RSS 2.0 FeedJanuary 27, 2011, Bellmore Life
Welcome, Madeline Grace!
Meet the Bellmores’ First Baby of the Year.
“When I’m sleeping in my bed and I wake up and look over at Madeline Grace, I just can’t believe she’s mine,” remarked Annalisa Bavaro Abreu on giving birth to Madeline Grace Abreu, the Bellmores’ First Baby of the Year.
Dad Luis Abreu (pronounced A-bray-o) was perhaps more succinct on the birth of his first daughter: “Oh my God, this is unbelievable, I love my daughter!”
Madeline Grace was born at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside on Monday, January 3, at 8:55 p.m.
Her birth was anything but ordinary, and required a bit of “hanging on” by mom to bring her into the world. “I first got false contractions on New Year’s Eve, but they stopped,” she said. On Sunday, January 2, “I began having contractions at night so I went to the hospital” because she thought it was time. But doctors and nurses concluded she wasn’t in labor, and sent her home.
“At around 3 a.m. I started getting strong contractions,” she continued, but she didn’t want to have to go back to the hospital only to be told she still wasn’t in labor. “I didn’t want to have to keep going back and forth to the hospital,” she said.
She fell asleep as best she could, but was up by 6 a.m. with the strong contractions continuing. She told Bellmore Life she held on for as long as she could – “I was in real pain by now” – until, around 11 a.m., she measured the timing of the contractions, which were now coming every five minutes.
At that point she went to the hospital and was told she was in labor. Baby Madeline Grace then arrived at 8:55 p.m. “I thought after giving birth that ‘This is the best day of my life! She’s the biggest blessing in the world!’ ”
Madeline Grace is named after generations of matriarchs in her family: Madeline is her great-grandmother’s name (Madeline and Michael Bavaro), and Grace, Annalisa’s mother, is her grandmother’s name (Grace Bavaro Baron and Lanny Baron).
Madeline Grace’s grandmother and grandfather on her dad Luis’s side are Quintina Polanco and Florentino Abreu. Luis, a dance instructor, and his family are originally from the Dominican Republic.
While Annalisa, a Spanish teacher, nurses Madeline Grace, she was in grandmother Grace’s arms being bottle-fed when Bellmore Life arrived for a visit. “I thought having my daughter was great,” said Mrs. Bavaro Baron, “but having Madeline Grace is even better,” because she approaches it with more understanding now. Annalisa smiled at the remark.
Already Madeline Grace seems alert to her surroundings. “She’s got big eyes and is always alert, looking around at things,” said mother Annalisa. More interesting is that she brightens up when mother plays music. Madeline’s father Luis is a Latin dance instructor, and Annalisa told Bellmore Life that while she was pregnant she and Luis were always going to the dance clubs on weekends to do what they love to do: dance.
Now, when Annalisa plays Latin music, Madeline seems to recognize it. “All the months I was pregnant we were out dancing. Maybe she recognizes the music.”
Madeline eats well, will only call out when hungry, and giggles especially when she’s tickled or kissed under her chin, grandmother Grace said. And having plenty of new clothes in the closet isn’t a bad idea either, both mother and grandmother admitted. “Whenever we have to change her, she has fresh new clothes to change into.”
A lineup of gifts await the mother of Bellmore’s First Baby of the Year, including a $25 gift certificate from Piccolo’s Ristorante, a haircut from mom or dad at TJs unisex haircutters, a $25 gift certificate from Zuckerman’s, two movie passes from the Bellmore Movies, two flats of flowers from Island Greenery, brunch for two at Hemingway’s and a free massage for mom or dad from CW Lee Massage of Merrick.
Also, a floral arrangement from Pettite Florist, a $25 gift certificate from Bellmore Bagel Cafe, a gift for baby from Stride Rite Shoes of Merrick, a free pair of Robeez soft sole shoes from Robeez Wantagh Bootery, one free week for mom and guest from World Gym, and a one-year subscription to Bellmore Life, your community newspaper.
