Davyn Turns Two

My little Momma's boy turned two. Two years has flown by. It seems like just a couple months ago that I was heading to the hospital to be induced. I remember being so excited to find out whether we were going to adding a boy or a girl to our family. Cory was convinced it was a boy and I thought that it would be a girl. Even the nurses in the hospital thought that the heartbeat sounded like a girl.I was excited when the doctor held Davyn up and told us it was a boy. It's true that Cory and I didn't have a name picked out for almost a day, but we just had to be sure that we were naming him the right name.
Davyn is such a character. He cracks us up all the time with the things that he does and says. He is a little rough with his older siblings, but is so gentle and kind to Addalyn. He is my little cuddle bug. He loves to give hugs and kisses!
Right now Davyn LOVES Diego, Mickey Mouse Club House, any type of animal, balls, basketball, cars and playing outside. He also loves the water!
For Davyn's birthday this year we took him bowling and to an arcade. He loved bowling. He would get really impatient having to wait his turn to throw the ball down the lane. He didn't care much about the pins that fell down but he got all excited and jumped up and down clapping and laughing each time he would push the bowling ball down the little ramp.
We are so blessed to have this incredible little man in our household. I hope that he never grows out of his tender side. I know there eventually may come a day where it isn't cool to snuggle with your mom and give her hugs and kisses, so I am cherishing every moment of it that I get now.
Happy 2nd Birthday Davyn, We love you!!!

2 Week Check-Up

Today was Addalyn's 2 week check-up. She weighed 8lbs which puts her in the 50th percentile, and she was 21in. which put her in the 90th percentile. I am surprised that she has gained what she has already. deKyn and Taegyn were just a little over their birth weights at their 2 wk checks. Davyn however, was a totally different story. :)It's just good to know that she is getting what she needs from me.
I can't believe that she has been here with us for two weeks already. She has fit right into the family and our family life.
I swear this has been my easiest transition of a newborn. I was so worried about all the stuff that goes along with brining home a newborn (i.e. not nursing well, waking up screaming throughout the night, wanting to be held all day, not sleeping good through the day, kids being jealous, sore nipples and boobs, and the biggest thing, my postpartum depression that seemed to get worse with each child.) Worrying about all those things made little room for excitement of having Addalyn with us. I am really pleased to say that this hasn't been at all a problem with Addalyn. She nurses great, my milk came in within 3 days, she sleeps for 3-4 hours at a time during the day, she wakes about 3 times a night to eat. She doesn't wake up screaming right away that she is hungry, she just grunts a lot. She is happy and content and will sit there on the floor and in her swing and stare around for long periods of time. My kids have been great with her, especially Davyn. He is actually so cute and tender. He is always so concerned about where Addalyn is at all times. If he doesn't see her or hear her he will come ask me where she went. He holds her and gives her kisses all of the time. (If only he was that sweet to his older siblings, I would be one happy Momma!)
I love this little girl and I really mean it when I say I can't get enough of her. I just can't help but stare at her and try to picture what it would have been like to not have her in our family. Cory says that I am like a child who has a new toy. I can't help it, she is so precious and cute and I feel so lucky that she is ours!
There is no doubt in my mind that this sweet little spirit has waited patiently for her chance to join our family. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for trusting Cory and I enough to bring these special spirits into our home to raise and teach, and am grateful to the promptings that we have gotten to let us know that our family wasn't quite complete without Addalyn.

Easter

Easter was my due date but of course, no little baby came.
(Here I am in all my due date big belly glory. Don't mind the hair, I just woke up)
We had a great time looking for eggs and doing easter baskets with the kids. Later that night we went over to my parents house and played games. It was a really relaxing Sunday with not much excitement. Here are a couple pictures.

As you can see, we didn't really take many pictures. And the ones we did take weren't that great, but at least it's something! :)

Addalyn Embree Isaacson

I can't be more excited to announce that Addalyn Embree has finally decided to join our family! She was born Tuesday April 26th at 8:22am. She weighed 7lbs 9oz and was 20in long.
Labor and delivery went surprisingly well and fast. My due date was the 24th of April (which happened to be Easter), but of course she decided she wasn't quite ready to come yet. I had a doctors appointment Monday afternoon and we talked about my options. I had only progressed to two centimeters by then and still wasn't really contracting. I was very adamant that I wanted to go into labor on my own and not be induced if I didn't have to be. But, I also didn't want to go a week overdue either. I set up an induction date for that Thursday and figured I would try to give myself until then to go into labor. My doctor stripped my membranes that same day to see if that might progress things along for me too. I am not a fan of getting my membranes stripped! It hurts, it's uncomfortable, and it usually doesn't do anything for me. Apparently this time it did. I started contracting randomly throughout the rest of the day and didn't think much of it. I went to bed around ten that night with contractions about every 15-20 mins. They hurt, but weren't unbearable. I woke up around 3:30am and decided I should probably start timing the contractions. They were coming every 2-3 mins and were getting pretty intense. I woke Cory up and told him we had better go. We got to the hospital around 4:20ish and had to be monitored for an hour before they decided to admit me or not. At around 5:30am, my doctor came in and checked me and said that I was at a four and that he would wait to break my water until after I got my epidural. (I had asked for an epidural from the moment I got to the hospital but still had to wait over two hours to finally get it!) I was in a lot of pain by this point and really really wanted some drugs, but all my nurse said was sorry, the anesthesiologist doesn't come in until 6am. I looked at Cory and told him I didn't think that I could wait that long.
(when I finally got my epidural!)
I give a lot of props to those women that decide to do it naturally on purpose. There was a few contractions where you feel like you are going to pass out because the pain is so sever and strong. Trying not to hyperventalate was another problem. Cory kept telling me to breath and I kept tensing up and holding my breath.
Finally at 6:15 the anesthesiologist comes walking into the room and starts slowly getting things ready. I was so frustrated. I just wanted him to hurry up and get on with it! After I got my epidural, it was a nice relief except that it was only working on my left side and not my right. The anesthesia guy assured me that it would eventually move to my right side and to give it time. Well, I waited and waited and it started to sort of numb my right side. After the anesthesia guy left my doctor came back in, checked me, (I was now at a 7) and broke my water. He left and said he would be back in a bit to check on me. That is when my epidural stopped working from the pelvis down. I could feel every contraction and pain. I told my nurse and she talked to the anesthesia guy again. I was feeling a lot of pressure and my doctor came back in around 7:40am to check me. He said I was at a nine and that it shouldn't be that much longer. They hurried and got the anesthesiologist back into the room to give me another boost of epidural right before I was supposed to deliver. I was at a ten by a little after 8am and the nurses and staff got busy getting the room ready. I was still in a lot of pain and was still feeling everything from the pelvis down. But, I was at a ten and was told it was time to push. Luckily for me I only had to push twice and she was out! I don't know if I could have handled pushing for longer that! The one nice thing about the boost that they gave me, was that I did go numb by the time my doctor started to stitch me up.
In all I was in labor for about 4 hours.
Definitely my shortest labor yet, and even though I had more pain with this one, it did go smoothly and quickly!
I was so nervous and anxious about having and bringing home a brand new baby that I didn't really get excited for when the time came to actually have her. But as soon as she came out, I was smitten. She is the most adorable thing and I just can't get enough of her. So far she has been my best baby (knock on wood).
The first night we brought her home she slept for 6 hours straight. Since then she wakes every 3 hours to eat. My kids adore her and Cory and I adore her. I couldn't imagine life without her in it. I am hoping that this transition just continues to be smooth and she continues to do as good as she has been doing.