He's Finally Here! Alex Philip, The Birth Story!

Trying to get this all typed up before I lose all track of the details, It all seemed to happen so quickly!  (You know after it took that dreaded extra week and a day to happen.)

Anyhow, my induction was scheduled for Thursday, March 6th.  We were told to arrive at the hospital at 5:30 to get registered and get checked in to start the induction.  On Wednesday my mom picked up Addison after work to keep her for a few days.  Tony and I ordered some Chinese take out for dinner and I was doing my normal I can't get comfortable so I'm going to take a hot bath routine which had become my life.  The hospital called while I was in the tub to tell us we needed to be there to check in earlier than planned 4:45 for check in but that they would call us in the morning if anything changed overnight and they needed to bump me back.  Nothing like an early start!  Of course I couldn't sleep to save my life, and may have finally fallen asleep around 12:45.  My alarm was set for 3:45.

We got up in the morning and got around ready to leave, after we hauled all the crap to the truck and I heave hoed by butt on in I grabbed my phone to see that my ringer was (as usual) off and I missed a call from the hospital at 4:08 saying that they had a lot of people come in over night and they needed to push back my time.  They asked us to come in at 6:30 instead so back to the house we went for a little bit.  Tony grabbed a quick nap on the couch and I of course being nervous wasn't gonna be doing any sleeping so instead I did what any pregnant lady who might be facing a no-eating period would do, I made myself a bowl of strawberry frosted mini wheats & did some Pinteresting (yes it's a verb I checked).

We then left for the hospital, yet again.  I got myself registered and we headed up to the 4th floor, Labor & Delivery.  They put me into what would be our delivery room and told me to change into my beautiful hospital gown.  While I was in the bathroom I hear Tony talking to someone and the other voice I hear is our friend Heather who is a RN in labor and delivery (Guess who was assigned to be my nurse by chance?).  She was telling Tony that they didn't tell her a name ahead of time so she had no clue that she was assigned to me.  She wanted to make sure that I was going to be okay with her being my nurse.  When I popped out of the bathroom I told her I could handle it.  (MONTHS ago when I first found out that I was pregnant I told her I didn't think I could handle having her be my nurse cause it would be weird, at 41 weeks pregnant I NO LONGER CARED!)  In the end it was nice to have someone we knew in the room and she did a great job!

They had me in the room and Heather started hooking me up to the fetal heart rate monitor and the contraction monitors, going over check in questions and setting things up for my IV fluids and Pitocin, we just had to wait for the LPN to come place my IV & draw blood.  This is where I wish I had wrote down little notes because by the time he was born I had forgotten what time things were happening.  But by about 9am they had gotten my IV in and started my fluids.  I had been having contractions on my own about 7-10 minutes apart but nothing that I could even feel.  I was dilated to 2cm which is what I was at my last doctor appointment and he was already pretty low, at this point Doctor Farhat broke my water.  (Which feels like you are constantly peeing yourself every time you shift or move in any way.  yuck.)

Heather started the Pitocin and very quickly after I could start to feel the contractions, she upped the pitocin rate every 1/2 hour and my contractions started to quickly get worse and worse and my lower back started to kill me through the contractions.  Heather told me she thought we'd have a baby by lunch time, 2pm at the latest.  (you know if you want to make bets about things, and if you know my husband he wants to know when everything is going to happen, even the things you can't control..Mr. ask me 1000 times in the past weeks if I was in labor and when it was going to happen and how long I thought it would take)   At about 10am Heather said I looked like I was getting uncomfortable in bed so she brought me in a rocking chair to move into to see if I would be more comfortable rocking/bouncing through contractions.  At first just moving into a different position made me feel better but again they pretty quickly became pretty awful in my lower back, even without an epidural to keep me confined, contractions hurt so much I feel like I cannot move when I am having one.  Heather had told me to let her know when I wanted my epidural based on my comfort with the pain, that she didn't want me to miss my window so not to tough it out longer than I had to.  Then I had Tony tell me to not be stubborn about it like everyone else in my family is about eveything if I didn't want to miss being able to get it.  (Apparently even though I can say it's not that bad, one can tell that it is that bad)  I have a huge fear of the whole "epidural slowing labor" thing that people talk about so I was trying to put it off as long as I could but I literally felt like I had a knife in my spine through each contraction.  I definitely didn't have the same types of contractions that I had with Addison at least not what I started out with with hers cause they were a lot more bearable for a lot longer with her.  Around 10:45 I finally said ok I'd had enough and I was ready for the epidural if I could have it.  I climbed back into the bed so they could check me to see if I was dilated enough for an epidural and not too much.  Dun, dun, dun, I was only a 3....ugh that seemed redunkulous considering the pain.  But at a 3 I could get my epidural, or as Heather said a 3 is epidurable, THANK GOD.  So they called the anesthesiologist who came up and kicked Tony out of the room to place the epidural, He took longer to set his stuff up than he did to get that sucker in, pretty impressive.  Within just a few minutes of the epidural being placed around 11:15 the contraction pain I was feeling in my back went away.  I soon noticed that I had a small patch in my left side that wasn't numb.  It was pretty much from the lower part of my stomach through my inner thigh/pelvis like a 5 inch circle area that I could feel each contraction.  VERY quickly they became insanely painful for just being a small area!  Heather had me push my morphine button on the epidural (which I NEVER had to do with Addison) to see if an extra boost would help with numbing that area, while it helped a little it quickly wore off and about 10 minutes later I had already pushed it again and was feeling the contractions in that patch regardless.  So we tried to tilt me to one side to see if just re-positioning myself would help, and pushing the morphine button again.   I went about 10 minutes without feeling one and then I started feeling them again.

When Heather came back into the room I let her know I either didn't have any contractions or for 10 minutes it worked, she looked at my screen and told me I definitely didn't have any contractions for 10 minutes.  She mentioned calling back the anesthesiologist to try and readjust my epidural but that she was going to check in with Dr. Farhat first to see what he wanted.  She came back into the room and told me that Farhat wanted her to check me and see if were I was, that he thought based on my contractions that I could be at least at a 7 or more.  So she checked me and surprised the hell out of me by saying that I was fully dilated and he was super low, I was ready to push.  Seriously it had only been just over an hour since I had gotten the epidural!  Last time I got my epidural it took FOREVER for Addison to be born.  They also had me push for about 30 minutes last time before they even called the doctor into the room to let him know I was ready.  This time Heather called the doctor and the nurses showed up for the baby and everything in the room got a little more exciting.  When Doctor Farhat got there at about 12:20 he started setting all his things up, checked me and said yes fully dilated and baby ready to come out, he says I think we can get him out on one push!  WHAT?!  He then starts joking with Heather saying "Aren't you going to ask me how I knew from the phone conversation that she was going to be ready?  Don't you want to know why I'm so good at my job?"  I guess something about that 10 minute lul in contractions when she re-positioned me told him that I had progressed quickly.  (I have no clue)  This is where Tony called my mom to let her know that they were ready for me to start pushing (this was a 45 minute process last time) so that she could head up to the hospital with Addison to meet her brother.

So as soon as the doctor and the nurses were all ready they positioned me in the stirrups and continued to tell me that I could get him out in one push, just to wait for the contraction and push with it.  Literally pushed with the first contraction I felt and apparently he was almost out, had to wait for the next contraction to push out shoulders and in two contractions worth of pushing at 12:43pm Alex was born.  (less than 5 minutes of pushing, say what?!  I thought this whole being induced thing was supposed to be HORRID!?)  I couldn't get over how round his face was, chubby little cheeks!  Tony called my mom back to let her know that he was here and she was shocked at how quickly he came, they hadn't even left Mason yet!

Differently than with Addison they left him on my chest for skin to skin contact for the first hour so we didn't have stats right away but with them only wiping him down quickly and suctioning his mouth and listening to his heart it gave us time to oggle him and let him nurse before things got crazy with visitors.  Meanwhile they were dealing with things like delivering the placenta and stitching me back up, I re-tore what was torn when Addison was born. (yay for stitches in your lady bits, not.)  Dr. Farhat said it's a good thing you decided to go with the induction you may not have made it to the hospital and had to deliver at the train station up the road if you waited to go into labor at home.  There's a terrifying thought.  After the hour of snuggles, breast feeding, baby admiring were up they came in to measure, check do footprints etc. He weighed in at 8lbs 14oz, 21 inches long with a 14" round head.  They kept saying he was a good sized baby but he seems pretty tiny to me! :)

At this point is when Grandma Gail, Grandma Sharon and Addison had made it to the hospital to meet baby Alex.

Bumpdates: Baby #2: Week 41...Seriously? 41 weeks?!

First off I don't even want to type this post, I have more pregnancy rage than you could believe and I'm very bitter that I'm 41 weeks and no real signs of this baby wanting to come!  My only thing I'm a little happy about right now is that it's the most wintery winter we've had in my life time here in Michigan.  So it's not 90degrees and I'm not a swollen walrus.  I did slip and fall in the driveway the other day (only to my knees) so that part of winter sucks but I'm not feeling bad about hunkering down in the house lately!

How Far Along:
41 Weeks 

Size of baby:
Who knows?  Apparently they give up on fruit measurements after 40 weeks!

Total Weight Gain:
32lbs 

Stretch Marks: 

41 weeks and though I cannot see my whole body (you know with the belly and all, and the total lack of full body mirrors in my house)  I seem to have made it through an entire second pregnancy without adding to any of the stretch marks that I got from Addison.  

Maternity Clothes:
I'm pretty much living in tank tops, zipper hoodies that I couldn't zip if I wanted to and pajama pants these days.  It's all about being comfortable as possible when you feel like your body is stretched to the max and falling apart.

Gender:
It's a BOY!

Movement:
yes, I'm pretty sure you can tell which limb is which at this point, it looks incredibly weird to see him moving in there right now, not to mention how freaking painful it is!

Sleep:

Still not sleeping, impossible to find a comfortable position.  Up every 2 seconds to pee.

What I miss:
not hurting to move, being comfortable, sleeping on my stomach, bending over, putting on my shoes without feeling like I'm compromising my air supply.

Food Cravings:   
Nothing in particular, I know that I am being induced tomorrow so we made sure to order some Chinese take out tonight because that sounded delicious.  Sweet & sour chicken FTW!

Food Aversions: 
Anything that requires cooking, standing at a stove.

Symptoms:
major headaches the past few days, soooo much pressure it hurts incredibly bad to go from sitting to standing, and overall discomfort and sick of being pregnant.  Still with the stuffy weird nose crap, and I'm about as tolerant as a pissy 90 year old man.  :)  Pain, Pain, Pain.  

Best Moment This Week:

My doctor left it to me to decide if I wanted to be induced this Thursday.  I always have been pretty certain that I NEVER wanted to be induced, but I also have never been 41 weeks pregnant with a baby who refuses to come out no matter how much physical activity I partake in (Mall walking, check. More Mall Walking, Check.  Extreme house cleaning, Check.  Cleaning out an entire storage room full of junk for an afternoon, Check.)  I decided to go ahead and sign up and hope for the best.  I hear SOOOO many horror stories of inductions being awful, I'm just hoping that the labor isn't as long as the pregnancy!  He's gotta come out sooner or later right!?!?

What I’m looking forward to: 

Nervously awaiting 5:30 am hospital check in Thursday morning so we can finally meet this little guy!

Bumpdates: Baby #2: Week 40

How Far Along:
40 Weeks 

Size of baby:
a Jackfruit

Total Weight Gain:
30lbs 

Stretch Marks: 

Nothing new, not sure how that's even possible but I'll take it.

Maternity Clothes:
Yes, even some of those shirts have given up the fight to completely cover the belly.

Gender:
It's a BOY!

Movement:
yep, though I'm  not sure how he even has a centimeter of space to move in there!

Sleep:

So incredibly tired.  It's like the first trimester all over again except this time I just plain can't get comfortable enough to sleep instead of just can't get enough sleep.

What I miss:
Not being pregnant.  Plain and simple, OVER pregnancy.  You hear that baby, I'm OVER IT!

Food Cravings:    
Nothing specific, though I continue to want to eat nothing but sweet stuff... Seriously this kid may come out a 12 lb butterball.  

Food Aversions: 
nothing particular, finding it harder to make meals because nothing really sounds good.  (except cookies, cookies and popsicles always sound good)

Symptoms:
major headaches the past few days, soooo much pressure it hurts incredibly bad to go from sitting to standing, and overall discomfort and sick of being pregnant.  Still with the stuffy weird nose crap, and I'm about as tolerant as a pissy 90 year old man.  :)  I finally gave up on all but one of my rings cause my hands are starting to get a little swollen at night and I don't want to deal with them getting tight and panicking that I can't get them off!

Best Moment This Week:

Our friends Brendan, Kelly & their new baby girl Olivia came to town for a visit so we got to go out to dinner and spend a little time with them.  Spending extra time home with Addison has been nice, and for her three and a half year old self combined with my cranky self, she's been pretty awesome most of the time.

What I’m looking forward to: 

BABY!...Seriously ANY freakin' time now kid!!

Bumpdates: Baby #2: Week 39

How Far Along:
39 Weeks 

Size of baby:
a Watermelon 

Total Weight Gain:
28lbs 

Stretch Marks: 

Nothing new, not sure how that's even possible.

Maternity Clothes:
yes...the belly taketh over.

Gender:
It's a BOY!

Movement:
still lots, still painful seeing how he can't possibly have much room left in there for his acrobatics.

Sleep:

Awful. Awful, Awful. Non-existent, up at least every 30 minutes to an hour for the first 2-3 hours when I lay down....ugh.

What I miss:
not being pregnant.  Plain and simple, OVER pregnancy.

Food Cravings:    
Mexican food the other day but other than that nothing major.

Food Aversions: 
nothing

Symptoms:
still the horrid ligament pain, some hip pain when I first wake up in the morning from sleeping on my side.  Still the morning stuffed nose.  

Best Moment This Week:

not having to go to work once!

What I’m looking forward to: 

BABY!...Seriously ANY time now kid!!

Bumpdates: Baby #2: Week 38

How Far Along:
38 Weeks 

Size of baby:
a pumpkin, totally believable seeing how it looks like I've attached one to myself 

Total Weight Gain:
24 lbs, down from last week, which happened when I was pregnant with Addison also.  Must be that whole no room left for me to fill my own stomach.  

Stretch Marks: 

Nothing new, not sure how that's even possible.

Maternity Clothes:
yes...the belly taketh over.

Gender:
It's a BOY!

Movement:
still lots, still painful seeing how he can't possibly have much room left in there for his acrobatics.

Sleep:

Awful.   Awful, Awful.

What I miss:
not being pregnant, though getting wrote outta work has helped my body/ability to deal with life greatly!

Food Cravings:    
still the same, sweets, milk, dairy products, Chinese food

Food Aversions: 
nothing

Symptoms:
still the horrid ligament pain, some hip pain when I first wake up in the morning from sleeping on my side.  Still the morning stuffed nose.  

Best Moment This Week:

Getting that sweet, sweet doctors note to be excused from work.  10 hour work days are for the birds and people not hugely pregnant who also have an hour commute one way to work.

What I’m looking forward to: 

BABY!

Addison:
Very excited to stay home with momma!

Bumpdates: Baby #2: Week 37

How Far Along:
37 Weeks 

Size of baby:
a Winter melon, what the hell is that?

Total Weight Gain:
26 lbs

Stretch Marks: 

Nothing new, not sure how that's even possible.

Maternity Clothes:
yes...the belly taketh over.

Gender:
It's a BOY!

Movement:
yep still kickin and a squirming

Sleep:

not really.  Incredibly hard to find a comfortable position, then of course I have to lie there and pretend I don't need to pee!

What I miss:
being able to bend over, and people not telling me that I shouldn't be doing ______ because I'm pregnant.  Bitch please, if it sends me into labor so be it!

Food Cravings:    
Donuts.  Bring me all the donuts!

Food Aversions: 
nothing.

Symptoms:
Still a morning snot factory..yuck can't wait for that to end.  Major ligament pain in the upper left side of my abdomen, like stabbing me with a knife pain anytime I bend over..wowzer.  Other than overall uncomfortable/body exhaustion I actually feel ok though.

Best Moment This Week:

Having a 4 day weekend, eventhough it means I have to work on Saturday.

What I’m looking forward to: 

Maternity leave.  Baby!

Addison:
Has been acting like a baby a lot, asking me to rock her like a baby.  I'm not sure if its the start of baby jealousy or just her playing.  She's all into helping with baby stuff, putting things together getting stuff organized.

Bumpdates: Baby 2: Week 35

How Far Along:
35 Weeks 

Size of baby:
a Coconut

Total Weight Gain:
22 lbs

Stretch Marks: 

Nothing new, sure it's coming.

Maternity Clothes:
yes...the belly taketh over.

Gender:
It's a BOY!

Movement:
yes, it looks like a small alien nation took over my stomach, clearly visible from across the room.  Please don't stare at my acrobatic stomach, its weird.

Sleep:

yeah right (+1 for pregnant grouchiness)

What I miss:
It not hurting to move.  Everything I do causes me physical pain.  Stairs + 3 year old who can't manage to walk down them at 5am= a bitch, rolling over in bed = a bitch, walking all over gods green earth at work all day = a bitch, tying my shoes = the biggest bitch.  Seriously, find a huge bowling ball, nestle it on your legs against your belly and try and bend over to tie your shoes.  That's what pregnancy is like at this point.  Summer and flip flops was much easier.

Food Cravings:    
Still with the candy...must have sweets.  I'm gonna die when I try to eat healthy again after this baby comes out.  Until then I allow myself my candy binges.  

Food Aversions: 
Spicy/tomato-y/otherwise acid inducing foods.  While I haven't had crazy heartburn like I did with Addison I have developed some serious reflux, make you want to puke when you bend over the past week or so!

Symptoms:
read above complaints that about covers it all.  

Best Moment This Week:

I'm not sure there has been a best moment this week, I'm tired, grumpy, miserable in my own skin and over pregnancy.  OVER IT!

What I’m looking forward to: 

Maternity leave.  Baby!

Bumpdates: Baby 2: Week 34

How Far Along:
34 Weeks 

Size of baby:
a Butternut Squash

Total Weight Gain:
21lbs, like I said it only goes up from here...6 weeks left, lets keep it under 30!

Stretch Marks: 

Nothing new, sure it's coming.

Maternity Clothes:
yes...the belly taketh over.

Gender:
It's a BOY!

Movement:
yes, it looks like a small alien nation took over my stomach, clearly visible from across the room.  Please don't stare at my acrobatic stomach, its weird.

Sleep:

what sleep?  I hate pregnant lady insomnia.

What I miss:
My non pregnant body.  sleep.  Not feeling like I will puke after I eat a normal portion sized meal.

Food Cravings:    
Popsicle were incredibly good this week, they seemed to be the only thing that would help my headaches go away!  Also sweets continue to top my list, I should weigh an additional 50lbs by now. (As I sit here eating a cream cheese danish)

Food Aversions: 
Nothing really this week.

Symptoms:
Headaches, Hip pain back with a vengeance.  Can't eat much without getting the "pukes in my mouth" yucks. Also heartburn/reflux like crazy when I eat much tomato stuff.  Restless legs getting worse than normal..oh joy.

Best Moment This Week:

Is it bad that I can't remember much about this week.  Four full days of work will do that to a girl.  Especially one who hasn't worked a full week in almost a month.

What I’m looking forward to: 

Maternity leave.  Baby.

Addison:
Is definitely doing more talking about "her baby".  She asks to feel him move sometimes now and then talks about how he can share his toys with her, but not her toys cause he's too little.

Bumpdates: Baby 2: Week 33

How Far Along:
33 Weeks 

Size of baby:
a durian

Total Weight Gain:
15lbs.....ok so I haven't stepped on the scale this week, with no gain last week I'm putting myself at least at 18lbs this week

Stretch Marks: 

Nothing new, sure it's coming.

Maternity Clothes:
yes...the belly taketh over.

Gender:
It's a BOY!

Movement:
yes, especially right when I lay down to go to sleep at night.

Sleep:

UGH.  Not happening, so hard to get comfortable.  I'm totally wishing I would have invested in one of those crazy wrap around your entire body pillows for pregnancy.  Or just the belly hole cut out of my bed so I can sleep on my stomach.  I am not a side sleeper and the stomach tries to kill me if I lie on my back.  As a matter of fact I may seek out a preggo pillow online now.  I'm dying.

What I miss:
not dying from searing hip pain.  For real a girl just wants to bend over/walk/do stairs without feeling like a 90 year old in need of a hip replacement.  Shit.

Food Cravings:    
Nothing in particular anymore.  Actually moving back to having more adversions and nothing really sounding good.  Still loving the dairy, Milk, Yogurt, Cottage Cheese.  Fresh veggies.  

Food Aversions: 
Lots of things starting to not sound good to me.  I don't know if it was a combination of cabin fever with limited foodstuffs in the house so nothing we had sounded good or what.  Oh yeah, did you know it snowed here, LIKE A LOT of snow.  I may have missed 3 days of work due to the amount of snow abundant on the roads/my drive way Monday morning, -40's windchill that prevented my truck from starting on Tuesday and a second day of dead battery on Wednesday.  Yeah, I enjoyed not having to work but I'm pretty sure work must hate me now!

Symptoms:
Hip pain which was actually better this week since I spent so much time at home not walking around 3 different buildings at work, and I didn't have a photography session this week so there was no extra moving around to be done.  Frequent trips to pee.  General pressure and comfortableness.  An inability to find a comfortable sleeping position at night!

Best Moment This Week:

Mother nature creating a few extra days home with my kiddo.  I told her last night that she had to go to the baby sitters today and she said "But I thought you were gonna stay home with me forever?"  I wish kiddo, I wish.  (sometimes)

What I’m looking forward to: 

Maternity leave.  Seriously.  This is my third week of only actually going to work for a day, I can't say that I completely hate that fact.  I just wish I didn't have to come in at all.

Addison:
I got to spend lots of extra time with my girl this week, for the most part it went very well.  I only had a few moments of complete annoyance with an inability to listen.  Which what do you expect after being trapped inside a house for a few days due to the redunkulous cold!   We made some art projects for Baby Frankenstein/Pudding, got some of the "newborn" stuff organized and out where it will be needed and spent plenty of time cuddling, doing puzzles and being silly.

Bumpdates: Baby 2: Week 32

How Far Along:
32 Weeks 

Size of baby:
a squash

Total Weight Gain:
15lbs

Stretch Marks: 

Nothing that wasn't Addison induced, but I'm not sure how I can possibly have 8 weeks left, where is it going to go?

Maternity Clothes:
yes...the belly taketh over.

Gender:
It's a BOY!

Movement:
Still tons, still super low and painful.  

Sleep:
Not even fun any more, so hard to get comfortable then try to convince myself that I don't need to get up and pee!  Seriously.  I thought it was annoying last time when I was pregnant and people made comments about having to pee all the time cause I never really did until the very end of my pregnancy.  That's just because she wasn't using my bladder as a pillow I guess, I swear I can & do pee every 20 minutes, even when I'm not drinking an excessive amount of anything.

What I miss:
I'm by no means a "pregnancy is a beautiful thing, I love growing babies" girl.  Pregnancy is not particularly fun, in fact it's becoming quite miserable and I am fairly uncertain how I am going to live through the next 8 weeks as uncomfortable as I have been the last week already.  I honestly don't remember being so miserable last time.  (shoulda blogged about it then I could say to myself, "yes self, pregnancy sucked last time too, that's why you waited so long to do it again!")  I miss being the only inhabitant of my body.  Finish baking in there kiddo, I'm too old for this.  Luckily babies are worth the torture of pregnancy (why else would people do it more than once!?!)

Food Cravings:    
No particular cravings, but still loving the celery and peanut butter, some pretty rare steak & my sweets.  

Food Aversions: 
notta

Symptoms:
constant need to pee, incredible amounts of hip pain - I feel like a 90 year old woman!  For real, I did a newborn session last Friday and found myself pretty much laid up on the couch for two whole days afterwards.  I'm assuming it was the up and downs off the floor that killed me but it doesn't really seem to matter much if my butt leaves the couch much during the day I am in agony at night.  I'm not sure if it's my activity during the day affecting it mostly or my sleep position at night.  All I know is it SUCKS.  I know that I had some hip pain last time but NOTHING like this.  Ow.  Ow.  Ow.

Best Moment This Week:

I had my recheck ultrasound on Monday, Baby Frankenstein/Pudding (however you'd like to refer to him) still had some fluid in his kidneys, so I have an appointment with my doctor on Friday where I'm sure he'll tell me that they will just continue to monitor it.  Last time he mentioned that they may do another ultrasound to recheck again, or possibly wait until he is born and ultrasound him when he's a month or two old.  So though that wasn't great news I remain in my they don't seem to excited about it so I won't freak out and read all of the terrible things that the internet says it could be state of mind....But, being that I had an ultrasound, we were able to see him again and get some 3D pictures this time!  Unlike his sister, who we paid to have a 3D ultrasound for and curled up into fetal position and refused to show her face, he was much more cooperative and even smiled for the camera (see I'm telling you I can't possibly have two kids as strong willed as the first one!).

What I’m looking forward to: 

Maternity leave.  One day of work this week and already I am over it.

Addison:
Went to the ultrasound with my mom and I, she was pretty excited to get to see him on the screen with the magic wand!  Also thought it was pretty neat that he was golden! :)

I've also decided that I really love 3 (and almost a half) year old age.  I could do without the new desire to throw a complete shit fit to get her way sometimes but for the most part she's been awesome lately.  Always willing to help out, big enough to actually be help.  Mostly sweet and happy girl.  Except for last night when she told me she hated me because I wasn't playing some game the way she wanted me to.  She has since apologized me to me several times last night and again today on our way to the sitters probably because she was crushed about no bedtime story last night for saying mean things to Mommy.  I'm sure it won't be the last time I'm hated in her life!