My Earlybird Special

I just wanted to wish everyone a

Happy Thanksgiving,

and Merry Black Friday shopping!

I'm trying not to look at all of the good deals that I could be getting by leaving my comfy bed at 4:00am tomorrow morning. Instead, I'll wait until my little earlybird wakes me up; but I'll be thinking of all of you out there getting the good deals.

Newborn Photos are HERE

I am in love with these images, and am so glad that we had them taken. Joy, you are such an amazing photographer...THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Newborn Photos

A friend (and photographer) took some newborn pictures of Hudson when he was 4 days old. I am planning on posting some on my blog later, but for now you can check some of them out on her photography blog:

http://joyalicephotography.blogspot.com/2009/11/sweet-baby-boy.html

Birthday Celebrations!

My days as a mom of two children under the age of 2 were short-lived...only 9 days to be exact. Makenna turned 2 yesterday, and we have all enjoyed celebrating her birthday this week.

On Monday Makenna had the cutest

Fairy Princess Tea Party

with two other little girls in our neighborhood who also turned 2 during the month of November. The 3 Birthday girls along with 3 other little friends had a great time dressing up, playing games, and eating lunch and cupcakes together.

Makenna wore my wings from when I was a little girl,

and a matching pink tu-tu that I made for her.

Some of the cute decorations.

Thanks J for hosting the party at your house!

Digging in to her lunch,

and then using her white shirt as a napkin to wipe off the frosting that was all over her hands!

Here are all of the tea party guests. The 3 Birthday girls are on the left.

On Wednesday, (Makenna's actual birthday) we celebrated at home, with more cupcakes, and then opening presents. Makenna LOVED blowing out the candles on her cake, and opening all of her presents. Thanks to all of you who sent or dropped off gifts for Makenna, she was really excited to open all of them.

Taking pictures with her new camera,

and showing off some more of her presents.

Playing Play-Doh with Grandma CeCe. Makenna had never really played with Play-Doh until last night, and has already spent a good 4 hours playing between last night and this morning.

I am SO grateful to have John's mom here helping me. John has had a really busy week at school, and John's mom has been taking over all of the household chores, as well as playing with Makenna non-stop. (She is a director at a Preschool in CO, and so has lots of experience entertaining and keeping toddlers busy!)

Happy Birthday Makenna! We Love you!

At Home

The Bloomington Hospital has visitor restrictions right now, and since Makenna was not able to come visit we were anxious to come home, and decided to only stay one night in the hospital. I was excited to get home, but wasn't excited to come home to a sick toddler. Makenna started showing symptoms of a cold (runny nose, and coughing) the night before we came home, so the first few days home were a little tricky. She was OBSESSED with Hudson, and wanted to hold him, hug him, and kiss him all of the time. We have been trying really hard to make sure that her hands are clean before she holds him, and making sure that she doesn't cough or sneeze on him. Makenna is doing better, and so far Hudson seems as healthy as can be, so hopefully our efforts will pay off.

Here are some pictures from the night we got home:




Makenna was VERY excited to meet her baby brother.



My mom just left yesterday, which was sad, because she has been such an angel. She has been doing all of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping. She also has been such a big help with keeping Makenna entertained and happy, and helping with Hudson, allowing me to sneak in a much needed nap here and there. I was sad to see her go, but am excited to have John's mom flying into town tonight.





I have LOVED having a newborn again! He is just so sweet and snuggly. He isn't even a week old yet, and already I can't imagine not having him as part of our family.



We may have a thumb-sucker...we'll have to see how that plays out.

Birth Story

Hudson's Birth Story:

My contractions started at around 7pm on Sunday evening, after "running fast" with Makenna around the kitchen table. In hopes of keeping them going, John and I went on a nice walk around campus while my mom stayed home with Makenna. My contractions were painful, and coming every 10 - 15 mins, but I kept thinking that they were going to stop. (I had contractions for about 2 hours on Saturday evening, but they eventually went away).

After we came home from our walk, I kept having contractions, so I started timing them. Everyone else (except for me) went to bed. I tried to sleep, but was in too much pain. I called the Doctor, and she said to wait to come to the hospital until my contractions were 5 mins apart. Since I was only having them every 9 to 12 minutes, I kept waiting. Finally at around 4:30am, I woke John up. My contractions were still 7 to 9 minutes apart, but they were extremely painful.

We arrived at the hospital at around 5:00am, and started getting set up in our room. After asking us a lot of questions, the nurse checked me, and I was 7 cm dilated! She made the comment that it was a good thing my water hadn't broken yet, or John may have had to deliver the baby at home. Things were a little crazy after that. The nurse started rushing around and trying to get everything ready. Since I tested positive for Group B strep, they needed to get an IV going right away with fluids, and an antibiotic. By the time I was done with my first dose of antibiotics, I was at 9 cm, and the nurse told me that I might not have time to get an epidural. Luckily, the anesthesiologist came right then, so all was well. After my epidural, we just waited for 3 hours so that I could get another dose of antibiotics before they broke my water.

Once they broke my water, we waited about another hour before I started pushing. Pushing was A LOT better with Hudson than with Makenna. I only had to push for 35 minutes instead of 2 hours, and he was even facing the wrong way (face up instead of face down, which is the preferred position). Overall, even though this labor was 2 hours longer than my labor with Makenna, I think things were easier since I knew what to expect. I felt the same sense of relief, awe, wonder, and overwhelming love when I saw Hudson for the first time as I did when I saw Makenna. Having a baby is such a miracle, and one that I am so grateful I was able to experience for the second time.

He's HERE!!

After 17 hours of labor (birth story to come) Hudson Ray Pawlowski was born on Monday 11-09 at 12:09pm. He was 8 lbs. 10 ozs. and 21 1/2 inches long. We are home and doing well.

Here are some pictures from the Hospital: