Two weeks old

first picture of the three of us

Grandpa holding Aliyah for Cousin Caroline...how cute! Caroline is almost 2 years old and she seems to enjoy having a younger cousin since her brother 'Luke' is older. I bet she can't wait to try to teach her the things her brother thought her:)


Dr. Vernon, Kim delivered both Jared (years ago) and our daughter Aliyah. She is the best Obstetricians I have ever had. In D Magazine, Dr. Vernon was voted by her peers as “one of the best doctors in Dallas” in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Aliyah sucking her thumb again...

Two weeks since Aliyah has been Booooorn! I have to say I wasn’t completely ready for all the surprises and the “NO SLEEP” nights for the first couple of days. I was completely wiped out from all I've been through -- the delivery, the constant feedings, the overwhelming newness of it all. But it was and is all worth it. I have to say everyone has been very helpful and made our life a lot easier and we are grateful for that. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE YOUR FAMILY AND GOOD FRIENDS!!!

Her week one has been all about listening to her and doing whatever it takes to not have her cry. It almost hurts when you hear your baby cry. This week, we were much better recognizing her cues almost immediately. She usually cries only when she is either hungry, wants to be held or needs a diaper change. Our Aliyah wants to be fed pretty much around the clock like her daddy:) Overall it is becoming a lot easier than the first week and I am sure it only get better.

More pixs of Aliyah!!!

Aliyah Belay Cahill has entered the world!!!

Trying to burb her...

My peaceful angel sleeping

After enjoying her in my belly for almost 40 weeks, our little Angel was born at Medical City of Dallas on December 10, 2008 at 3:07PM. She was 7 pounds and 13 Ounces and 20 ½ inches.

On Tuesday, I went into the doctor's office for my regular visit and the doctor mentioned that she thinks the baby is almost 8 pounds and it would be good to go ahead and get her out now before she is too big and would have to do C-Section later. At the time, my cervix was completely closed and I wasn’t dilating at all so she advised me to either induce that day or do a biophysical profile on Friday to determine the condition of the baby and then induce. She was quite adamant that she would not allow me to be more than one more week late – considering the size of the baby. J and I discussed our options and decided to go ahead and be induced that day. We went to the hospital at 9:00PM and were given cervidil around 11:00PM to loosen my Cervix since it was completely closed. By 12:00PM, I started feeling my first contractions. Not too bad – I was able to breathe through them without any problem and was up walking around. By 1:00AM, my contractions were hurting so bad I had to call and tell the nurse I need any pain medication she can give me. She went ahead and checked me and said I was already dilated almost two cm by then and decided to give me the epidural. After the epidural, the pain was gone within five minutes. Before the epidural, it was the most painful thing I have ever felt in my life. I laid back in bed and relaxed after that since I was able to push the button to add more medicine, I was a happy person. By 12:00 PM the next day, I was 10 centimeters dilated and ordered to push. I was so exhausted I could barely push since I was up pretty much all night but I was ready for Aliyah to come out. I was placed on a birthing bar to help – this is a bar attached to the bed. I placed my feet on the bar and used a sheet attached to the middle of the bar in order to pull myself up with pushing. J and the nurse held my legs up while I pushed for about two hours, and was beyond exhaustion. The nurse called the doctor after pushing for about an hour and half and they were ready to take Aliyah out. They took her out within 20 min and it was the best feeling I have ever had when she was out and crying.

My sister was able to change her flight and came to see me and my mom will be able to come on Sunday and stay with me for about a month. Js family, which has been supportive thru out my pregnancy and our friends have been coming to visit our precious baby and us.

Now, I am at the hospital and enjoying the bundle of joy in my life. It is almost like a dream – I'm afraid that I will wake up any moment and find that this was all a dream but of course, it is real.

A Peek at my 37 Weeks Maternity Pixs!

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward."
~Psalm 127:3~

We decided to take some more pictures since I have gotten a lot bigger since last time I took pictures. It's amazing how you see your body change everyday. You think you can only get so big, but then its all a blessing from God.

In the nursery...

What should I say...I am just a happy mommy-to-be

As the 'BIG' day gets closer...

I did my last sonogram 2 weeks ago and everything looks good. Our daughter weighs about 6.8 pounds and about 19 1/2 inches long. We are now wondering about what she will look like, what color her eyes will be, what her skin will look like, her hair and etc..

As my pregnancy progresses farther along and the end is in sight - only 11 days to go- I have been stressing things that need to be done before our daughters arrival and also decide what we will be needing for that "Big" day. I have been going to yoga classes to ease my labor. I have heard every delivery experience there is from so many different women and I hope mine will be an easy one with less pain but of course I expect the worst just in case. We got our hospital luggage ready and I am ready to take off work on Friday, Dec 5th and looking forward to the new challenges that motherhood will bring me.

J and I have taken all the childbirth classes there are out there :) It is very helpful especially for first time parents like us to learn what to expect from labor, the days afterwards, breastfeeding, CPR and a lot of other things you have never heard of from other people. We also took a tour of the hospital where they show you where the delivery room will be and what to do when you get to the hospital when its time.

Of course you never know whether you will be having a C-Section or a natural birth until its time but I much rather have natural birth so we will see. Some people say no drugs and beg for drugs once they are in it and I am sure I will be taking them! My thoughts before this, actually, have been - No epidural! But now it is bring on the pain killers since I do not want to be in pain.

I am hoping to be breastfeeding about a year after listening about all the pros which include helping you loose the pregnancy weight, the benefits for the baby, cost effectiveness and much more…

“What brand of diapers will you be using?”

Anyone who has ever had a baby or is about to has heard the question, "What brand of diapers will you be using? Some will swear that there is no difference between brands, while others are fiercely loyal to one or the other. I never thought about much of it when I first thought about diapers. I just thought they were all pretty much the same and you just go pick whatever. After few researches I have made over the Internet and reading people’s opinion, I have found out that Huggies diapers, manufactured by Kimberly Clarke, and Pampers diapers, manufactured by Proctor and Gamble, are probably the two best known brands of diapers.

For our little girl that is about to be born I think we will go ahead and try Pampers since I have heard that Pampers Swaddlers work the very best for newborn babies. They are made in such a fashion that they are soft enough to not irritate a newborn baby's skin. Also, the top band of the diaper reaches to just under the umbilical cord stump, so as to not irritate that sensitive area. The Pampers Swaddlers also feature very good Velcro-like side closures. When we took the parenting class the hospital also mentioned that pampers Swaddlers are typically the brand of diaper that are handed out in the hospital when the baby is born. So we will let you know if we made a good choice or not.

My 34 Weeks Maternity Pictures!

Seeing how I have a baby belly and a desire to document my pregnancy, I figured I'd try a maternity photo shoot to remember for later. I wanted to go get professional pictures taken but then I had a friend ask me if I wanted a photographer she knew that just relocated to Dallas that would love to take my maternity pictures. I was pretty hesitant at first but then I went ahead and gave it a shot. I didn't think I would like any of the pictures but surprisingly some turned out to be good. I guess the photographer (Joy Neville Photography) did great after all.

Posing for the pictures was a lot harder than I thought since my body wasn't cooperating at all and I have never been good at posing for pictures:) Let's just say it was hard!!!
Here they are …

My lips look a lot bigger than they actually are:)

O...My shy hubby