We're Home

We came home Thursday and things have been going pretty well. Addison was a bit fussy the first day or two, but she's settled in pretty well. Nicole is doing very well. We still haven't figured out bedtime yet...Addison must not want to fall asleep for fear she'll miss something :) Once she does go down, things have gone pretty smoothly.

She's Finally Here

Many of you have probably heard...our bundle of joy arrived at 3:01 PM on Tuesday, October 14. Addison Elizabeth weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long.

It was a very long day for Mom. Nicole first went in to the hospital at 11:00 AM on Monday, October 13 with some contractions and measured 1 cm of dilation. Unfortunately, after 2 hours of being monitored, Nicole was sent home with no progress.

Ryan came home from work at 4:00 to a very uncomfortable Nicole, so back to the hospital we went. Upon arriving, they strapped Nicole into monitors and measured again. Nicole's contractions were increasing in intesity and duration, but she still hadn't made any gains in dilation....so yup, back home we came to "relax".

At 12:30 AM, Nicole had "relaxed" all she could and we came back to the hospital. Apparently the third time was the charm and they admitted us. At about 1:30 they gave Nicole Nubain, which is a nice narcotic, and she was finally able to relax. With the drugs, Nicole and Ryan were able to get about 2 hours of sleep. When Nicole woke up, we were happy to hear that she had dilated to 3 cm.

At 6:00 AM, the anestheseologist came to give Nicole her edidural which she was very happy to recieve. Although Nicole hates needles, she was a champ!At 8:00 AM, Nicole hadn't made much progress (still at 3 cm) so the decission was made to give her Pitocin and break her water.From 8:00 AM to 12:30 Nicole and Ryan spent most of their time trying hard to not be bored. Nicole wasn't able to get up and walk around and she was getting pretty antsy. Fortunately Nicole's sister Allison paid us a visit around Noon and stayed through the delivery.

At 12:30 PM, Nicole asked to get the nurse becuase her epidural was wearing off. The nurse came in and did a quick check and told us that Nicole was measuring 9.5 cm!!!!!! The option was to let the meds wear off and go ahead with the oncoming labor, or have the anestheseologist return and potentially slow things down. Nicole was ready to go, so that's what we did!

At 1:00 PM Nicole had progressed to the point where she was in full labor....let the pushing begin :)For 2 hours Nicole pushed and rested and pushed and rested while Ryan and Allison did their best to keep Nicole focused and relaxed. Nicole did a great job and was rewarded.

At 3:01 Addison Elizabeth was born.Nicole and Addison have been doing great. Feedings are going well and Addison has been checked and determined to be "Perfect" (those were the doctor's words, not ours). Of course, we already knew that!!!

Pictures of Addison Elizabeth Meulemans

Nothing new to report

Well, we've had our third weekly appointment and we are 0-3. No dialation yet. We think Addison is just way to comfortable and content :) It is a bit wierd knowing that at any moment it could be time to head for the hospital...I think Nicole would like that to happen right now!

We did get an email from Scott and Sara and Nolan is doing really well...although he's a little night owl :) Here are a few pics of the little guy:

Visting Nolan Pastryk (our nephew)

We were so lucky to visit Sara and Scott's new baby boy, Nolan Michael Pastyk, on Tuesday. He was exactly one day old! We took turns holding him, cuddling him, and holding him some more. Sara is doing very well and Scott is one proud dad. We're pretty sure Scott had him watching some baseball tonight on TV!

Here are some pictures of the cutie!

Nolan's letting out a HUGE yawn :)

Two proud parents!

Trip to the State Fair

A few weeks ago we went to the State Fair to test out our new camera...okay, we went to eat, and took pictures of everything we ate! Surprisingly, we didn't eat nearly as much as we have in years past.

yummy chocolate shake!

Leprachon Legs (deep fried green beans) and a Wild Rice Brat. Sounds healthy!

We split a corn dog...a Minnesota State Fair tradition.

It has been awhile

Well, it sure has been awhile since an update...like months!!!!

We continue to await the arrival of our little ball of joy. We just had an appointment last week and everything seems to be going as expected. Nicole is still measuring on schedule, so it sounds like Oct. 15 will be the due date.

Baby classes have started, wow, talk about shock tactics. Each week we "get" to watch a birth, and let me tell you, it is up close and personal...certainly not the type of movie you watch with a bowl of popcorn! We did get to tour the birth floor last week...that made it seem really REAL! The floor is very quite, the rooms were nicer than expected and the nurses seem VERY friendly.

We had a baby shower at Allison's house two weeks ago. Thank you Allison! We got a ton of stuff, so thank you to all of you. The nusery is stacked with items we haven't found spots for yet. The stroller and car seat are down stairs by the front door...no place to hide them :)

We got a new camera a few weeks ago, so we hope to be putting some pictures up of the nursery and maybe even some belly shots of Nicole....probably not though :)

Now that we are getting closer, we'll be updating more frequently.

until then!