Addison's Birth Story

I'm going to attempt to recount every moment of the most wonderful weekend of our lives. Here we go.  On January 23 we went to the doctor for our 40 week appointment.  There was no sign that miss Addison would be making an appearance any time soon.  We decided to be induced on Thursday, January 26th.  The week flew by and Thursday was upon us.  I think it didn't hit me until that morning that we were going to be bringing home a baby that weekend.  It was very surreal to think about.  I spent the day cleaning the house and getting things ready.  We took Kobe to the vet, packed our bags and loaded the truck.  We knew that the induction process could take a long time and Dr. Fiore told us to eat before we came to the hospital.  Like every other day during the pregnancy I was craving salad. I must have had 8-10 salads a week during the last 20 weeks of the pregnancy.  I told Brandon we had to go to Olive Garden for salad and bread sticks.  We left in plenty of time to eat and still had time to spare so we went to Home Depot to walk around before heading to the hospital.  I think we were just nervous and thought walking around for a few minutes would help.  We bought a can of black spray paint and a rug mat for our new rug in the master bedroom. Strange, I know.  Now-it was time to head to the hospital.
Induction
We checked in at L&D right on time at 4pm.  While we waited we chatted with a coworker of mine from the ER.  Then, our nurse came around the corner and called our name.  She took us to our birthing suite.  I had taken numerous patient's to L&D from the main hospital before.  I knew what the rooms looked like and what to expect, but walking into my birthing suite was a very different feeling.  I knew this room is where I would meet my precious little girl.  We got settled in with our luggage-I may have over packed but you never know how long you might have to stay and what all you might need. I'm always prepared. Immediately Brandon and I knew that we liked our nurse Lindsey a lot.  It was two hours til shift change and I was already trying to figure out how to get her to stay with us for the next 24 hours.  She was a great nurse and she made us feel very welcome and comfortable.  After we got settled it was time for Cervidil to be inserted.  This is a medication that softens the cervix and helps the cervix dilate during induction. After we got through the 20 questions, got my IV started, and checked for any dilation it was time for her to go home. Before she left though she did the most wonderful thing and lined up another fantastic nurse for us the following morning for the delivery.  She didn't have to do this but we were very appreciative that she cared enough to do so.  It was time for shift change and she introduced us to our night nurse.  I don't remember much about this nurse. I remember her telling us it was really busy. She offered me pain medication, in which I refused.  I didn't really have a birth plan, but my only requests were no pain medication during the labor process.  Looking back at it, I wouldn't have changed that and I have no clue how I made it through the next few hours with nothing more than Brandon at my side coaching me.  The night nurse came in to remove my cervadil at 3am and I was really starting to get uncomfortable, but didn't have any recognizable contractions at this point. She started my Pitocin and I think around 5 I started to feel contractions regularly and then by 530 they were coming one right after another.  I didn't even have time to catch my breath in between each one.  The nurse came back in and turned down my pitocin. The contractions had been very strong, but so close together that I wasn't progressing.  Brandon never left my side. He stood there next to me watching the monitor getting me through each contraction.  At around 7 I was watching the clock wondering why the morning nurse hadn't come in yet.  At 705 my water broke and Brandon rang the call bell.  Julie walked in and introduced herself.  It seems like from that point everything happened so fast.  Dr. Fiore came in shortly after to check on me and predicted a lunch time delivery.  He gave the okay for my epidural to be placed.
3 Epidurals!! 
Dr. Campbell came in to place my epidural.  I bent over, rounded my back and Brandon helped hold me steady while it was placed.  I got the bolus of meds and finally had some relief.  But...that was it.  Dr. Campbell believed a kink was in the tubing and so he took it out.  Ah...try try again.  He put the second one in while I was laying down. I curled into a C and was ready for the next one.  It wasn't bad, they all felt like little bee stings.  Not nearly as bad as the contractions, that is for sure.  Dr. Campbell then says it didn't go in properly.  AH!  Well-lets do another one then please!  I was hoping there wasn't a 2 stick limit I didn't know about.  He said he would do another.  However-his radio went off and they needed him next door immediately.  Come on! lol  I was still comfortable at this point so I was okay with the wait.  He returned a little while later and the third placement was successful.
Time To Push!
I don't really remember the time, maybe 11 or 1130?  Julie said we were ready to start pushing.  I was so sleepy from being up all night I didn't know if I had the energy to do anything.  Maybe I shouldn't have cleaned the entire house the day before.  I should have been napping!  So here we go...Does everyone have their camera? Yes-they do!  Everyone in this room except for Julie has a recording device of some type in their hand.  Where is my big camera? Ah-in my Mother In Law's hands...standing right in front of me. Brandon is to my side with the video camera, and my Mom is standing close by with her camera.  I remembered cancelling the "photo session" earlier when each of my family members were standing in a row flashing cameras at me during my contractions.  I thought about cancelling again, but pushing distracted me from the paparazzi.  And now, I'm glad I have the pictures, even the ones of me looking like a beached whale with a fake smile.  Okay, back to the pushing.  I felt like the pushing was going nowhere. I think I pushed for 30 minutes and was not feeling like I was making progress.  Julie sat at the end of the bed coaching me. Brandon was by my side.  All the sudden all the pain comes back.  Dear Lord-WHATS WRONG WITH THE EPIDURAL???  It's not working.  Great..lets do this all natural!  Seems like at this point Julie called Dr. Fiore for assistance. He showed up rather quickly and dressed in his paper gown and boots. I only pushed a few minutes.  It wasn't too long before Addison Marie arrived. Addison was born at 1252 at 8.5 lbs and 19 1/2 inches.  

This was the most amazing day of my life and I would do it all over again for her.  She was perfect. Looking back on the experience I would not have changed anything. 

We had a fantastic experience at HH these three days.  The L&D staff was amazing. I cannot thank Lindsay and Julie enough for all they did for us. They were just really top notch nurses, I was impressed.  The staff in postpartum and the nursery were great as well. They were so helpful with Addison and helping with my recovery.

She's here!

Addison Marie Jennings  Born 1/27/2012 at 1252pm   8lbs 5 oz

Waiting Game

We are almost 40 weeks and ready for meet this little precious angel but it doesn't look like she is wanting to come out anytime soon.  We go back to the doctor tomorrow morning at 9 and hope to have made some progress.  We'll keep you updated!

39 weeks 5 days

So blessed.

We have been so blessed to have such great support since we found out we were pregnant last Spring.  Luckily we have great family and friends that have been so generous with gifts, advice, and offering any help that we need before and after Addison arrives.  Friends, family, and coworkers have thrown us showers, gifts have arrived on our doorstep, and emails with tons of advice from new and not so new moms have appeared in our inbox.  We can't say enough how grateful we are to everyone for thinking of us.  Addison is going to be such a blessed little girl when she gets to meet all of these wonderful people. 

Yesterday we received a box from Aunt Debra all the way from West Palm Beach.  Baby Addison will be burping in style with these custom burpies!  She also sent us a a custom made security blanket and hooded terry cloth bath towel.  They are all so cute!  Thanks Aunt Deb!

 

The Nursery

Addison Marie Jennings will be here very soon!  We are finally done with the nursery and are ready to bring our baby girl home.  Addison's nursery used to be our combined office.  It was a mish mosh of old desks and bookshelves so that we could each have our own space and computers.  The only real improvements we had done in this room is a new window and ceiling fan.  So when we chose this room for the nursery we decided it all needed to be re-done.  In the midst of putting down the floors we had less time than we thought to get it all done. Brandon insisted on installing the flooring here first so that no matter what, his baby girl's room would be complete even if the rest of the house wasn't.  He even installed new trim as he said it had to be perfect for Addison.  Here is the completed room. 

 

Home Improvement

 So as everyone knows we have been remodeling our house for about 5 years now.  Brandon bought a house across the street from the apartment complex I was living in.  Now I know it's because free labor was so close by.  Just a few weeks after closing he left for Alaska and here I was with this fixer upper in desperate need of a woman! :)  We've come a long way but we are always still finding things that need replacing or updating. We've gutted the family room, two bathrooms, replaced drywall, scraped ceilings, and so much more. So this fall we decided to replace the flooring throughout the house and get rid of the carpet.  Have you ever pulled up 10 year old carpet?  I was happy being ignorant thinking my carpet was clean after a vacuum and a shampooing every now and then.  But oh my, pull that stuff up and you realize IT WAS NEVER CLEAN!  Hello hardwoods, I love you!   So here are some pictures of our flooring adventure.  Unfortunately I was too pregnant to assist too much with the project but luckily we have some great friends and family that pitched in and helped with the progress. Here are the finished photos with a few before photos. 

Dining Room

Living Room Before

Living Room After

Guest Bedroom Before

Guest Bedroom After

Hallway Before

Hallway After

Master Before

Master After

Christmas 2011

Wow, I can't believe the holidays are behind us already. I have always loved Christmas and it seems it takes forever for the holiday season to get here and then poof, it's gone so fast.

This year we stayed in Huntsville for Christmas. It was Brandon's first Christmas away from home in 29 years, so it was especially hard on him to be without his family.

On Christmas Eve we traveled to Cullman to spend the evening with my family. We had dinner and played dirty Santa. I'm thankful that Jamie got to come into town and the whole family was together.

On Christmas Day we stayed home. We got up, opened presents and then took naps on the couch! For dinner we cooked a roast and planned to go see a movie that evening. Everyone else in Huntsville apparantly had the same idea, so instead we drove around looking at Christmas lights. It was a great day and I'm so glad we got to spend it together. I've been working at the hospital for 7 years now and 5 of those 7 I have spent working. Most of the time I have sent Brandon home for Christmas since there was no reason in him sitting here at home while I worked. I felt guilty that so many of my coworkers were spending their Christmas at work taking care of others, but thats what we do.

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas weekend.