Welcome home Milah

This isn't Milah's first picture, but one once she was admitted to the NICU. She was severely brusied. The nurse said she'd never seen a baby so bruised on her face. She looked like a blueberry. You can see the coloring better in the picture with David. That picture was taken when we were still in the delivery room.

Milah was on oxygen and had an IV. I wasn't worried at all. Her coloring and everything improved so quickly that I was glad she got the extra assistance she needed.

She was able to come with me. Here she is in her coming home outfit. Due to the H1N1 problem, no one under the age of 18 is allowed into the hospital to visit unless they are a patient, so Hartman wasn't able to meet his sister until she came home.

He stayed with various friends while we were at the hospital.

David took time to be home with him throughout our stay. Hartman was very excited to see his sister I couldn't get through the door. I told him he could see her when he sat down, so he ended sitting in the middle of the floor -- I meant on the couch.

The Arrival

As of November 12 2009 our little family added one more person. Milah Faye Andersen was born at 3:55pm. Three days prior to her arrival I had been having contractions 10 minutes apart without progress. Early Thursday morning it was the same thing, but they were stronger. David headed off to work about 8:30. I put in a movie and tried to stay relaxed in case this was the real thing.

My contractions began edging closer together by 10 am. About that time I called the doctors office knowing I needed to go in for my own sanity. I called David a half an hour later and asked him to come home. I was having contractions two to six minutes apart.

When we finally made it to the doctors office, the midwife checked me. I was at 6 cm and 80 percent effaced. She advised us to go the hospital. We had to make some arrangements for Hartman and pack those last minute items. We finally made it to the hospital about 12:30 pm.

Milah arrived at 3:55 pm. My laboring went well. It got fairly intense for me when I started pushing. She decided she likes her hand at her face so it came out with her head which made it a bit more difficult for me. I was able to have her without an epidural or any kind of medication thanks to my training in Hypnobabies.

She had a bit of fluid in her lungs and was sent to the NICU for more oxygen. Luckily she came home with me and has been doing great since.

Well that's how things went if you have questions please post them. I will post pictures as soon as i find the right cord to the camera :)

Goofing with daddy

Daddy is a superhero at our house. He comes up with games and activities that NO ONE would ever think of. Hartman is so excited when David comes home because then the fun really starts. I bought an extra clothes hamper the other day only to find it has become the last toy around the house.

David then proceeded to put the hamper on his head and chase Hartman around the house. --- Then it was Hartman's turn to chase daddy. For a couple days now, even if there is laundry in it, Hartman will pull it out and place it on his head. I am certainly glad my boys get along and love to play. It certainly makes for exciting evenings.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween - yesterday :). This year we were the cast of Curious George on PBS. David made a great man in the yellow hat and Hartman was the curious of all Georges. I am Professor Wiseman but if you don't watch the PBS show you won't know who I am. ** Kudos to David for being such a good sport. It's hard to be all macho masculine in bright yellow. **

We had a full day of Halloween fun starting with a costume parade at the library. They had a special Halloween story time and then we colored pictures, made a ghost and trick-or-treated the various workers. I was surprised to see he kept the hat on the whole time. He enjoyed seeing all the other kids dressed up too.

Noni came up to help me with the

festivities and to watch Hartman during my latest doc

tor appointment. I'm officially full-term so we'll see how much longer she wants to cook. David had a meeting in Malad so he didn't return until the mid afternoon. But when he returned he was kind enough to get Noni and me pedicures. He won the son-in-law of the day award. :)

After the library we went to Walgreen's for our free Halloween picture. David decided to show Hartman all the scary motion things BEFORE the picture. Hartman was then terrified to sit by himself for any amount of time. He would cling to either David or myself and cry. Eventually he sat on David's lap and David had to duck out of the picture.

The night ended with a bit of trick-or-treating and an APX party. Hartman did so well all night and really enjoyed the candy. He didn't say 'trick-or-treat' but he did say please. Overall Halloween was a success.

Pregnancy update

Belly Pictures --ugh. For all of you out there who want to see and know, here you go. I've got 4 weeks left. I still am getting things ready for her arrival. It's been a bit difficult with Hartman and my energy level is just not what it use to be:) It seems like as soon as I get going for the day, it's nap time, and if i don't rest while Hartman does it's a recipe for disaster!!! So after nap time the day is gone and I got to gear up for dinner time, so little if anything really gets prepared.

This pregnancy has been a bit different from Hartman, but good still. For those of you who know me and know me well I've always fought a battle with my skin. I've got eczema and have had it since birth. With Hartman, it went away completely. No problems whatsoever until I started nursing. I fought the good fight and had it mostly under control and then I got pregnant.

This pregnancy it's been a challenge with my skin. As the pregnancy has progressed it's only gotten worse. It started out in small patches on my hands and spread up my wrists and arms, around my shoulders, up my neck, some of my face and ears. It's also cropped up on my legs. It's not very slightly. It look like I'm bruised. Eczema itches very badly, so I find myself fighting an inner battle of scratch because it feels good verses don't because it's hurt afterward.

I try to stay away from many of the medications just for the safety of the baby and use regular lotion, but this past week or so it's gone out of control, so I'm on EXPENSIVE prescriptions and they are working so I felt a little better about taking a picture.

You can see the redness on my arm in this pumpkin picture. This is after I've got medicine and Benadryl in my system so it's already better in this photo.

Everything else with the baby seems to be going well. I find I crave a lot more sweets with this one -- probably because girls are made of sugar and spice :) I'm also gearing up for the birth. I've taken a Hypnobabies class and am working to make hypnosis work for me rather than an epidural. I know it sounds a little granola, but I feel it's the best thing for me and my baby -- so no negative comments please.

We'll let you know as things get closer. At least tell me I'm not as big as I feel :)

Pumpkin party

On Saturday we pulled out our carving cutlery and carved pumpkins. I was expecting Hartman to dive in with both hands, but surprisingly he didn't. It actually took quiet some coaxing to get him to touch the pumpkin innards at all.

I tried to keep the carving fairly simple this year. I just did a face. David was a little more ambitious and did Tigger. I didn't take pictures of the pumpkins themselves for whatever reason, so maybe when I finish Hartman's costume and get things going for this next holiday, I'll get pictures up.

Big-Boy Bed

With our new addition coming soon, we've rearranged rooms in our house. The nursery is staying the nursery, but Hartman has a kid room now. We've set up a toddler bed for him, but the transition from crib to bed has been a little difficult. I actually just gave up on it. The new baby won't be needing for a while and hopefully by then he'll be done with it.

This last week David went to Arizona for work training. I went and stayed with my parents just to have a bit of help with Hartman. He slept in the Pack 'n Play -- well sort of -- he kept climbing out. I never saw him do it. I would place him in his bed and within five minutes I would hear a knock at the door and "Ma." Needless to say he didn't go to bed OR take naps according to schedule. After some amount of time he would eventually stay and sleep in the bed. I was hoping this would only happen with the pack 'n play, but when we got home -- sure enough he climbed right out his crib.

Rather than have him climbing in and out. I decided the toddler bed was ready for use. Last night, when he was ready David put him into the bed. He was tired enough that he just went right to sleep. Never got out or anything. this was only the first night, but he did GREAT! I was the one paranoid. I thought he might fall out or something, he didn't.

David was a bit saddened by this great success. Officially, Hartman is not a baby. He has a big-boy bed. We'll keep you posted as to how consistent this success is.