Biggering and Biggering and Biggering (as Dr. Seuss would say)

Wow! they weren't lying when it was said that our daughter would grow up way too fast. Steve and I can't believe she is already two months old. Although she passed her first milestone (rolling over from Prone to Supine) which was very exciting, Addisyn can slow the growing process down a bit and we would be happy. This month has been full of blessings. We watched Addisyn begin to smile, coo, and roll over for the first time. She is beginning to develop a personality and we couldn't be more in love with our little girl. In addition to the everyday "firsts" from Addisyn, we also have been settling into our new church home. Steve and I have recently become members at a church in Camden, Delaware by the name of CenterPoint. We have met the most amazing people and have developed some great friendships. It is always nice to fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ. One of the families with whom we had an instant connection with has offered to watch Addisyn when I have to return to work on March 23rd. My heart sinks everytime I think about leaving my little girl, but I know that she will be loved all day long at our friend's house. In the meanwhile, Steve and I are enjoying the time we get to have with her. I am pretty sure you can tell that from the video I pasted below. Check them out!

Love you all!

Addisyn's first month

Addisyn's firth month in picture review....

The first week Addisyn came home from the hospital it was all about rest for me. Thank goodness my mom was here and she even joined in on the little cat naps with her newest granddaughter Addisyn.

Week two, Addisyn's Nana flew out from California and there was more love to share. Nana had a great time relaxing with Addisyn, forensic files marathons, and having evening cocktails with Steve. I was still in recovery mode and even more exhausted than the week prior. Addisyn had her first restaurant experience when we took Nana out to celebrate her birthday.

Week three Addisyn made her first road trip to Virginia to meet Aunt Kim and Aunt Kelly Jo and to spend more time with Grandpa Broadhurst. He had come to visit Addisyn the first week she was born but had to leave early because he caught a cold.

Addisyn is bringing so much joy to our home. She is settling in with the bedtime routine a little better now. She is very healthy and already growing so fast. Her smile is adorable and the other day Steve admitted to me that he too saw the dimple I claim she has. So cute!

P.S. I had a whole entire page written here and then it accidently got deleted :-( Unfortunately, no stories this time around.

It's my Birthday and I can cry if I want to....

Addisyn Faith Hart was born on 1/5/2010 at 6:16 pm. She weighed in at a healthy and lovely 7 lbs 4 ounces and is 19.5 inches long. She is a bundle of love and Steve and I think she is the smallest most precious being on this earth.

The labor story:

Steve and I went in for a 9:00pm appointment at Christiana Hospital on Monday January 4, 2010. We got there about 30 minutes early and so I was checked in, dressed in a gown, and hooked up to an IV shortly after 9:00pm. We were scheduled and waiting for a foley bulb catheter to be placed in my cervix to begin to induce labor. Due to the increased number of C- Sections that evening, I didn't get my catheter until 2:00am in the morning. Around 5:00am we began Pitocin and my contractions were already starting. When the doctor came in to check me, I was only four cm dilated but I already had strong contractions so I asked to get the epidural. After a few hours, the epidural began to wear off and I was still 4 cms dilated with strong contractions so they came in and reinserted the epidural. After the epidural was placed again, I fell asleep for a lovely 2 hours and woke up 8 cm dilated. It turns out, I just needed to relax a bit. Within the hour, I progressed to 10 cms and felt the urge to push by 3:45 pm. It was about 30 minutes into pushing that I realized there was no comfort with the epidural. Luckily my friend who is a nurse anesthetist noticed that as well (probably from the moaning and crying coming from my room). She had someone top off the epidural and from there it was all about pushing. With the support of my husband and the wonderful nurse...I pushed for about another two hours and low and behold at a quarter past six, our little girl was ready to make her arrival.

After the delivery:

We were placed in another room around 11:00pm that evening and we had lots of nurses, pediatricians, and doctors come check on me all throughout the night and into the next day. Steve and Addisyn stayed with me the whole time at the hospital and it was a wonderful time together. Although there was very little sleep between Steve and me, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in the hospital cuddling with our little angel. Thursday morning we received the "okay" to come home from the hospital. All of Addisyn's checks went very well and she was taking to nursing like a champion.

First day home:

It was very exciting to bring Addisyn home and to see all the things that we have collected over the last nine months. I think she loves all of her things. Our wonderful church family has signed up to bring us a meal for the next seven days. This has been a huge blessing because I feel like I don't have any time in the day to do anything (and it is only day five). We also had Steve's boss come and visit with us the first day and it was great to visit with her and to show off our little angel.

Addy's Grandma Broadhurst arrived the first night home from the hospital and at the right time. We were absolutely exhausted and she has been a huge help with Addisyn. She also allowed us to get some much needed sleep on the first night. Grandpa arrived for a brief visit on Saturday into Sunday but had to leave today. Grandma Broadhurst will be with us until Wednesday. Then we get to see Nana for a whole week when she flys to come visit her first grandaughter all the from California. I will be posting another blog with more pics of the Grandparents and Nana's visit after Nana departs on the 21st.

It's about time!!!

Well... friends and family, 17 more days until our sweet little girl will be arriving, but who's counting? Steve and I have had quite an exhausting past couple months as the reality of Addisyn's arrival is quickly approaching. Hospital tour, child birth classes, nesting, baby shower, spending money, school, work and the holidays have made these past two months FLY by. We are finally getting to a point where we can sit back, relax, and enjoy each other. The Christmas tree is up, the nursery is ready and absolutely beautiful (if I do say so myself) and we are enjoying our last couple of weeks of giving our puppies all the attention and sleeping in on the weekends. Yet, we realize that even though it is likely we will lose our solid sleep, our excessive cuddling times with puppies, and our clean house - we are feeling very blessed this Christmas to be given the greatest gift from God. Steve and I look forward to seeing our beautiful child and raising her in a loving home.

A big big big thank you to my mom and sisters for throwing me an amazing and special baby shower over Thanksgiving weekend. They did such a great job and it was very special having some of my Ohio family there and friends come in from all different locations.

LOVE YOU!

31 weeks and growing....and growing...and growing

Hi family and friends,

Well I am sure you can tell by the lack of Blogging that things have been busy at the Hart household. Work, School, and little "Addisyn preparing" has been taking up a huge majority of our time. Not to mention I am lugging around 27 lbs in my belly so RESTING is very much a part of my weekend routine. My hope is to update this blog atleast two or three more times before we meet little Addy and then try to update this as often as possible once she has been born.

Today, Steve, me, Sam, and mom and dad went to see what little Addisyn looks like so far. I think it is safe to say that she definitely has my lips. I am very excited to see what color eyes and hair she will have. I can't believe we have only nine more weeks until we get to see her. Sometimes it seems so soon and sometimes I want it to be here RIGHT NOW!!!

Steve and I have pretty much everything finished in the nursery. We are waiting on a few more little items but my next blog will include pictures of our beautiful little girl's room. It all seems so surreal. I am sure everything will sink in this next month (Novemeber). We have so much going on to include a hospital tour, a childbirth and delivery class, and Thanksgiving and baby shower weekend and making sure we are ready to meet our little girl in December.

I hope we get to show you pictures of the nursery in the next two weeks! Miss all our friends and family and we hope this blog will keep you updated on how we are doing.

Changes with me.....

1.) can't wear my wedding ring any more :-(

2.) 27-30lbs weight gain

3.)lower back issues

4.) crazy dreams at night

5.) more tired and hormones are raging

6.) hunger pains more frequently

7.) and frequent pushing from the little miss Addy which causes a brief amount of pain

Week Thirty One: Baby detects light

You are 31 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 29 weeks)
Baby weighs 3.5 pounds and measures 16.5 inches from the head to heel.
Baby's weight is about 1.6 kg and length around 42cm.
The eyes have now completely opened and are responding to light and darkness.
A loud noise near you may cause your little one to jump.Your baby continues to grow. Baby's lungs and digestive tract are very near to being mature. Now that almost all of the major organs are functioning, growth will focus on maturing those organs and growing muscle mass and fat stores. Baby's weight gain will exceed its growth in length from now on. He or she should more than double their weight again between now and birth. It weighs about 3.5 pounds (1.6kg), and crown to rump length is 11 inches (28cm). Its total length is 16.5 inches (42cm).A loud noise near you may cause your little one to jump. Baby may move to the rhythm of music. Studies with heart rates show that they may also prefer some types of music to others at this stage. The eyes can now completely open and the irises are now responsive to light, dilating and contracting as needed.You will probably find that though you have been feeling pretty energetic throughout your second trimester, you are beginning to slow down now. Pay attention to your body's signals and rest when you need to. Exercise is still an important activity for you, even though it gets harder as you get larger and heavier. Try swimming, stretching and walking all excellent options for pregnant women. Your total pregnancy weight gain by this time should be between 21 and 28 pounds (9.5 and 12.5kg).

LOVE YOU!

Scratching and Itching and Burning...Oh my!

Hi friends and family,

Just a quick update to let you know that everything is well at the Hart household. Although our 22-23rd week brought me a horrible rash all over my belly and chest, We pushed through and thanks to Aveeno, ice packs, and cold showers- I have managed to keep it under control. The rash still flares it's evil head every once and a while but it is not nearly as bad as it was the last week. I am praying that the rash is not the early stages to a condition known as PUPPP which is a severe rash that usually occurs in the third trimester. On the up side, Addisyn is kicking like crazy and Steve just felt her for the first time a few nights ago. I think it feels like she is doing kicks in a swimming pool. Sometimes she kicks so hard, I swear you can see it.

So going into week 24, Steve and I have been very busy preparing three rooms in our town home. We have organized, arranged and decluttered our Master bedroom, our 1st floor entertainment/family room and Addisyn's nursery/guest room/day room. We feel we are well on our way to having the house ready for little Addisyn Faith. The nursery is painted, the crib is set up, and now we are just waiting on a few more items to purchase before we call it, "complete". I will post pictures as soon as we finish it.

What else is going on.....

This past weekend was my first week of class for my MFA in Photography and it was a huge reality shock. Graduate school is a lot different than undergrad and a lot more work. Yikes! It might be an emotional third trimester. I am just praying that I can keep all my emotions in check with this extra stress. What was I thinking? I am just gonna have to evaluate the workload before going into each semester.

Steve took his AFOQT test last week. If he scores a high enough score, we are going to move forward with the process of him applying to become an officer. I am very very excited to see where this road takes us in the future and I will be sure to update you all.

Until next time.....here is what is going on this week.

Week Twenty Four: Practices breathing

You are 24 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 22 weeks)
The child is now gaining around 3 ounces (90 grams) a week.
Baby weighs about 1.3 pounds and is 12 inches long.
Baby weighs about 600 grams and is 30cm (crown to heel) long.
The eyelids can be seen very clearly.
If born at this stage is officially considered viable, they may well be able to survive.Your baby is producing surfactant. This is stuff that keeps the small air sacs in our lungs from collapsing. The unborn baby is covered with a fine, downy hair and the skin is protected by a waxy substance. Some of this substance may still be on the child's skin at birth at which time it will be quickly absorbed. The baby practices breathing by inhaling amniotic fluid into developing lungs.Baby gains about 3 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs. The body begins to fill out with his appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn. Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his or her distaste. Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of the hands has improved as they sucks their thumb. Over the next week or so, the sweat glands will be forming in the skin. The lungs are developing branches of the respiratory tree and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily. After this week your baby is officially considered viable. 36% of babies can survive premature birth at 24 weeks - However, serious complications are still possible. Baby now weighs about 1.3 pound (600gm) and is around 12 inches (30cm) long.

We are at the half way point

Not a good pic but it is Addy's first concert (20 weeks)



Baby bump in California (19 weeks)

Baby bump in Ohio visiting my extended family (18 weeks)

Hello loved ones!

Just a quick update to let you know that we are having a little girly! Steve and I agreed on the name, Addisyn Faith Hart. We are very excited to meet our little love bug. I have put up a few pictures of my belly from our two week vacation. We visited three different states to see our family. The pictures are from Virginia, California, and Ohio.

Love you!