Hello. I am Sueannette.

Feb 11, 2016

5 min read

Hi. I have finally started a blog and this will be where I'll be sharing thoughts, memories, etc. It is only right to introduce myself and fill you in with my life. I am a 23 year old mom and wife from New York City. I had my first son when I was 17 years old. I got pregnant December of 2008 and it was extremely early in my relationship to really even know the man I was starting a family with. Typical story - young teen falls in love with a guy whose no good for her. But I won't go too much into detail about my relationship with this man. My pregnancy with Johnny was normal but when I was three days overdue, they decided to check up on him to make sure he was okay. I was told his heart rate was dropping and my amniotic fluid was low. The feelings of fear, worry and panic spread over me immediately. I made the choice to be induced. 5 hours and 50 minutes later on September 22nd, 2009, Johnny was born. My new life had begun and I was lucky enough to have my parents to help me during those next few years. During my pregnancy, I stopped attending school and instead did the classwork and homework from home. After two months post-partum, I returned to school. To make up my PE credits, I joined a cheerleading team suggested by the school. Shortly before I found out I was pregnant, I had tried out for the cheerleading team in my school. I had just found out I was pregnant when they announced those who were selected after the auditions. My name was listed but I could no longer go down that route so being able to join a team after having Johnny was exciting for me. I attended cheerleading practice for a few months and even did a show with my team. Unfortunately, my personal life with Johnny's father made me leave the team. I always think back and wish I would've stuck to it. I enjoyed every bit of time I spent as a cheerleader. Johnny was in and out the hospital often during his first few years of life. He was always sick - fevers and vomiting. Many nights I had to miss sleep to take him to the hospital. In 2010, I broke off my relationship with his father for it was far too unhealthy. Despite my experiences in my relationship, becoming a new mother and also dealing with Johnny's constant hospital visits, I finished high school in 2011. Not having your friends around who you were surrounded by for four years was very depressing. So I spent most of my lunch periods tutoring. There were maybe a handful of people that I spoke to but of course, it was not the same. I was proud of myself for accomplishing one of my many goals and so were my parents. They always mentioned how although I was a "teen mom," I had finished high school and would soon be attending college. In 2011, I began college at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). I had never taken my SAT's so I just settled for a community college. When I started college, I was working a stressful job and in a relationship with an old acquaintance. Two months after starting college, we broke up. Of course this affected me a great deal. My grades suffered greatly and I stopped going to some classes. I passed 2 out of my 5 classes. After some time, I picked myself back up and continued. I graduated BMCC, May 2014. During those 3 years at BMCC, I met wonderful people! I was back on track and upheld my motivation to continue working hard. Not only did I meet some amazing people but on August 31st, 2012, I met my husband. I was in speech class when he walked in, late, and took a seat across the room. I was immediately attracted to him. Our teacher explained half way through the class, while I glanced here and there across the room at this attractive man, that we would have to complete a speech about a classmate we were partnered with by next class. I looked over at the girl next to me and asked if she would like to partner up with me and she said yes. Not too long after, the teacher told us she would place us with someone across the room. Of course I was sitting at my desk thinking, "no way I'd get partnered up with the cute guy across the room. No way." Well guess what guys? That's how our love story began. We were partnered up and started telling one another about ourselves. The next day of class, my husband presented a beautiful speech about me and how I was a mother of a 2-year-old. My husband met my son for the first time on his 3rd birthday though I was extremely hesitant about bringing another man around my son. From there he began coming over and being around Johnny more and more often. My son LOVED him and slowly, so did I. We decided to make things official October 22nd of 2012. During the first year and a half, we grew together. We went through many obstacles and of course had wonderful moments as well. I fell in love with him and he fell in love with me and my son, my other half. July 13th, 2014 at around 9:25pm, we found out I was pregnant and we couldn't have been any happier. We had been wanting to add another little one to our family of three for quite some time but I was hesitant. I did not want to make the same mistakes I made before and I wanted to be sure we could support a baby. I told him to get a job and less a month later, he had his job. I was still hesitant because I wanted to finish my associates degree. I got pregnant June 2014, a month after graduating with my associates degree. Johnny was so excited when he found out he was going to become a big brother! He always asked me when I was going to "explode." This pregnancy was completely different from the first. Not only did I have the craziest symptoms but I was with a different man. Someone who made sure I was fine before anything else. He would put on my boots and take them off (it was a snowy winter in NYC), he would get my cravings no matter what time it was and always checked up on me. At the time, we lived in two completely different boroughs which are about an hour an a half apart by subway. So of course him being able to do all of that and travel to do so, meant a lot to me. On October 22nd, 2014 - on our two year anniversary, as promised, we got married. We moved in together late February, a few weeks before our son was expected to arrive. On March 15th, 2015 - two days earlier than my due date - my water broke. An hour and a few minutes later, Giovanni was in my arms. The next few days were rough for us because we had to see Giovanni in an incubator in the NICU for low oxygen and jaundice. Luckily for us, he was out on the 3rd day. We have been enjoying raising our boys together. Motherhood has been the best journey I've ever endured and I would not have it any other way. My boys fill me with so much happiness and joy. They bring me smiles during my lowest times. Now I'm allowing you guys to witness my journey, struggles and growth.

Here are some photos from 2009 (when I began my motherhood journey) to present! Sorry there were too many to choose from so you might be scrolling for some time! LOL