Hudson's first visitors

We had lots of hospital visitors...and got pictures of most of them (sorry dad!) We have had some visitors since we've been home--including some meals brought to us and a visit from Eric's brother and family. 

Mamaw (my mom)

Matt & Julie

Angela

Jeff and baby L

Grandma (Eric's mom)

Grandpa (Eric's dad)

Addison, Riley, & Sarah

Jon

Rachel

Chris & Aubrey

Bri

Big brother Cooper

Uncle Chris, Aunt Stacy, and Drew

We are adjusting well to life at home as a family of four. Big brother is doing pretty well--we just have to remind him to be gentle and touch easy. We have had both grandmas here to help and that has been nice, especially since it's not comfortable for me to get down and play on the floor with him or to have him crawling all over me all the time. I think he is okay with baby though...gives kisses and super excited when talking about him. Little brother is doing well too--eat, poop, sleep, repeat! 

Going home

Enjoying life on the outside

Introducing....Hudson!

We welcomed Hudson Christopher into the world on Monday, June 2, 2014 at 11:50am. He weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 21 inches long.

I couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery. We were scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 6am. After we got there and settled into our room, I realized that I had a voicemail from the hospital asking if we would wait, call at 9, and then they would give us a new time to come in. Oops! Well after a couple of failed IV attempts, I thought we were going to have to end up waiting (after being given the option to stay or go home..without a time frame of how long we would wait).  But then shift change happened at 7:30 and my new nurse came in and started my IV right away. My doctor was quickly to follow. She checked me and I was a "stretchy 3". She broke my water, and they started my antibiotic for Group B strep and then my pitocin shortly after that. My nurse joked that she wanted me to have two rounds of antibiotics--and so no baby before noon. We laughed at that...thinking after my experience with Cooper that it would probably be at least late afternoon. Well within the next hour, I was feeling the contractions, having to do some concentrating and breathing during them. I told the nurse around 9:15 that I was ready for something to take the edge off...and had told her earlier that I didn't want to miss my epidural window. She promised I wouldn't and after checking me and finding that I was 6cm. she went ahead and called for my epidural. I was finished getting my epidural around 10am and it worked perfectly. My parents arrived at about that time and we sat and talked with them. I could tell I was having some contractions, but I wasn't uncomfortable. My nurse came in and I could tell she was nervous about getting two rounds of antibiotics in. She had stopped the pitocin completely and kept calculating about the antibiotics. I felt good so I didn't realize how quickly I was progressing. The earliest she could start the second round of antibiotics was 11:15 and she started them at 11:15 on the dot and pushed them through quicker than the normal 30 minutes they take. At some point she checked me again and I was 9 1/2 cm. I told her shortly after that, that I could feel pressure and probably push soon. I didn't HAVE to push, but I definitely could. After seeing how far down the baby was, she decided to just call the doctor over instead of pushing with me. She joked that she could deliver the baby, but there is just so much more paperwork involved. The doctor arrived probably 5-10 minutes later and we began to push. I pushed through 2 contractions, so probably a total of 6-7 pushes, which is maybe a little over a minute total of pushing. It was so wonderful and a redeeming experience after last time. I think I felt what I needed to for pushing, but it wasn't painful. I had minimal tearing and a pretty quick and easy recovery. I know lots of people say the subsequent deliveries usually go faster and smoother...and I think I was expecting the worst and so I got to be very pleasantly surprised! 

So I'm guessing you care more about the pictures than the story...so I have some to share! 

Hudson, we are so glad that you came into the world safely and are thankful that you get to be a part of our family! 

Pregnancy musings

My pregnancy with Hudson is quickly coming to an end.  I'm 39 weeks and 3 days--and there is an end in sight.  I had an appointment yesterday and we went ahead and scheduled an induction date for Monday, June 2nd (my due date).  My doctor asked me what I wanted to do...well I think she worded it as, "what kind of person are you?"  I was torn...which led to me crying.  I'm mentally done being pregnant.  This happened with Cooper's pregnancy too.  This is where Facebook is awful because everyone I know who has been due around the same time as me has already had their baby.  I also think that doctors shouldn't say "anyday now...go ahead and have that baby..." because it really makes me think 'anyday now' as the weeks go by.  I really have no reason to complain though because I have had 2 healthy pregnancies-- no miscarriages or infertility and really no complaints during pregnancy.  Although I would love for Hudson to come on his own before Monday, we went ahead and scheduled an induction even though my doctor was willing to let me go over another half week-week.  I'm really not even super uncomfortable, which I contribute to my long torso and that he is probably still pretty comfy in there.  I'm just selfish and done.  I've been eating pineapple & spicy food, going on walks, and bouncing on a big exercise ball.  2cm dilated and 80% effaced. This does put me farther than I was with Cooper at this point (although this hasn't changed in two weeks).  So I think for my mental state and attitude, having a date has helped.

I have a couple of personal goals to celebrate with this pregnancy:

- I have gained half the amount of weight that I gained with Cooper! (probably helps not working at Chick-fil-A) 

- I had a goal to workout at least 3-5 times per week, which I've done!  This included running, which I did up until a few weeks ago.  Lately it's been more walking, stationary bike or the elliptical.

- I can still wear my wedding ring.

So there is a little update.  Hudson is coming soon and we are excited to meet him!

Days in the life of Cooper

Cooper is now well on his way to two years old!  He is still talking non-stop...which can also include just repeating the same word over and over with persistence.  He knows what he wants and doesn't always love to be told "no" or already has selective hearing about our responses to things.  It will be interesting to see how he responds to his baby brother (who we are anxiously waiting for at 39 weeks, 1 day).

Here are some recent pictures:

He hasn't quite figured out how to put his sunglasses on correctly. 

Swimming with daddy

He loves Chick-fil-A (just like his mama and daddy)

And LOVES to be outside!

A little Jesus Storybook Bible reading in his newly upholstered chair 

Celebrating cousin Melanie's high school graduation

Messy eater!

Walks with mama as we try to walk this baby out

We love you so much, Cooper.  I know you're going to look so big next to baby brother...and although I'm sure it will be an adjustment, I know you're going to be a great big brother.  We have loved the past 21 months with just you and are excited for the days, weeks, months and years to come! 

Hudson's nursery

With less than a month to go, we are mostly finished with Hudson's nursery, so I thought I would show it off on the blog! These are grainy ipad pictures, and I'm not knowledgable enough about taking pictures with poor lighting/small room/letting in natural light, so please forgive the quality.

We bought this little dresser off Craigslist and it will also be used for lots of diaper changes. We hung a pegboard and just put some simple stuff on it (H, clock, chain with birdie, baskets for holding wipes, diapers, creams, etc). The pictures on the wall are some free printables that I found online.

The closet didn't have a door on it, so we bought some fabric and Eric sewed a curtain for that space. We added some shelves (that you can barely see on the left side) and then some more drawers for storage. I love the adorable baskets (thank you Target) that are on the upper shelf and there is also plenty of space on the rack for hanging clothes.

We ended up just buying some plain reddish/orange curtains for the window. After realizing how easy the curtain was to sew for the closet, we realized we could have just made our own. But the ones we bought were on clearance and even with coupons, we couldn't have made two panels for that price. We moved the rocker glider from Cooper's room into the nursery and Cooper got a chair that Eric reupholstered. Eric used the extra fabric from the closet curtain to make a little pillow cover too!

I made a yarn ball mobile that hangs in the corner by the crib. We have some friends that let us borrow a crib (since Cooper is still in his crib) and we left it how it is. It actually goes well with the dresser and the rest of the room. The wall hanging is a canvas map from Hobby Lobby. 

And the last thing is the baby quilt we made. I picked some fabric and a pattern, we pieced it, and then had it quilted at a shop in town. The fabric is Birch Organics and is from the Mod Basics line. I picked another random fabric for the back when I dropped it off to be quilted.

So there is a quick view of the nursery! I think we still would like to find some sort of book holder or bookshelf and the largest wall in the room doesn't have anything hanging on it--but I think over time, we will figure out what to do. Okay baby boy....we're pretty ready for you! I guess we need to buy some diapers now--considering we have 1 newborn diaper and then Cooper's diapers (which are huge in comparison)!

+/- 26 days!