Winding down the day

Andrea is feeding Paige for the second time today. They're both doing great. Paige is cute as a button and was pretty alert and awake when everyone visited. She's had a crazy day today and has been very calm for the most part.

We moved rooms from the birthing room to another room. It's mostly the same but doesn't have the spotlights, equipment, and birthing configuration. It's a little larger which is nice.

We're both pretty worn out. Andrea's been up since 4:45 and it's past 10:00 now. Probably will be 11ish by the time she finishes feeding Paige and gets ready for bed. We're hoping to get a little sleep tonight, hopefully Paige sleeps a little too.

When are we getting some cousins Auntie Amanda?

Grandpa Rick's getting over a cold, so didn't get to hold the new baby yet.


Connor didn't want to hold Paige, mostly just wanted to play cars. Anyone surprised? He did wear a pink shirt today to honor his sister's birth.


Dr. Morris, she's a great doctor, and delivered Connor too.



Our great nurses, Meredith and Cassie.


Abby, Drew and Allison


Drew liked holding Paige, he's not scared of a baby.


Grandma Genie and baby.


Same pose from Grandma Alice! Apparently this is the grandma pose!


One more of Paige! Quite a bit of hair!

Baby Paige is born!

Baby Paige was born at 5:15pm on April 30th 2010. She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces at birth and was 20 inches long. The delivery went really smoothly, Andrea only had to push through two contractions and it was over very quickly once it started.

Mommy and baby are doing great, we're feeding them both now.

Welcome in to the world Paige!

Ten!!

Andrea is at 10 cm now! The doctor's been called and it's time to start pushing soon. Just waiting for the doctor to arrive. We're getting very close!

Six

Andrea is at 6 cm now and 100% effaced. It's taking longer than everyone expected especially since it's baby #2. Still moving along, but we will probably be here all day!

More progress

Andrea is 4 cm dilated now and 95% effaced. She's still doing great. The epidural is working, however Andrea can still feel the contractions. She rated her pain as a 3-4 on a 1-10 scale. Overall, she's progressing well, although the contractions aren't extremely consistent.

Progress

Andrea is 3.5 cm dilated and 90% effaced. She's progressing well and the epidural really seems to be helping. Going great so far!

Epidural!

Andrea just got her epidural a few minutes ago. This was probably the thing she dreaded most about the entire birthing process. Last pregnancy the doctor that did the epidural had to try three times to get it right. Lots of poking, pain, and blood. This time it went pretty smoothly, although Andrea can still feel a lot. The medication should be kicking in over the next hour or so.

Andrea said that if the medication ends up working that the rest of this is going to be a piece of cake! I hope she's right!!

Labor!

We are in the hospital this morning to have a baby!

We arrived at 6:00 am, started pitocin at around 7:00 and the doctor came to break her water at 8:30. This morning when the nurse did her exam Andrea was 2 - 2.5 cm and 50% effaced.

So far Andrea's doing great, she has been having some contractions that are a little painful but nothing horrible yet. The nurse predicted that we'd have a baby by 2:45 and the doctor was guessing 3.

New swingset

Andrea managed to schedule some guys to come out and put together Connor's new swingset the day before Paige's birthday. Connor loves to swing and slide and it's a long walk to the park. Andrea really thought Connor would enjoy a swingset this summer and convinced me to get one for Connor. It looks pretty sturdy and looks like fun! Hope you enjoy it Connor, it may be the only quiet place to go for a while until Paige gets older!

Connor's last few days as an only child

Connor's only got a couple days left as an only child. We've been trying to do everything he likes and to really enjoy our last few days with him as the only child in our house. We think he may have started to wrap his head around the idea of a new baby, but we think he's still in for a big surprise on how much things will change.




Daddy talked to Connor about babies and trucks and which one he likes better. It's no surprise which he chose. Towards the end Daddy used the term "give birth" and later realized that's what prompts Connor to talk about birthday parties. Sorry to be so confusing big boy!


Playing ball with Daddy:

Friday is the BIG DAY!

Andrea had her doctor appt this morning and the doctor has decided to induce her on Friday morning (4-30-10). We have to be at the hospital by 6 am. We are really excited and glad to know we'll be meeting Paige this week. 4 more days to go!

Sonogram-38 vs 39 weeks?

Andrea had her second medical sonogram last Thursday (at 37 1/2 weeks). Her doctor wanted to check Paige's weight, the placenta, and amniotic fluid since she's considering inducing labor. To our surprise, the sonogram estimated Paige to already be 7 lbs and 8 oz and estimated the due date as May 4th. We aren't for sure if the doctor will change Andrea's due date since it's so late in the pregnancy, but Paige is definitely measuring big- 76th percentile. Andrea figured Paige would be little like Connor was (He was 6 lbs 9 oz at birth).

Andrea goes back to the doctor tomorrow and we should know whether the doctor is planning to induce this week or not. If you go by the first due date (May 10th), Andrea will be 38 weeks on Monday and if you go by the second due date (May 4th), she'll be 39 weeks on Tuesday. We're both hoping to have Paige this week. We'll keep everyone posted!

Baby Paige's room

Connor wanted to show you his little sister's room. He knows that his baby room is now baby Paige's room. We didn't know if Connor was going to be a boy or girl, so the nursery is pretty gender neutral and we decided to just add a little pink here and there to make it more girly.

We have Paige's 3d/4d sonogram pictures in the picture frames currently. Can't wait to put some real pictures in them.

We added Paige's name over the bed.


Didn't do much with the changing table.


We can't wait to meet our little girl! Here's a short video walkthrough of her room.

Andrea turns 30

Today was Andrea's 30th. We took her out to McAlister's Deli (where else?!?!) and got her a yummy cake from Hy-Vee. They don't make the fanciest cakes, but they are delicious. Connor was more excited about the cake than anyone.



Birthday Cake Party!


Happy birthday Mommy!!

Andrea's birthday flowers

Andrea turns thirty tomorrow! April 19th 2010.

She's been a little swollen with the pregnancy and can't wear her wedding ring, so Shawn already gave Andrea her birthday present (a new watch) early. He decided to get her some nice flowers last week and Andrea wanted a picture with the flowers and her little boy.



She's disappointed she can't celebrate quite like she'd like to on her birthday (she'll be 37 weeks tomorrow), but Shawn's promised to make it up to her with a nice trip some day after Paige is born.

We love you Andrea! Happy birthday!!

One month to go!

Andrea is 36 weeks pregnant as of Monday, April 12th. The estimated due date is May 10th 2010, so we have less than one month to go!

Andrea's been doing very well this pregnancy, but she is definitely getting tired (sometimes literally) of being pregnant. With Connor, towards the end of the pregnancy she had pregnancy induced hypertension (high blood pressure), and her blood pressure is a little higher than our doctor would like to see. She's not on bed rest yet or anything, but is taking medicine for it and is seeing the doctor weekly now.

Baby is moving a lot which is great, but it is keeping Andrea up at night sometimes. She hasn't been sleeping as well as she'd like, but we better get used to that.

Looking forwards to meeting our little girl! It's going to be very soon!

Easter 2010

Connor got a bunch of goodies for Easter. He did an Easter egg hunt with Grandma and Grandpa Vernon, Grandma and Grandpa Anders and at home. Mommy and Daddy got him Candyland (appropriate for Easter!), a fishing game, some Seasame Street books, a Nerf Basketball hoop, stickers and of course candy.


Connor's new fishing game is pretty hard, but Connor seems to like it.

Daddy playing with Connor:



2010 Easter:


2009 Easter:


2008 Easter:


2007 Easter:

Grandma Alice's surprise party in St. Louis

This weekend Connor and Daddy went to St. Louis for a surprise party for Grandma Alice at Outback Steakhouse. Grandpa had been planning it for months and somehow managed to keep it a secret. Grandma was very surprised, and it was a great visit. Mommy isn't supposed to travel more than an hour outside our zipcode, so unfortunately Andrea couldn't come with us.

Connor helping Grandma Alice open the birthday gift he got for her.


A not-so well timed picture of Shawn, but a good picture of the group.

Connor ate an entire loaf of the bread and butter.



After eating, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa Vernon's house for some cake.



Connor got to open his birthday present from Grandpa and Grandma.





Disney loot! Grandma and Grandpa got him Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto stuffed animals when they were at Disney recently. They also got him a bouncy ball that lights up and a bubble making fan that Connor absolutely loves. Connor already used up all the bubble stuff the first day.




Grandpa Rick got Connor three big sacks full of candy and took Connor on a walk while the Easter Bunny hid it. Connor had a really good time finding it all.




It was a great visit! Happy birthday Grandma, we love you!!