I have attached the link for you to view the gallery/slideshow but not sure how long it will be working. ENJOY!!!
http://www.angelasheaphotography.com/slideshows/Valentenewborn/
A media timeline of our family's journey
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Mason's Newborn Photo Shoot
Angela Shea came for a visit and took AMAZING photos of Mason.
I have attached the link for you to view the gallery/slideshow but not sure how long it will be working. ENJOY!!!
http://www.angelasheaphotography.com/slideshows/Valentenewborn/
I have attached the link for you to view the gallery/slideshow but not sure how long it will be working. ENJOY!!!
http://www.angelasheaphotography.com/slideshows/Valentenewborn/
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Cannot believe it has been Two Weeks...
We kept very busy during Mason's second week at home. We spent the first few days enjoying the last of Auntie Diana's company! While she was here we went on our first family outing to McAlister's for lunch followed by Target, Marshalls and Home Goods. We had to make sure to introduce Mason to a few of our favorite stores!
On Thursday, we spent a few hours at the Meridian family cookout. Mason was such a good boy and slept the whole time while being passed around to a few brave souls willing to hold a 7 lb peanut! :)
On Friday, we went to the doctor and Mase is in tip top shape! We ran a few errands before Grandpa Gebby and B as well as GaGa Martha and Pop Pop came down from NJ.
We had a great weekend together and he was absolutely spoiled with lots of love, hugs and kisses. On Saturday we went out to listen to our first live band at the local music festival -Weddstock. It was a little warm but the band was AWESOME!
We also went out to do some outlet shopping and enjoyed our first Mexican dinner with Mase at Cantina 1511. YUM!
We also went out to do some outlet shopping and enjoyed our first Mexican dinner with Mase at Cantina 1511. YUM!
We added each week's pictures to Picasa if you want to download any pictures. Just click on the link below to see the full album.
Mason's 1st Week
Mason's 2nd Week
Monday, August 15, 2011
One Week Old Today!
Happy One Week Baby Boy! :)
It has been a very exciting week here in the Valente household. Mason is growing and changing very quickly already and for a peanut, he is one tough cookie! We spent most of his first week in the hospital but finally got to come home on Thursday and have been spoiled with so much love from family and friends since home... we cannot THANK YOU enough!!!
Aunt Diana and Grandma Lynn have been very busy helping take very good care of Mason while Mommy and Daddy adjust to parenthood, which right now is a lot of feeding, changing diapers and snuggling! :) We have been working hard to create some kind of schedule at home and so far Mason has been such a very good baby and really is such a lovable mush.
We have also been able to introduce Mase to a few of our family members and friends via Skype. He is already very into technology like his Daddy!
Yesterday, Angela Shea came by to shoot Mason's newborn photos. She also shot our maternity photos a few weeks ago and has published some of them on her blog. Feel free to check them out.
Today Mason had his very first play date with Ashlynn who was born just five days before him. They slept through the entire date and took turns crying when it was time to take a few photos!
PICTURES: CLICK HERE - Mason's 1st Week
It has been a very exciting week here in the Valente household. Mason is growing and changing very quickly already and for a peanut, he is one tough cookie! We spent most of his first week in the hospital but finally got to come home on Thursday and have been spoiled with so much love from family and friends since home... we cannot THANK YOU enough!!!
Aunt Diana and Grandma Lynn have been very busy helping take very good care of Mason while Mommy and Daddy adjust to parenthood, which right now is a lot of feeding, changing diapers and snuggling! :) We have been working hard to create some kind of schedule at home and so far Mason has been such a very good baby and really is such a lovable mush.
We have also been able to introduce Mase to a few of our family members and friends via Skype. He is already very into technology like his Daddy!
Yesterday, Angela Shea came by to shoot Mason's newborn photos. She also shot our maternity photos a few weeks ago and has published some of them on her blog. Feel free to check them out.
Today Mason had his very first play date with Ashlynn who was born just five days before him. They slept through the entire date and took turns crying when it was time to take a few photos!
PICTURES: CLICK HERE - Mason's 1st Week
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Mason's Pad
We had a great time prepping for Mason's debut! We first found the bedding set "Antique Toy" which we love! Thanks Aunt Christina and Uncle Mike!
We then did the painting one weekend which was a lot of work but we were THRILLED with how it all came out!
Our friend Brooke hand painted some of the beautiful artwork in his room and we found some of the "antique" finishing touches at my favorite store Restoration Hardware.
The furniture was a gift from GaGa and Pop Pop Valente and pulled it all together!
Hope the little dude loves it as much as we do!
Mason's Birth Story~
On Friday morning August 5th, I woke up around 2:45 with pains in my low back and belly. They came and went for a few hours before I woke Anthony and told him I thought this may be the start of contractions and labor but I wasn't quite sure. We were cautiously excited that this could be it. We woke up Friday morning thinking that Mason would be making his debut and decided to go for a walk to see if we could keep things moving along. As soon as we got back from the walk, the contractions stopped. I felt maybe 3 or 4 of them the rest of the day but nothing like the way they were the night before. FALSE ALARM!
Around 9:30 I laid down to catch up on the lack of sleep from the night before and of course the pains returned. This time they were strong enough to take my breath away and came every 15-20 minutes> This continued ALL NIGHT LONG but by 10 am they were getting further and further apart and eventually came every hour or so. The same chain of events repeated itself through Saturday night. It wasn't until Sunday morning that I had contractions consistently all day long 20 minutes apart. At around 10:30 pm, they had finally progressed to 5-8 minutes apart and we knew IT WAS TIME!
We called the doctor and they said we should head to the hospital in the next few hours but not to rush. We gave it an hour or so and by this point the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and VERY painful.
Once we arrived, I was admitted and they checked to find I was in fact dilated 3 cm. It was REALLY happening!!! I made it until 2 am before asking for the epidural at 4 cm and soon after that the doctor came in and broke my water to get things moving along. "We are having a baby this morning!" Dr. Taylor said.
I was feeling great thanks to the epi and when they checked on me at 5 am and I was at 7 cm. We were excited! This is right around the time when things started to change a bit. The nurse came in and told me the baby needed to be moved and wasn't handling the position I was in very well. She turned me over to my right side, which may I add was facing the baby's monitor and things seemed to be ok. For an hour or so, as I watched with bated breath as things seemed to change quickly from very good and stable to very bad. His heart rate would drop at every contraction and each time it did I just watched and took a deep breath and reminded myself I was in the best place possible.
They changed shifts and a new doctor and set of nurses came in to check on me. I hadn't made any progress and they were still watching the baby closely. We needed to speed things up. The doctor had them start me on pitocin and an hour later NOTHING had changed except now I was even more concerned and worried. The doctor felt that labor and pushing would be too much stress on the baby and didn't want to take any risks so she said she felt we needed to move on to a c section option. Of course, I wanted him here safely but a c-section had not been in our plan. I didn't really do any research on a c-section. I immediately started crying as they explained the surgery and told me they would have me in the OR in a half hour and that it would be no more than 30 minutes once in there to meet our little man.
Around 9:30 I laid down to catch up on the lack of sleep from the night before and of course the pains returned. This time they were strong enough to take my breath away and came every 15-20 minutes> This continued ALL NIGHT LONG but by 10 am they were getting further and further apart and eventually came every hour or so. The same chain of events repeated itself through Saturday night. It wasn't until Sunday morning that I had contractions consistently all day long 20 minutes apart. At around 10:30 pm, they had finally progressed to 5-8 minutes apart and we knew IT WAS TIME!
We called the doctor and they said we should head to the hospital in the next few hours but not to rush. We gave it an hour or so and by this point the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and VERY painful.
Once we arrived, I was admitted and they checked to find I was in fact dilated 3 cm. It was REALLY happening!!! I made it until 2 am before asking for the epidural at 4 cm and soon after that the doctor came in and broke my water to get things moving along. "We are having a baby this morning!" Dr. Taylor said.
I was feeling great thanks to the epi and when they checked on me at 5 am and I was at 7 cm. We were excited! This is right around the time when things started to change a bit. The nurse came in and told me the baby needed to be moved and wasn't handling the position I was in very well. She turned me over to my right side, which may I add was facing the baby's monitor and things seemed to be ok. For an hour or so, as I watched with bated breath as things seemed to change quickly from very good and stable to very bad. His heart rate would drop at every contraction and each time it did I just watched and took a deep breath and reminded myself I was in the best place possible.
They changed shifts and a new doctor and set of nurses came in to check on me. I hadn't made any progress and they were still watching the baby closely. We needed to speed things up. The doctor had them start me on pitocin and an hour later NOTHING had changed except now I was even more concerned and worried. The doctor felt that labor and pushing would be too much stress on the baby and didn't want to take any risks so she said she felt we needed to move on to a c section option. Of course, I wanted him here safely but a c-section had not been in our plan. I didn't really do any research on a c-section. I immediately started crying as they explained the surgery and told me they would have me in the OR in a half hour and that it would be no more than 30 minutes once in there to meet our little man.
Anthony went off to get his gown on and my mom and sister were sent off to the waiting area tears were shed as we said goodbye and I was sent off to OR to be prepped for surgery. I was just so anxious for the moment when we heard our little man cry and he was safe in our arms. Within the hour our dreams finally came true. As I lay on the table with only a screen separating me from my son, I finally heard the little guy cry out and it took my breath away! Anthony leaned in and told me how beautiful he was and I cried tears of pure joy as I looked to the left and saw a PERFECT baby BOY! He was finally here and we immediately fell in LOVE! <3 Welcome to the world Mason!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Our Little Peanut is Here~
Mason Angelo Valente
Born August 8th, 2011 @ 11:13 AM EST --- 6lbs, 13 ozs, 20 inches
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