Fabulous Friday: HE'S HERE!!

"Babies are such a nice way to start people."

-Don Herold

Well, my friends, at long last, my best friend's baby has arrived!! All my love and congrats to Jessie over at I'm a Wife Now? Pop on over and give her some love. On Wednesday, July 22nd, Jessie notified me that she was in labor and on her way over to the hospital. I. Freaked. Out. All night long, I kept my phone by my side in case Jessie contacted me. I was fortunate enough to get to talk to her a couple times throughout the evening, so I truly felt like I was there in spirit. I stayed up until 1:00 A.M., hoping to hear some good news, but finally my eyes fell heavy, so for the rest of the entire night, I laid there in only a partial sleep, waking up every 20 minutes to check my phone. Shortly after 4:30 A.M., it went off and I was wide awake again. Jessie sent me a picture of her baby... and I started crying. He is just perfect, just so all of you know.

He looks like a perfect little baby doll... only hairier. ;)

His name is Dominic and already, I am obsessed with him. All day at work, I showed every single one of my co-workers the picture and gushed about how flawless he was, with a full head of dark hair, a button nose, and little heart-shaped lips. He almost doesn't look real, he's so handsome. I rushed out after work to go see him and his amazing parents.

When I finally got to the hospital and saw him, I almost felt like the whole thing wasn't real. As I put it, "it felt like there was an elephant in the room." I couldn't believe the miracle that had occurred. Two days prior, we had all been out to dinner and all Dominic was was this bump on my friend's belly... he was more so the IDEA of a baby, rather than an actual, physical human life. On Wednesday, he became so much more real than we could have ever imagined. Suddenly, he has a shape; he's not just round. Suddenly, he has ears; he's not just a bump that can supposedly hear us from inside the womb. Suddenly, he can actively move; he's not just a slight twinge or kick from Jessie's stomach. He is REAL and he is amazing.

The whole car ride home, I gushed about Dominic. I talked about how amazing Jessie and Justin were going to be as parents; what an incredible family they were going to be. They say motherly instincts are just that: instinctive. I can tell already that Jessie is becoming so in tune with this baby and figuring out what it is he needs at any given time. I have the utmost confidence in them. Sitting in that hospital room and seeing the new Szmanda family of three was the calmest moment I have ever had. You could literally FEEL the peace and the love... so much so, that it was difficult to have to say goodbye. I had never seen a baby on their first day of life, or their first month of life, even before. I had never actually held a baby. Getting to hold Dominic last night was so new to me. He was so warm and light-weight and fragile... I was nervous about holding him, but I'm so glad I did. He slept so peacefully, sighing and wiggling ever-so slightly every once in awhile. "This" I thought, "is why people procreate." It was such a surreal feeling.

But enough gushing! To those of you who have experienced this before, I'm sure I'm just reiterating everything you already know. But this whole blog is based on the idea that we learn and experience new things every day and today, I wanted to share with you all what I discovered and am so grateful I did. My fullest congratulations again to Jessie and Justin on Dominic's birth. I love you guys lots and lots and am so incredibly grateful that I have gotten to be so involved in this whole process. It was so inspiring and heart-warming and I cannot wait to see where this goes and watch Baby Dom grow up.

God bless!

P!