She's here......Riley Trimble Parker!!!

Well, it was only a short time after my last post that I first started in to labor with our newest addition!!! :-)  On Friday, November 16 in the early evening, Addison and I had run to Babies R Us to grab a few last minute things, when mommy started to feel some mild contractions on the way home.  I figured, just like the couple weeks before, that it probably wouldn't progress in to anything regular.  After we got home, the contractions continued, and I started timing them....10 minutes apart.  A short while later they had progressed to about 7 minutes apart and definitely were not stopping!  I paged Noah in the OR around 6:30pm to let him know it was time to come home because I could be in labor.  I called my doctor who suggested that I sit in the bathtub and pace around the house for a bit to see if it would calm, and if not to come in if the contractions got too painful or were five minutes apart.  Well, after a a few hours of trying different things to calm the contractions and sitting on the couch with Noah trying to gut through the discomfort, the contractions got to about 5 minutes apart!  I knew at this point that she was on her way! :-)  We called Annie to come watch Addison, and headed in.  By the time we got to Labor and Delivery at 11pm, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and quite uncomfortable.  We got in to our room and things progressed rather quickly.  I went from 4cms to 8cms within a couple hours and my water broke shortly after 2am.  Unfortunately, I did not even have the option for an epidural due to having taken my lovenox earlier that day.  I did have an intrathecal injection with fentanyl and morphine...however, it was super short acting and really only provided relief for about an hour, and seemed to be completely worn off by the time I was pushing.  I pushed for about 25-30 minutes and our beautiful Riley Trimble Parker was born at 2:42am on Saturday, November 17! She was 7 pounds and 6 ounces, 21 inches long......a much larger baby than Addison.....but also born at 39 weeks (a week and a half after Addison).  She has brunette peach fuzz for hair and dark colored eyes (color still unsure?!)
Addison came to the hospital to visit baby Riley on Saturday afternoon, and was so precious!  She was her usual shy self for the first 15 minutes or so, but then completely warmed up and wanted to hold her, touch her and cuddle with her baby sister!  :-)  So sweet!
Unfortunately, due to my being strep B positive and having a relatively short labor, I was not able to receive the full 4 hours of antibiotics needed before delivery, so Riley was exposed to GBS.  Luckily, it is a very rare occurrence that anything effects the baby......and fortunately, she looks wonderfully healthy!  They usually make babies with exposure stay in the hospital 48 hours; however, because she looked so great, we were able to leave Sunday at noon (just over 24 hours).  It was so wonderful to get home to our own environment and begin our own little family routine.
It has now been a whole since she was born, and my goodness what a sweetheart she is!!!!!  She loves to cuddle!. :-)  She has been sleeping remarkably well, and in fact, the last few nights I have had to awaken her for feedings in the middle of the night.  It's amazing! :- )  I have gotten about 6-7 hours of sleep the last few nights which is unheard of for a newborn.....wow, I'll cherish it while it lasts! Addison has been an absolute sweetheart with Riley!!!  She loves to sit next to her, watch her diaper changes and regularly asks "where is baby Riley?" immediately when she awakens in the mornings.  We couldn't have asked for a better response from  a two year old!
It has been a wonderful week of just the five of us (Wally of course included!)  Daddy has been cooking up a storm in the kitchen....I feel spoiled to have breakfast, lunch and dinner served to me!  We had our first Thanksgiving dinner together as a family....so much fun, and delicious dinner (daddy's first turkey!)  We have been venturing out a few times to the doctor, out to lunch, and to a friend's son's brit yesterday (what an interesting and fun event...we had never attended one  before!)  My great friend Ali delivered her baby boy, Geoffrey, the same early morning that I had Riley....two hours apart!  :-)

We are so appreciative to our family and wonderful friends who have been calling, emailing, and stopping by for visits and with dinners, goodies for the baby and big sister, etc.  We feel so blessed during this special time in our lives!!!

NO BABY yet!...but coming soon.....

Well, it is a week later......and STILL no baby!!!  She is hanging in there until the end, as I will be 39 weeks tomorrow!!! :-)  I just got back from the OB this morning, and I am dilated to 3 cms and ~50% effaced per Dr. Pukite.  She said that I could go any minute, but may well make it to my induction date, Monday, November 19.  Oh well......what's three more days at this point??!!!
I finished up work on Tuesday, and have been busy cleaning, doing last minute preparations for baby, getting a pedicure, chasing Addison around, and WAITING!!!  I have been trying to enjoy these last few days with just Addison....as I know things will be very different come next week.  She finished up daycare on Tuesday and brought cupcakes in to share with her teachers and friends.....they made her a nice card and sign to say goodbye.....it was definitely sad! :-(......  Wednesday we went to Eden Prairie Mall and met our friends Ali and Levi for some playtime in the kids area and lunch in the food court.  The two of them were adorable sprinting around the mall and laughing with each other!  Yesterday we had music class in the morning and Addison got to paint with wood stamps.....she created quite the master piece that is now on our magnet wall.  She was so excited to "show daddy" last night!
We plan to spend our last weekend together as just the four of us (including Wally of course) finding some fun things to do around town and enjoying the warmer weather-up to the mid-50s this weekend!

Addison ready for music class this week...she absolutely loves it!

Noah is planning to take the first two weeks off when the baby arrives, and then Opa and Jojo will make the trek up November 30 to join us for a couple weeks.  They will leave the 14th of December, and then Nana and Papa will come December 25.   I am so looking forward to all of this! :-)   Addie is super excited for baby sister's arrival! :-) More to come REAL SOON!!!!!!!

Where is baby???!!!

So the much anticipated making it to 37 weeks (full-term) has come and gone.......the due date that I had on Addison's watch has come and gone......and 38 weeks is approaching (tomorrow)......still no sign of baby #2!!!  Where is she???

I left the much awaited OB appointment this morning nothing but disappointed!!!  After feeling cramps and contractions off and on for ~1 week and exercising as much as I can tolerate to help speed things along.....the progress remains unchanged!  I am currently just 1 cm dilated...ugh!!!  I had a major mommy meltdown on the way home from the OB and for a little while after.....and now a couple hours later, I finally have it all in perspective.....this little one has a mind of her own and will arrive when she is good and ready.....regardless, she will be here soon.....so I need to relax and enjoy these last few days as the mother of one! My hormones are definitely out of whack and causing me to be much more emotional than normal! 

My induction date has been moved back to November 19 (Monday) from Saturday, due to my doctor's schedule and the hospital disliking inductions on the weekend (although that seems odd considering I was told this wasn't an issue earlier).  Oh well.....at that point, what is two more days?!

The good news of all of this is that baby girl is healthy, and she will be stronger and more ready for life outside the womb when she finally decides to arrive!  Maybe she'll even sleep well??!! (I won't get so optimistic!)

I have a four day stretch of work starting tomorrow....then I will be officially off for maternity leave....wish me luck! 

 Addie on the slide at Levi's birthday party!

 Ali and Levi, Mommy and Addie.....Ali and I are due 4 days apart!

 Pretty headband girl......too bad she spit up her milk so that her shirt is wet! :-(

 The fam.....fun at Williston Park celebrating Levi!

 Levi and Addie climbing!

Daddy did some climbing with Addie!

So.....what else have we been up to besides waiting on baby???  Well, Addison has been busy with wrapping up her last few weeks of school, attending her McPhail music class on Thursdays (which she loves...and talks about all week), playing outside on any possible warm day that we get, attending to her baby dolls constantly and fulfilling all of their needs, playing with neighborhood friends at playgroup and playdates, and running around the house getting in to all of "baby sister's" beds, clothes and supplies that are awaiting her arrival.  She is quite the character! :-)  

We celebrated mommy, daddy and her friend Levi's birthdays last weekend.....Addison learned how to say happy birthday and even sing part of the song.....she loves to talk about birthdays now....and even made a birthday cake with candles (sticks) out of sand at the park yesterday!  She loves to open presents, and help others too!! :-)  For Levi's party, we went to dinner at Snuffy's (a little diner in Minnetonka) and then to Williston Park for the party...Addie had a blast!  Mommy and daddy got to share a dinner out at Haute Dish for our birthdays on the 2nd (we keep thinking it could be our last date night for a while...we'll see ).

More updates to come soon...................