My Sous Chef

Still haven't tried out any new recipes...do you now how hard it is to be in the kitchen when you have a three week old??? Right now I am lucky if I can get some quick fix meals in and you might as well forget about baking unless someone else is home. I attempted to make chocolate chip cookies the other night and it was a failure do to the fact someone was being crabby. FYI...it is difficult to get cookies out of the oven while holding a baby. Thank god she wasn't being squirmy or it could have been dangerous to both her and I. Now that we have her boppy chair we won't be doing that again!

Anyway, I snapped this picture the other night while making dinner. I don't even remember what I was cooking but I was cooking none the less. She was supervising the process while taking a bottle.

I can't wait until she is old enough to actually get her hands dirty and help me out! Baking cookies at Christmas will be an absolute blast.

How do you get a fussy baby to simmer down?

You place her in your recliner by herself that's how!

Kicked back and relaxed!

Mommy's happy little camper.
You wouldn't know by that little smirk that she had been crying for the previous three hours!
Check out those eyelashes while your taking a look. I am so jealous of them I can't see straight!

Seriously??

I can't believe it but my little baby, the one that wouldn't come out, is now almost three weeks old. Each day she is getting bigger and more alert. She smiles all of the time, coos when we have our girl time before bed, holds her head up high without help. She even tries to roll over. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about this but something tells me she is going to be a quick learner. Before I know it she will be crawling and then it won't be long before she is walking around this place like she's in charge.

My first day back to work is April 1st and I am dreading it. I don't know how I am going to make it through the day without her but I must be a big girl and do my best to manage. There were times prior to her birth where I questioned whether being a Mommy was something I could handle and whether I was meant to do it. Now that she is here I know for a fact I can do it and that being a Mommy is my true profession in life. I actually have this overwhelming desire to have another baby immediately. I can't explain it and who knows if it's just my hormones talking but I can't wait until we get to do this again. Being with Addison is the highlight of my life right now and if I never walked back into my place of employment I would be ok with that, sadly we have no choice and until April 1st rolls around I must treasure everyday with her. I pray that by the time baby #2 gets here we will be more financially stable and I hope that will mean I can go from being a full time employee to a part time employee.

In the mean time here are some pictures to share with everyone. Some are from the hospital and others are ones we have taken here at home. I could stare at this child all day every day and maybe these will help you understand why I can't get enough of her and why I dread leaving her.Mommy and Addison reading the latest Babies R Us ad.

Someone's found their thumb...

Is she not the cutest thing you have ever seen???

She could care less about her pacifier, just give her her thumb!

Baby Update

Baby update over at my baby blog...the link is over towards the right of this page.

Addison's Birth Story

As promised I am sharing Addison's birth story with everyone. She is resting comfortably on my chest as I type this and I still can't believe she is all mine. For several months I felt as if this pregnancy was just flying by but of course those last few weeks just kept on going as if the end would never get here. I am so proud of myself for carrying this precious little girl in my belly for almost nine months and then actually giving birth to her. I still can't believe I have done it and I actually can't wait until I get the opportunity again. Nothing will ever top the birth of Addison, not even subsequent births of future children. There is just something so special about that first baby that propelled you into parenthood. Don't get me wrong, I will love each of my children equally and each of their births will be special in there own way, but I just can't fathom how any of them would top Addison's. She is already the light of my life and I can't get enough of her. The little squeeze she gives my finger, the smirk she shares with us when you gently rub her cheeks and chin, and the priceless face she gives us when she is loading her diaper with something for Mommy and Daddy. My dear daughter is an excellent pooper/burper/farter...her Daddy is so darn proud it's not even funny.

Anyway, our journey began last Thursday. I woke up that morning to prepare for work when what I thought was my water breaking occurred. Decided I had better hang at home just in case we were finally going to be meeting our daughter. I had contractions/cramps through out the day but nothing ever escalated. At my appointment the next day the Doctor was concerned about what I had experienced the previous day so she checked to see if it had been my water, it wasn't, and thought maybe it would be a good idea for an emergency ultrasound just to check on the baby. After waiting all afternoon it was determined that Addison was just fine but was starting to measure on the larger size. Due to the fact my Crohns has been a concern this entire pregnancy it was decided that we would go ahead and induce so that we could get her outta there before she got any bigger. The ultrasound was estimated over eight pounds then. The only available time was Monday night so that gave us all weekend to prepare for the big day.

I spent the weekend preparing meals and prepping myself emotionally for what was about to happen. Of course the snow storm hit and people started to scramble but we held strong and pretended like the snow was no big deal. We carefully made our way to the hospital where they started right at six on me. First the IV, took three tries but I survived, then the gels that would help soften my cervix. Pitocin was started the next morning at 4 a.m. and contractions started to slowly follow. Unfortunately my body didn't respond quite like they had wanted but were prepared for so at 6:15 I was given three options. The first option was call it quits and head home and try again towards the end of the week, second was to keep trying and hope that I progressed, and the third had something to do with a c-section. I had already made up my mind to keep trying so I tuned out for that last option. Anyway, they turned off the pitocin and were going to take me off all of the monitors so that I could shower and get up and move around more freely however Addison's heart beat kept at a steady 130 or so and they became concerned. They said it should be accelerating and because it wasn't they weren't comfortable taking me off the monitors...so much for a shower. Gels were started again at 8 where it was determined that I was still only around 2 cm dilated which was where I was at when we came in Monday. The gels were done again at midnight and then at 4 pitocin was started again. Even off the pitocin I had continued to contract so my night was less than comfortable. By that morning I was in so much pain it was all I could do not to slit my own wrists. Addison had turned sunny side up at some point in time so all of my contractions were in my lower back and butt. People...I thought I was going to die they hurt so bad. Finally after the pressure got so intense and after I commented to everyone that I needed to poop but I couldn't people went crazy calling for the nurse. I guess the word poop that far along means you are towards the end...lol. I had gone from 2 cm to almost 8 in just a few hours. Before I knew it people were being called to get to the hospital and the epidural was being placed. For nine months I worried about that darn epidural and how badly it would hurt, my IV on Monday was worse than the epidural. In fact the only thing I felt was a tickle from they shot me with the numbing medicine. The epidural guy was awesome and quickly became my best friend. The pressure was still there which was painful in it's own little way but at least the contractions were gone.

Everything after that was a blur until it was time to push. I started pushing around 10 and by 10:20 that morning Addison had arrived. I actually had to stop pushing for around 10 minutes to allow my Doctor time to get out of the c-section and hysterectomy she was performing. It was a busy day at the hospital...lol. There were a few moments where they were concerned I wouldn't be able to get her out. I guess my pelvic bone was in the way and I really had to push to get her past it. Because of that the family has nicknamed her turtle. I would push and they would see her head and then I would stop and back in it would go.

I still can't believe that I gave birth to this little girl. I can't wait to watch her grow.

I have more to type but you know where I said she was a good pooper?? Yeah, well, she just had a minor explosion that I need to take care of and I better do so quickly because the smell is starting to radiate from her diaper.

Addison Grace Blankenship...

has finally made her appearance. She was born on Wednesday February 17th at 10:20 a.m., she weighed in at 7lbs. 11oz and was 21 in. long. Monday night/Tuesday mornings induction did not work so we started round two Tuesday night. I progressed from 2 cm. to almost 8 in just a few hours and a lot quicker than anyone expected...in fact I didn't receive my epidural until I was 8 cm dilated. Child birth was the most painful thing I have ever endured but just like everyone has said, you forget once your child is placed in your arms. My little girl is completely wrapped around my finger and I can't believe I have lived all of these years without her in my life. She is an awesome baby who very rarely cries. We were just sprung from the hospital today due to her developing jaundice which wasn't fun but the Doctor thinks she should be just fine by Monday or so. Now if you'll excuse me I am going to go and rest. I haven't had more than two hours of sleep since Sunday night and my days are starting to run together. I will post pictures and such at a later time.