt my faith was being tested - who wants to think about if your baby will have down syndrome or any other disability. I certainly did not and was not ready for it. But my faith was stronger than I thought and felt I would handle what God would send our way. My only hope was to be strong enough to handle what he had in mind for our family.

I came to find the truth and was relieved to find that our Baby Boy #3 was born normal and beautiful on January 21, 2008. His name is Gael Rocco Gudino. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long. I couldn't believe how big he was. He looks like Gian Carlo and Mateo combined; however, he has a lot of my features like my eyes, eyebrows, nose, ears, and head - hands and toes we can't tell yet.

Labor was 12 hours long! Pushing was not bad...had the best doctor in the world. But it was worth all of it after seeing Rocco. He came out well behaved, and interested in the new environment around him. The doctor had to give him a little pinch to make sure he could cry. And of course, he did - too short, in fact. He was quiet throughout the examination by the nurses in the baby warmer. Still very observant and looking around.

In the nursery, he was nicknamed by the nurses the "American Idol" because he was crying from being so hungry. I was MIA being operated on because I was having my tubes tied. (After having gone through this tough pregnancy, I didn't want to have anymore; plus three kids was enough for us. It wouldn't have been fair to Gian Carlo and Mateo either.) The nurses weren't sure whether I would make it out early enough to breastfeed him or give him the bottle. Eventually, he cried so loudly that they gave in and gave him the bottle. But according to the nurses, he was still their favorite of all the babies there. (It was apparent to Gil and me that we name him Rocco because it was short for Rock Star..haha, justkidding.)