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!!!