Busy Busy Busy

Addison was baptized this weekend. She slept through the entire service. Once I get photos off of everyone's camera I will post some! We had a house full, and Payton LOVED it! It was great to see everyone. Brian (with the help of our dad's and Jason) got most of the swing set up. Well, the part that Payton likes best, the swings. She is BEGGING all the time to go out on the swings. As we are pulling into the driveway she yells " I can't see it yet!" followed by "there's the baby swing!". I know what we are going to be doing for a while. We need to get the slide on, and the clubhouse done. Then we can move out her sandbox and playground Steward is open for business! I am hoping that once it is totally done she won't need to swing the day away anymore:)
But we are glad that she likes it!

Back to work...

Yesterday was my first day back at work. Addison also turned 11 weeks yesterday. Her first day at daycare went pretty well. I went to nurse her during my lunch break, and I didn't want to leave! Unfortunatly I had a Board meeting after work (I am on board of directors at their daycare) and Brian had to pick them up as well as drop them off yesterday. Payton's teacher brought her over to the infant room to see Addison, which she loved! Addison fell asleep in her bouncy seat around 7pm or so. She woke up at 9pm and I fed her. Then she fell right back to sleep in her crib. This is more than she usually sleeps in the evening, but she had a long day! Then she sleeps until 5AM!!!! That right, a 7 1/2 hour stretch or so! We went to bed around 10:30 so I slept over 6 hours STRAIGHT!!! I haven't done that since early in my pregnancy!!! Poor baby was SO tired! So much stimulation at daycare I guess!

I have been asking Payton for MONTHS every time I paint my nails if she wants me to paint her toes. She always says no. Then I brought out the blue nail polish. As you can see, she wanted "blue toes" then! I love little girls:)

Strange Coincidence

I saw that there were some brush fires near Los Angeles that are threatening the Griffith Observatory.
It's a rather unique structure and I thought it looked familiar. Then I vaguely remembered a sceen from "The Rocketeer" that was shot at the observatory. I haven't thought about that movie probably since it came out. So the strange coincidence part involves a show I was watching last night on the Travel Channel about the most luxurious RV destinations. They showed this actor buying an Airstream trailer to use on movie sets. It turns out this was the guy who played the Rocketeer in the movie (Bill Campbell)! That's a strange coincidence!!

Michigan Trip

We are back from our week of travel. We started out journey driving on Thursday to downstate MI with a stop overnight in Escanaba. Payton and Addison both did awesome in the car. We didn't even break out the DVD player that day, and we were in the car for over 6 hours I think... Grandma Betty drove down for breakfast at our hotel the next morning then we were off to Brian's sister Christina in Auburn, MI. We did stop to feed Addison at Amy and Mark's in Gaylord because the timing worked out great and Payton was able to play for a little bit. We then got to Christina and Tim's and stayed one night with them. The highlight for Payton, other that watching the dogs, was collecting all the milk carton rings that the cat plays with. She started that one on her own and had a ball!

Saturday evening we were back in Gaylord for our Godson Jonah's baptism. The baptism itself was Sunday morning followed by a baptism/birthday party. That Jonah was SO cute in his little satin outfit, although he was slippery! I started to lose my grip during the baptism itself! ha ha... I was able to hold on and it all went over well, he didn't make a peep. Once we sat down Amy kept asking if I wanted her to take him back, but we were having too good of a time chewing on the bulletin. At one point during the service Brian had Addison and I had Jonah and Payton was trying to get her crayons out to color... Brian looked at me and whispered, "this is why we can't have 3 kids!" Too true:)

That was also Brian's 32nd birthday. Happy Birthday Brian! Payton wore herself out that day! We stayed in Gaylord until Monday night and drove up to Mackinac City at the girls bedtime to cut down some driving for the next day. Payton is still talking aboaut going to Olivia's to play with Olivia and Jonah. It was just wonderful to be able to spend a good amount of time the Amy and Mark. We miss you guys!! Payton just had so much fun! She has been just pooped since we got back. We got her to bed late every night and of course she didn't get regular naps either. But she did great considering.

Tuesday night we stayed with my sister Nicole in Appleton, WI. We got there in the afternoon so that was nice. Payton had a cot that was Brian's parents that she had been sleeping on the entire trip. She LOVES that thing. She sleeps so good on it, although we did bring her bedding from home. Anyway, Nicole asked her if she wanted to sleep in Elizabeth's room with her. Payton didn't answer at first, but a little while later she whispered to me that she wanted to "sleep with Elizabeth in her room". So we set up her cot, she was asleep in minutes, and she had her first little "sleep over". When she got up the next morning she kept saying "I slept in Elizabeth's room last night!". I really thought it would have been too much fun for her and she wouldn't go down. I guess all that travel and playing just wore her right out! Payton and Elizabeth are really starting to play well together. It is so nice to see:)

Wednesday we were back at home. Now we all have a cold/coughs. Too much time together in the car I guess:) Hopefully this weekend we can all get well!

While we were gone we were keeping up to date with our friends. Congrats to Dave and Lisa and their newest baby girl Layla. She was born April 26th. Too cute!!!

2 months...

Addison had her 2 month appointment yesterday. Brian and I have really noticed that she seems to be filling out! I was looking forward to seeing her stats. She weighs 11 pounds 9 ounces and is 23 inches long! I couldn't believe it! She is growing equally on both charts at 75th percentile for both! At Payton's 2 month appointment she weighed 10 pounds 11 ounces, but remember she weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces at birth. She was only in the 47th percentile and her pediatrician wanted us to feed her more! Not that problem with Addison. We supplemented Payton with formula when she was only a couple of days old. Addison hasn't had a drop of formula, I can't imagine how big she would be then:) Our littlest sweetie is getting so big! Brian said that it is no wonder our backs are always sore!

Her left eye was stilling looking yucky so we now are giving her eye drops as well. Our pedi thought that it may have been just a blocked duck, but being Payton has pink eye and it has been ongoing with Addison she didn't want to risk anything "festering" in there.

I had my blood drawn to see about my being a cystic fibrosis carrier... it will take a while to get those results back. It will be interesting to see!

"Payton come here... Is your eye red?"

When we got up on Friday this is the first thing I said to Payton once she was in the bright daylight... "NO it's pink" is what she said to me! She is too much! So pinkeye is back at our house. We still have drops from last month so we started them again. This time around she is really fighting them though... Addison's eyes have been "goopy" for a week or so, but she still is fighting the stuffy nose so I think that is why her eye is goopy sometimes. It isn't red at all. We go in tomorrow for her 2 month visit, and I really want to get the doctor's take on her having a cold/stuffy nose for about a month...

Payton's bedtime routine is FINALLY back to normal. Take her iron supplement, brush teeth, kiss everyone, ready 4 books, rock for about 3 minutes then to bed. She goes without a fight as long as we leave the lamp in her room on. Brian just hates that, but we shut if off when we go to bed and she doesn't even notice. She does get up at around 6:30 am though. But I would rather that then the fight at bedtime.

Addison is doing very well in her own room. And I will say that even if she has a tough night I really don't mind running in and our of our bedroom. I find myself feeling less tired when I am up with her because I do have to hop out of bed to get her. She loves her new aquarium on her crib and we do have a little light/music thing from her pack and play that fits on her crib rail so that we can turn on the little nightlight for her. It shuts off after several minutes, usually she is already asleep. I only have 3 more weeks of leave left, and I must say I am looking forward to getting back to work. I miss my co-workers and my patients...

So our Netflix this weekend was "Casino Royale". We were a little disappointed. I did like Daniel Craig as 007 though! We are off to MI this week to see Brian's sister and visit with Amy and Mark and celebrate there son's baptism. We will actually be gone a week with drive time. We haven't spent more than a couple of hours with Amy and Mark in a couple of years, so it is going to be SO nice!

Good Girls!

Last night we decided that Payton could stay up a little later (9pm) to watch a movie with us. We have had "Cars" from Netflix for a LONG time and none of us has seen it. So we got Payton in her PJs and headed downstairs to the family room to watch it. Payton did well, she actually watched most of it I think, inbetween Play Doh! It was fun to all sit down together and actually watch the same thing. Cute movie by the way!

Last night was also Addison's first night in her crib. She has been doing so well in the bassinet and napping in her crib during the day we decided to give it a shot. Being a weekend night, Brian could get up with her too if she wouldn't settle. Well, she did awesome. Just as well as in the bassinet. Once she is asleep (usually this process takes a half hour or so anyway) she is asleep until she needs to eat again. Good girl! Today Payton and I went out and bought Addison her very own Fisher Price aquarium to hang on her crib. Payton's is on her toddler bed and she still plays it every night. Several times during the night actually!

This morning Payton had an appointment at my salon to get her hair cut. Last time she refused to wear the cape and had to sit on my lap. This time, with some help from my stylist moving the chair up and down, Payton sat on the booster herself and wore the cape. I was proud of her! She got her hair trimmed and blown dry. She has been saying "Owwww" after her bath because all those curls get tangled. Hopefully this cut will make that better. Her hair was getting pretty long!

Updates on us all...

Addison is almost 7 weeks old now and eating and pooping like a champ! Not much else goes on in her life. Other than the million kisses a day that big sister, Momma, and Daddy give her!

Brian is super busy at work, playing tennis every Wednesday night (great for him, but not as fun for me... bedtime isn't the easiest yet with both girls...), and planning all the jobs he is going to do once it gets warmer. He is planning a swing set for the girls, a little more landscaping, painting and all the other odd jobs he can find! We had a fireplace put in our family room downstairs a couple of weeks ago and he has been doing the finish on our mantel this weekend. When it is completely done we will post photos.

Payton has been singing and counting like crazy lately. Her favorite songs (that she can sing herself) are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABCs, and Row Row Row your boat. It is fun for us to see the motions she does to them that she learned at school. I had a conference with her teacher and she told me that Payton is doing just awesome with her colors, she has a great easy going attitude and the potty training is going well. She has started to wake up from naps dry and both here and at daycare she is going on the potty daily. She is wearing pull-ups now that she will only put on if she picks it out herself... we have to keep them in a tub in her closet so she can dig through them. Mind you the only difference is that there are 2 different pictures... She will use up all of one of the pictures before we can put the other one on her... What that is about is anyone's guess...

As for me, I had my 6 week post partum visit last week. I am feeling super, so my days of playing the recovering part are over! I have lost the 3 pounds I gained with Addison plus 21 more. That is wierd! My doctor and I talked about the CF scare we had with Addison and he convinced me to have the blood test to see if I am the carrier. So when I bring Addison for her 2 month checkup (her pedi as well as my OB are 30 minutes away) I will have it done. I was so grateful that he gave me his take on it. I really value and trust his opinion. So if I am negative that means it is Brian's side, if I am positive (meaning that I am a CF carrier) then Brian will be tested too. If we are both carriers we are most definetly done having kids. The info will be helpful for my sister Val too, she hasn't started having kids yet. I have stopped in at work to see everyone a couple of times and 2 of my co=workers have quit. One is going to be working for a couple of months longer (she is moving and has to sell her house) and I am SO sad about that. She is a great friend to me and she is my sanity at work. We are the same type of nurse and that makes it super easy to work with her. I knew she and her husband were thinking of moving so it wasn't a huge surprise to me. The other nurse was actually on a "probation", meaning she was on a workplan to improve her performance and she was not doing well. And she has been calling in sick a lot lately. Our boss met with her to suspend her when she quit, effective immediately. This isn't a bad thing because she was wasn't pulling her own weight at work... But when there are only 4 of you doing your job and you lose 2 that is HUGE. And I am out until the middle of May... It will be interesting when I get back!

Easter Weekend

We have had a busy and fun Easter weekend. Friday we dyed Easter eggs with Payton for the first time. We weren't sure how she would do, but she really loved it. Brian helped her with each one, and other than a few spills she did great. Saturday morning we had an Easter egg hunt at church. We have been having a cold spell and it was below freezing that morning so it was inside. After the initial couple she seemed to get into and had fun. More fun eating the candy that was inside the eggs while we listened to the first Easter story. Saturday night we went to church (we have been lazy in the am so this was a good compromise!) and it was going good. There was a baptism that night and our church is a big stone building and voices can carry... during the baptism there was a pause and then our Payton "What the baby doing Daddy?". We tried not to laugh out loud as Brian told her and she just repeated "but what the baby doing?" Classic! Sunday morning the easter bunny left more eggs to find and she had a great time searching the house. She dug into her easter basket saying "how cute" to just about everything. She got a new hat which she wore around for a long time. We then went for brunch and totally pigged out. Way better than cooking for ourselves!

So it was a busy, but really fun and festive weekend. We are pooped!

6 weeks!

I can NOT believe that Addison is already 6 weeks old! My does time fly! We are officially done with visitors until her baptism in May. We loved it though. My sister Nicole and her family were here last weekend and Payton just loves playing with her cousins. She was so pooped every day she actually asked for a nap! She kept asking me "Where auntie go?" for the first day or so! She is so cute!

Well, Addison had a little too much love over the last month or so from our family! She tends to be fussy if she isn't being held, mostly in the evening. We are working on that. I am on a mission to get her in her crib. She seems to have a little stuffy nose so once that clears up (I like to be close to her because she tends to cough and gag a little when she is sleeping lately) we are working hard core on the move. She is doing pretty well in her bassinet, only waking to eat. We are trying to do naps in the crib. It is tough because she could nap for 2 hours in her bassinet, but once in the crib it is only about 30 minutes. We are getting there though. With Payton at this age she was sleeping in our bed so we are doing well! We transitioned Payton to her crib by 12 weeks when I went back to work. I am thinking that Addison will be a little easier. Hopefully...

Well, I have to go "play dollhouse". Too bad Daddy isn't here... Payton will ALWAYS ask him to play with her dollhouse before she asks me. I keep telling him that he is just too good at it:) ha ha...

Custom Walleye Jigs

New link added: Custom Walley Jigs, where you can find the walleye jigs that you can't find in stores! Tell all of your fishing buddies!
This is run by my brother-in-law-in-law (David knows what I mean).

Update on our girls

We can't believe that Addison has been with us for 5 weeks already! Time sure does fly with two little sweeties in the house! Addison has been doing so well. Her nights have been going pretty well still and she is consistent about the times she needs to eat which is nice. I have gotten into the habit of rocking her for about 5 minutes after she eats and she goes right back down. The frustrating thing right now is that she is a spitter. EVERY time she burps during/after she eats she spits. And I mean projectile! It isn't a lot of volume, it just goes a long way! Last night I had just finished feeding her and had her up on my shoulder to burp her and I had to yell for Brian to come and help. It was not only on both of us, but on the couch cushion and it actually had pooled under the cushion as well. I am not sure what to do to help her out with this. We aren't worried about it, it is just frustrating... a couple of nights ago I had to change her swaddle blanket 4 times. She isn't too concerned thankfully. She is a pretty happy baby. She will just look around and kick for a long time during the day, and if she is in your lap looking up at you it is just too sweet!

Payton is just hilarious lately! Some of the things that she says are just too funny! Brian's mom was here last week (I have to share this story Betty:)) and every time we went anywhere one of us had to squeeze into the backseat inbetween Addison and Payton's car seats. There is plenty of room once you are in there, it is the climbing over the seats that is tricky. We were all getting into the car, Betty in the back this time, and Payton says "Grammy fits Momma!" We all had a really good laugh over that one! Bedtime is getting a little easier, but not as easy as before we had Addison. When it is time for bed she will say "But I'm awake!" And as you can see from the photo, Payton has taken to wanting to wear her bib again at dinner time. Funny girl!

Our Mayo appointments

Well, Addison was negative for CF. What we were expecting, but still a HUGE relief to us! We met with a genetics counselor and pedi pulmonologist to get the skinny on her being a carrier. She will just have to be aware of this when she has kids of her own someday, her partner will have to be tested. So she is all good, although I think that she has got pink eye from her sister.... not sure what we are going to do about that! Payton is on drops...

Payton saw the hematologist and we are going to stay on the iron supplements and try to keep her on a good diet. She does pretty well. And we are going to have her blood drawn every 3 months to see what her trends are. That is all for now unless she starts to display any symptoms of her anemia. I am not sure if MA did a CF screen for Payton when she was born. I believe it is optional in MA and we don't remember being asked if we wanted it. So we will have to find that out or Payton will probably want to be tested to see if she is a CF carrier before she decides to have kids. So much to think about... hopefully we will remember all the juicy details for her when she starts to ask us questions!

So all in all it was a lot of good news for us this week. We are so thankful!

Links reorganization

I've updated the links to the right to be in order of those who update their blogs the most! Where do you rate?
Note: Amy's and Sonja's websites put to the bottom simply to keep the blog sites together.

Friends...

Since we had Addison we have had so many nice things given/done for us. Thanks everyone! Several friends have stopped by and offered to make us dinner, babysit.... On Saturday some friends came by and brought us a huge spaghetti dinner, salad, bread, and cheesecake! YUM. They also brought a gift for Addison and a 'big sister gift' for Payton. They have 2 boys, and Payton just had a ball with them. It was so sweet of them to do that for us!

Every time I go to daycare to pick up Payton everyone wants me to leave Addison there! All the toddlers just swarm us. It is too cute. Who doesn't love a baby!?

First day...

Alone with the two girls went fairly well. Today Payton is back at "school" so it is just Addison and I. Yesterday I was feeling a bit anxious about having them both all to myself, but Payton is such a little helper it really did help me out. She has to be the one to put Addison's dirty diapers in the diaper champ or she gets very upset. She did have a little meltdown when I wouldn't let her put her own dirty diapers in there though! Brian bought her some pull-ups with disney princesses on them. She really does seem to like her "pink diapers". We are really trying to get her going more on the potty. She always tells us she needs to go about 10 seconds too late! We'll get there. Bedtime is going a little better. Brian went to play tennis in town on Wednesday night and Payton and I gave Addison her first bath in her infant tub (her cord finally came off), and then I got Payton down to sleep without much difficulty. Last night it took a bit longer though. She is constantly trying to entertain Addison and she loves to give her her pacifier if she is crying. She is such a little mother hen;)

Addison is doing SO good. I am pumping in the evening and Brian is giving her a bottle between 9-10 pm and she goes right down to sleep in her bassinet. She sleeps until 1-2am then she gets a diaper change and I feed her then right back to sleep. She sleeps then until 5-6am and we do the same thing again. She then is down for a couple of more hours. Payton REFUSED to sleep anywhere except with Brian and I so this is a great thing for us! Addison is nursing so well too. We are so lucky that our colicky baby came first! I am keeping my fingers crossed that Addison keeps on the same track:)

I got a call from the pediatrician yesterday and all of our appointments are made. Because of the whole cystic fibrosis thing we have to meet with a pediatric pulmonologist after Addison's sweat test. Then we have to meet with genetics. They were able to get Payton's hematology appointment for the same day so we will have a jam packed day, but the nice thing is that Brian's mom with be here then so she can occupy Payton while we are in Addison's appointments. The unfortunate thing is that we have to wait until Addison is 4 weeks old. Newborns don't produce enough sweat until around then. So we will head out on March 23. Our genetics appointment will be the next week. So we wait... 2 weeks...

"I wish I had better news for you today..."

were the first words our Pediatrician said to us when we took the girls in on Tuesday. Immediately my heart just sank. I knew we needed to make some decisions about Payton and her iron defiency, and I had a bad feeling about Addison's newborn screen when the doctor wanted to see us to go over the results. Why would they need us to come in if the results were normal?

Lets start with Payton... She has been on iron supplements since the beginning of November and her hemoglobin and iron levels really haven't gotten any better. Granted, she is not great at taking it, but she does take the full dose once a day just great (she should be taking it twice, but you try and tell her that!). So it shouldn't be getting worse. In January her hemoglobin was 10.1 (they want it to be over 11.5) and her iron was 18 (it should be between 35 and 100). Last week she had her blood drawn again and her hemoglobin was 10.0 and her iron was 12. So she is losing iron somewhere. Our pediatrian doesn't know why or where... she has checked everything that is obvious. So now we are going to go to the Mayo clinic to a pediatric hematologist. Hopefully we can figure out what is going on with her.

Addison's scenario is much more worrisome to me. Thank goodness for Brian being so level headed or I would have had a nervous breakdown in the office! So her newborn screen (which screens for multiple genetic disorders) done at the hospital was positive for TWO things. First of all she was positive of Bartts Hemoglobin. This is not too big of a deal... it means that she is a carrier for Thalessemia (this is a type of anemia in which your red blood cells are smaller and paler than normal, the type Addison carries is not the severe form). My sister Nicole had Thalessemia so this is not a big shocker. Addison does not have this, but she will need the think about it if she marries someone who is also a carrier. Her kids then may get Thalessemia. The other thing she was positive for is Cystic Fibrosis. She screened for only one gene mutation, and you need 2 mutations to have the disease. The newborn screen tests for the more common mutations, so there is still a chance that Addison may have a unusual mutation that wasn't screened for. For those of you who don't know much about Cystic Fibrosis it cause thick and sticky mucous production that causes lung and digestive problems. The median age for someone with CF is mid 30s. Our pedi did tell us that the majority of kids who screen positive for one mutation just end up being carriers, NOT having the disease. So Addison at the very least will be a carrier (1 in 30 people in the US are carriers and don't even know it). Obviously either Brian or I are a carrier... So now we go to Mayo to have the diagnostic test done. They will test Addison's sweat for high chloride content. So it is not invasive. Our pedi also told us that the majority of kids with CF will have shown some symptoms by now (breathing or stooling difficulties) which Addison has not shown at all.

So that is the details for now. That was a just horrible morning. I am SO happy that Brian was with me. It is too early to really worry, but I am a hormonal post-partum woman! Although I would be worrying even if I wasn't... We will keep you posted.

Regressing?

Payton actually slept through the entire night last night for the first time since we got home from the hospital. She was waking up when Addison cried and then she says "Baby crying, kiss baby". We then have to bring Addison to her or vice versa and let her give her a kiss and then she goes right back down. She is so worried about her little sister. Too sweet.

Payton is however totally going backward at bedtime. She has started to fight the entire process and last night it took Brian and I over an hour to get her down... So frustrating. Especially when she has to be at daycare the next day, like today. She is going to be pooped! Bedtime usually is the one time that Payton has always done great. It isn't helping that Addison is usually up and her Grandma and Grandpa are here... Hopefully she will get back on track soon.

What the .....!

Well, we went for our one week visit for Addison on Monday and Payton was due for a fluoride treatment and labs...

Addison weighed in at 7 pounds 3 ounces (up 3 ounces since being discharged from the hospital) so she is about 15th percentile for both height and weight. She didn't really get too jaundiced, so that was good. No lab draws for her. We are going back next week for another weight check and to go over her newborn screen (PKU results for those of you who remember this) with her Pedi. She is doing really well. She is waking up 2-3 times a night to eat and usually goes right back down. The last couple of nights I have only been up around 35 minutes each time with her which is really nice. She does tend to wake up if her arms "escape" her swaddle, but she usually goes right back down. Brian is so much better at the swaddle than I am! I will have to wake him up more to help me out with that one! And she seems to love that pacifer. If only she could control her arms... she keeps batting it out of her mouth! She doesn't seem to concerned with Payton being all over her either. We figure she will be one tough cookie!

Payton had her flouride and did awesome. I always think she is going to fight it, but she just opens that little mouth and lets the nurse paint that flouride right on. We did have her blood drawn, and she did pretty good. Just a little whining and wiggling when I held her in my lap. That is typical for her. The doctor's office called on Monday to say that her hemoglobin is still low at 10.1. We are still waiting for her iron counts to come back. We have been doing the iron supplement drops since the beginning of November. They are totally not doing much. So we will all be making the trip to the doctor's next week and discuss options with the pediatrician. It will probably depend on what her iron levels are, but I am pretty much done with the iron. It isn't helping... and she isn't symptomatic so hopefully she will recommend something easier. This is getting so old... My parents are still here and my mom actually remembers going through the exact same scenario with me and my sister Nicole. I am no worse for wear, although I still have to be on my iron supplements. My hemoglobin was 9.8 when we were discharged. The apple doesn't fall far does it?!

Finally...

Okay, so I have been a blogger slacker... I know a lot of you were waiting for a post from us. Sorry it came so late! The hospital Addison was born is half hour away from our house so Brian didn't make it back at all to take care of that sort of thing! So here is the labor and delivery story for those of you that are interested:)

We were up bright and early on Tuesday the 20th and on Labor and Delivery by 6am. We actually had a pretty decent sleep that night. Which surprised me. I was still only 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced when we got there. So at around 6:30am I had some prostaglandin gel and then we waited. I was already doing some contracting on my own at that point, but nothing substantial. My doctor came in at 8 am and I was 3 cm and about 80% effaced so he broke my water. After that we were going every 7 minutes or so for a few hours and by noon we were 4-5 minutes apart and the contractions were going strong, but I was still able to talk through them. My doctor came in just before noon and I was on 4 cm. This was progressing slower than with Payton, but we didn't have Pitocin going. My doctor gave me the option of starting Pitocin to get things moving faster, but I was making progress that he was happy with so he left the decision to us. I wanted to wait it out and see how things progressed over the next couple of hours. By 2pm or so the contractions were very intense and I felt like I needed something to help take the edge off. One of my nurses was impressed at how "controlled" I was at this point, but let me tell you I was kicking and screaming on the inside:) My nurse checked me and I was at 6cm and about 100% effaced. Now was the time for the epidural if I chose to get it, or I could do a Nubain injection into my IV. I was pretty indecisive at this point because I was able to deliver Payton without an epidural, but I was worried about having to do Pitocin again without one. Things seemed to us to be going so much slower! My nurse pretty much suggested I go for the epidural so that I could relax and that I would probably go faster if I did. So bring it on! I had the epidural at 2:30 pm and around 3pm I was fully dilated. My nurse called the doctor and he said I could start to push, but she told him to hurry because she didn't think it would take long at this point. So I pushed through one contraction and they told me to stop pushing. Thank god for the epidural at that point. Like I could have stopped pushing without it! She was coming fast... my doctor came in a few minutes later and I did "five second pushes" and out she came. Brian and I could not believe that she came so fast. We were thinking it would be quicker than with Payton, but come on! So anyway, the second delivery experience we knew had to be better than the torture of Payton's, and it was better than either of us had hoped for. I was up and out of bed within a few hours and I am feeling pretty good.

My first impression of Addison was that she seemed so much smaller than Payton was. Brian thought she looked pretty big, but she actually weighed 1 pound less than Payton did at birth. She has a head full of thick brown hair and dark eyes. Not sure if she looks like Payton yet or not though:) She looks like herself.

So we are all at home now and doing well. My parents are here until next weekend which is a huge help to us. Payton sure is going to miss them! We will too. They are such a help. Yesterday my mom cleaned all our floors and both upstairs bathrooms. Bless her heart! Brian said they can stay as long as they want:)