Welcome Baby Addie!!

She's here!! Addison Marie Stanley was born on November 1, 2008 at 7:01 am. She was 8 lbs 9 oz, 20.5 inches long, and had a 14 in. head circumf. She is even more beautiful than I could have imagined; her features are so tiny and delicate. I still think she looks like Danny, but there is a little of me in there somewhere I'm sure. :)

I went in for induction on Friday night at 9, first dose of pitocin at 10. The nurses were all very busy and couldn't increase my pitocin until they were able to monitor me a little more closely, so I sat at 2 cm from 10 until 3 am. At 3, we met our nurse and she increased the pitocin. By 4:30, I was ready for the epidural and having fairly painful regular contractions. The first 90 minutes I received the fast acting dose of spinal meds and felt very little. Unfortunately, the actual epidural was suppose to take over by 6. I started feeling contractions and lots of pressure by 6 and my water broke at 6:04. Danny called the nurse in and I was 4 cm dilated, but very uncomfortable. The nurse called the anesthesiologist, who attempted to adjust the level of meds, without much success. I, unfortunately, had "sacral sparing" again. The contractions were awful and I was miserable. Within a couple of contractions I felt tons of pressure and felt like something major had changed. The nurse checked me again and I was fully dilated and the head was in position. She called my doctor, who luckily was on her way (awesome doctor who wasn't even on call but came in to deliver Addie!). Dr. Mertz just felt that she needed to get there and arrived just as I was about to start pushing. Addison was born after 5 pushes....lots of tears and tons of support from my Danny, Dr. Mertz, and nurse Stephanie. My mom also got to be in the delivery room this time and I was so glad to have her there.

We are all home and doing well now. I'm giving breast feeding a whole-hearted effort and struggling a bit. We are on day 4 now and not giving up. I am hopeful that we'll make it work this time. Addie is a great latcher and that certainly helps.

Thank you so much to my wonderful friends and family for all of your support during the last 40 weeks and especially for putting up with me during the last 4! We are so grateful to have such a strong support system. OH-and thanks so much for all of the delicious meals and help with Noah Michael.

Noah is loving his little sister. He stayed home from daycare on Monday and Tuesday and seems to be adjusting well to her arrival. Our biggest struggle is getting him to remember to touch her gently.

More updates later....