Words Cannot Describe The Love

Addison Marie Cook
Born: March 1, 2012
6 lbs 12.9 oz
18 1/2 inches long

As promised, I am blogging after the arrival of our baby girl, Addison.  It took me a week but I think I'm doing pretty good. :-)  Addison arrived at 6:30 am the morning of March 1st.  Much to the surprise of my co-workers, friends, and doctor I worked until the day before she arrived.  My doctor told me that I was in labor but I still felt good so I figured, why not.  It was better than sitting at home twiddling my thumbs...lol

The night before Addison arrived we were hit with some very late Winter weather, thank you Catskills New York.  So as I'm sitting on our couch trying to determine if I was having contractions or not (at that point it was just tightening which to me sometimes just felt like her moving), I suddenly felt a change.  I text my friend, Abby and told her about it, she of course panicked a bit, as we live in the boonies and the weather was bad.  She wanted me to run to the hospital immediately.  Since I was still comfortable I opted to call the doctor on call.  As I suspected he told me to just hang out for a bit and let him know when the contractions got closer together.  Abby did convince me to come stay at her and her husband's house, which was 10 minutes from the hospital, as opposed to the 35 that we were from home.  Given the weather situation and when I finally called the doctor, I am very glad that we did so. 

When Matt and I arrived at the hospital around 1:30 in the morning on the 1st the contractions had gotten so I knew they were actually contractions, but nothing unbearable and they were 6 minutes apart.  As we were walking in, another couple and their entourage were running in as well.  I told the nurses that the doctor had asked me to come in to be checked.  At the time I didn't notice too much, but after they said something I realized that they were taking their time getting me checked.  After the nurse checked me she informed me that her and the other nurse had been sure that they would be sending me home and keeping the other woman because they thought I was too calm and happy! lol   As it turned out, I was already 5 centimeters, so they quickly got me checked into a room. 

I'm not going to say that labor is a picnic but I will say that throughout my entire pregnancy and then my labor and delivery I was incredibly blessed.  I had a relatively short labor (from when I could actually feel the contractions to delivery it was 5 hours) and the pain wasn't dull by any means but it was manageable.  Thank goodness it was too because by the time the nurse asked me if I wanted any pain medicine (I'm thinking epidural) there was only time for the medicine that dulls the pain.  By dull the pain they mean just knock you out so you can still feel it but you're too drowsy to care. lol  Matt was amazing through it all.  He was right by my side the whole time, rubbing my back, getting me water and offering support.  He was also the nurses helper as well because there was another woman in the next room who was delivering at the same time as I was, so the poor doctor had to go back and forth between the two of us. 

Just a note to my friends who have not had children yet, when the nurse tells you to just breathe through the next contraction and don't push because you have to wait for the doctor, it's ok to tell her no...lol  I thought she was joking until she ran out to the hall and yelled for the doctor to get in the room and then told me to wait again.  Well that wasn't happening, but luckily for the poor nurse, who I think may have fainted if she had actually had to finish delivering my baby, the doctor arrived just in time.

When they set my baby girl on my stomach and I saw her face for the first time, I can't even express how happy and in love I was with her.  Just thinking about it makes me tear up.  There is no greater feeling than meeting your child for the first time.  I thought the day I found out I was pregnant was the greatest day of my life, but the day Addison was finally in my arms definitely trumped that.  I have never felt so blessed as I did in that moment.  I was so distracted by all that love that when they gave her back to me wrapped up and clean I anxiously asked Matt if she had any hair because I hadn't even looked and I didn't want her to be bald...lol  He assured me that she did and boy did she!




I think she's starting to look more like daddy every day.

 The next few days at the hospital were a haze of sleep deprivation, elation, and visitors.  It was nice having the nurses there for support but it was so nice to finally take our baby girl home.  Addie and the animals all met and I am happy to report that the cats are pretty uninterested and Luke has assumed the roll of concerned big brother.  If she cries he gets upset, he parks himself in front of her swing if she's in it and he periodically nuzzles her with his nose, much to her annoyance sometimes...lol  This past week has been a learning process both for Matt and I and for Addison.  We're all trying to figure out how to work together but I think we're getting there and she is one happy little girl.  Matt and I can't stop looking at her.  Daddy looks at his little girl so lovingly and can't stop saying how "stinkin' cute" she is. :-)  As my friend Matt said after the birth of his daughter,"I've never been so happy to be so exhausted in my life."

Matt and I took Addison for her one week check up and much to my surprise she had gained almost another pound (7 lbs 3 oz) and grown over an inch (19 3/4 inches long).  It really is amazing to see how much she has changed already.  I can't stop taking pictures of her and could have easily just posted pictures of her for this blog post with nothing else.  We're just so happy. 

I want to send a special thank you to all of our family and friends who have sent gifts, come by or just called to check on us.  Your support has been great and we can't wait to share more about how Addison is growing and changing. :-)

Until next time!

Well if that's not daddy's face right there...lol

Our sweet angel

Daddy is keeping a watchful eye on his little bug

  Thank you Matt, Rachel & Hannah
these were delicious!

Shout out to Uncle Dustin & Uncle Aaron

Showing some love for our furbabies,
Luke & Spooky

Baby Showers, Nursery, and an Expanding Waist.

35 Weeks

Hello Everyone!  Sorry it has been so long since I have last posted.  I really have been horrible about that.  Since I last posted we have been up to a lot. 

37 Weeks

As you can tell, on the baby bump front I have certainly "blossomed".  lol  Baby Girl has dropped quite a bit and that has made mommy a bit uncomfortable and it has definitely made it difficult for her to sleep.  As a result I have developed the waddle and have been quite exhausted.  However, I can't really complain, as I have had it quite easy up until this point.  I have definitely reached the point where I am ready for her to be here though.  We just cannot wait to meet our little girl. 


Matt completed the nursery so with the exception of a few finishing touches we are anxiously awaiting Baby Girl's arrival. :)

This is what we started with.

 And this was the finished product.  It's hard to get the whole room. Matt even picked the colors.  I was trying to be not too girlie (Daddy wasn't quite ready for that) but he surprised me by picking this lavender and dark purple trim.  We can't wait to finally have the final piece to our room, our little girl. :)

The last week in January my mother-in-law and my best friend, Abby surprised me by throwing me a baby shower.  Admittedly I kind of knew it was going to happen because there were not many more weekends free before our little one's arrival.  But it was still nice and I can't thank Sue and Abby enough for throwing the party, and for everyone who was there to share the day with me.  We definitely got a lot of nice stuff. :)

Thanks to Little Miss Muffin's Cakes for
this delicious cake.  The entire cake was
edible.

Abby & her beautiful daughter, Alexandra

Loved these little dresses!

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful gifts

The first weekend of February Matt and I took a mini getaway to Pennsylvania for some much needed us time.  It was my Christmas present from Matt.  Unfortunately Matt and I had both caught terrible colds.  So we were able to wander around the town but by 5 pm we were in our hotel room, in our pajamas trying to nurse ourselves back to health.  Though we were sick it was still nice to get away from everything and just be together.  It's so easy to get caught up in the everyday and the to-dos when you're home.  We mustered up enough energy to wander around Amish country and visit some of the wonderful shops and of course we had to check out the largest Cabela's in the U.S. lol

Me and my love

This is where we planted ourselves all evening. lol

Even I must admit that the Cabela's was impressive

This weekend was my lovely friend, Colleen's baby shower.  She is looking beautiful and I have loved sharing our pregnancy journey's together. 

Adorable and delicious

One of mthe many adorable outfits Colleen got for Baby Tenbus

The pregnant duo. :)



In other other news, the last week of January I got quite the surprise at work.  The credit union that I work at was liquidated.  The NCUA (Regulates Credit Unions) came in and shut my credit union down and fired all of us.  Sounds scary and it was definitely a shock but we were liquidated by another credit union so we still have jobs.  It has been a bit hectic and uncertain but the people from the new credit union have been great.  It has not been ideal ultimately starting a new job and starting from scratch 6 weeks before my due date.  All of the things I had in place for my maternity leave and the people who were going to be my back-up were all changed.  So I have spent the past few weeks trying to adjust to the changes and preparing my replacement for when I am out.  There definitely does not feel like there is enough time to do everything that needs to be done but in the end all I can do is prepare my job as much as possible.  Returning to work will be interesting but I am focusing on one step at a time.  Step 1, prepare work for my leave, Step 2, enjoy my time home with our baby. 

Matt has been extra busy at work.  He teaches during the day and spends at least a couple nights a week working after school events.  It keeps him very busy.  I will be very glad to have my husband back.

So that is the summarized catch up of what has been going on in our lives.  Please forgive me if I do not write again until after baby girl's arrival.  I will post after her arrival though.  In the mean time, I hope you're all doing well!  XO

Luke and his brother, Shad enjoying
some snow time.

These boys have rough lives.

"I'm preparing for when our baby girl is here." LOL
I think it will be slightly different love.



Traveling, Holiday Cheer, and a New Year!

Best Christmas gift, having my brothers home with me

We were so happy to be able to see our niece and nephew

My favorite people

New Year's Eve dinner with my second family

First I will start with a belated Happy New Year!  I hope that everyone welcomed 2012 with wonderful friends, family or both.  This holiday season was especially meaningful to Matt and and for a few reasons.  First, there was the wonderful presence of my little brothers.  We were all so very thankful and happy that they were safely in the States with us this Christmas.  For me, it made Christmas whole again.  Having them there also reminded me of the true meaning of the holiday.  It isn't about how many presents are under the tree but about being with the people that you love. 

The second thing that made this holiday season so special was that Aly (Matt's sister and my sis-in-law) was home in New York with us.  It was nice to have her home and it made me realize how much I miss having her around, and yes, though Matt wouldn't say it out loud, how much he misses having his sister around. ;-)  We laughed so much while she was home and we cherished every minute we got to spend with her.

The third, and most wonderful thing about this holiday season is that Matt and I have been blessed with the gift of starting a family.  Not a day passes that I am not reminded of the amazing gift we have been given and we can not wait to finally have our little girl here with us.  In the mean time we revel at watching my belly (excuse me, our daughter) grow and move.  I can already tell she is going to be fiesty one.  At moments during the holidays I stopped in awe that this was our last holiday as just the two of us.  The next time we traveled to Iowa we would be bringing our little girl with us.  The next Christmas we celebrated would be celebrated with our little girl.  It's all so exciting, and admittedly a little scary at times, but a welcome scary and one that we have been waiting for, for much too long. 

In all, I don't know if I could have asked for a better Christmas or New Year's.  It was wonderful to be with our families and share in all of the joy that brings and to also share in all of the excitement of the pending additions to the family.  I say additions because my baby brother, Aaron, and his wife, Jessi are also expecting in May.  Not only will Hunter and Hayden have one new cousin, but they will have two.  Needless to say, when we're all together from this point forward it's going to be a bit more hectic and wonderful.  We were all hoping to find out what Aaron and Jessi were having while home for Christmas but unfortunately the little one was not so cooperative.  So, we anxiously await their next ultrasound where my niece or nephew will hopefully cooperate and let us know who they are.

I must say, after the much needed break from work and trip back to Iowa, plus the wonderful celebrations with Matt's family upon our return, it was quite hard to return to reality.  We are keeping ourselves busy though so hopefully the next two months will fly by.  This past weekend Matt and I finally finished clearing out the "mud room" and painted it so it is now the soon-to-be nursery!  I have taken pictures but will post them once we have completed the painting and revamping.  I will say that it is amazing to see what a little paint can do for a room though. 

This coming weekend Matt and I will be attending our Childbirth Preparation course.  It should be interesting to see what that has in store for us, and to see how well Matt handles being stuck in a room listening to and talking about all of the stuff the course involves.  The following two weekends will be spent with myself and Colleen spaing it up once again and hopefully Matt and I can squeeze in a tour of the birthing center before the end of the month.  Matt is busy putting the final touches on our "babymoon" in early February.  I am so excited for the two of us to get away and just enjoy some us time.  I am beyond impatient to have our little girl here with us but it will be nice to have that time for us before she does get here.  That all takes us up to the middle of February and one month away from our due date!  (hint of panic that we won't get everything done in my voice. hehe)

Speaking of the due date, I am officially 31 weeks and 2 months away from the big day!  Baby Cook has certainly grown, as evidence from my buddha like mid section.  Tomorrow we have an ultrasound to see how she is measuring.  Matt and I are so excited to see our little girl again and how much she has grown.  From the pokes, rolls, and jabs I'm guessing she has grown quite a bit from the last time we saw her. 

On that note, I should say good night and get some much needed zzz's.  Again, I hope you all had an amazing holiday and welcome to 2012!  I know this year holds many many new adventures for Matt and I and we cannot wait!  Until next time!

Christmas 2011 Photo Collage

Here is a photo collage of our Christmas in Iowa.  I will write more about our trip once we make it back to New York.  Enjoy!

So happy to see her!



Adorable



Smiling nice for the camera



Matt is hamming it up for the camera



Having way too much fun.

He was a robot.

Posing with Daddy and Uncle Aaron

Soooooo happy to have my little brothers home!

Matt and I with me a couple of my high school classmates/friends; Katie & Jareb.  Katie's daughter, Aleeyah was in our wedding.

Fun times with Grandma

Our favorite little people. :-D

And the Third Trimester Begins! :-O

Today marks my 28th week of pregnancy (aka the start of the third trimester)!  I cannot believe that we are two thirds of the way through already.  It feels like I was just standing in my bathroom staring at that pregnancy test in disbelief.  For the most part I have been feeling pretty good, but I am starting to get some aches and pains.  My lower back has felt better, and though I have been fighting my chiropractor to get one of those belts that supports my belly I'm not sure I will be able to fight her much longer.  I'm excercising and attempting to stand as correctly as possible but after a long day all I want to do is curl up with my heat pad and nurse my poor back.  I guess I could feel worse, and there are always more prenatal massages to be had. hehe  Sleeping has also become a challenge.  I finally bought a body pillow yesterday because it was impossible to move surrounded by every pillow I could find, not to mention Matt had been banned to the far side of the bed due to my pillow wall.   I know the non-sleep is supposed to be practice for when the baby comes and all that, but it's just mean.  Shouldn't I be able to rest as much as possible before the baby comes? Naps and early bed times have become my friends, that's for sure.

28 Weeks!

Baby Cook has been moving around like crazy the past couple of weeks.  Sometimes I swear she's using every section of her body to hit me at once.  It's comical to watch my belly move when she's in one of her hyper fits though.  I blame Matt for her obvious hyper tendencies, because I certainly was not like that.  LOL  Thursday is my next follow-up but judging from how much she is moving and how my mid-section is growing I'd say she is doing just fine.  :-)

Matt and I are going to be preparing for our long drive to Iowa this week.  I cannot wait!  I hate the drive but getting the long break from work and spending time with my family makes it all worth it.  So the cleaning and packing has begun.  Making it through the work week is always the toughest because my mind is already in vacay mode but the reality is that I still have so much to do to prepare for my absence at work.  Here's hoping that this week goes quick! 

Other than that Matt and I are done with Christmas shopping, thank goodness.  Going to the mall yesterday was so much more enjoyable since we weren't scrambling to find last minute gifts for everyone.  So now all that's left to do is get back to Iowa and spend a wonderful Christmas with my family.  Update and pictures to follow after the holidays!  Merry Christmas Everyone! 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....?

Hello Again!  I hope you're all doing well.  Things continue to be busy busy in our neck of the woods.  We finally got a bit of snow on Wednesday, but with the exception of Red Hill Knolls the snow quickly melted away the very next day.  I am not a fan of the cold weather or the snow really, however, there is an exception to this dislike, Christmas.  I have a serious grip with Mother Nature because it definitely does not look like Christmas out there right now.  The ground is bare and the grass is still green!  I sure hope that we have snow for Christmas.  Without the snow it makes it hard to get into the spirit.  I have been trying though,  I have decorated at home and I decorated my branch at work.  I am currently listening to Christmas music in the hopes of fully getting myself into the Christmas mood. 

Today I went down to the library in the town that I live in.  Grahamsville has been spending a lot of time revamping their library the last few years and I had yet to check it out.  My mother-in-law, Susan needed to drop cookies off for the Holiday Tea Time they were hosting at the library, so she invited me to come with her to see what they have done to the library.  I will say, it was absolutely gorgeous in there.  When she showed me the children's section it made me excited to take Baby Cook there when she is finally old enough to go to the library and enjoy all of the things they offered.  Reading has always been one of my favorite things to do and I hope to pass my love of reading on to our little girl.  I can't wait to read all of the wonderful books there are for children to our daughter.  On a side note,  as I was standing in the area where they were preparing all of the many plates of cookies and goodies for the Tea Time the very pregnant and hungry me just wanted to grab one of each goodie.  One should not take a pregnant woman into a buffet of Christmas treats and not allow her to sample, it's just mean. ;-)

I finally got my butt in gear and wrote out the Christmas cards that I need to get out to the many people on my mailing list.  After a couple of hours and one very sore wrist later I am happy to report that I am almost done, with the exception of waiting for updated address on a couple of people.  Now, if only I could say that I had also completed my Christmas shopping.  I am going to do my best to complete that tomorrow though.  Since we spend Christmas in Iowa we have to ship most of the gifts we have to get so I am going to force myself to crack down tomorrow and finish that up so I can stop worrying and so I know that everything will be in Iowa before we get there.

Yesterday I spent a wonderfully relaxing day with my fellow preggo lady/friend, Colleen.  We enjoyed lunch out.  (Colleen, I agree, it is nice to share a meal with someone who is as equally hungry as I am without judgement.)  After lunch Colleen and I did a little bit of shopping.  I did break down and buy a couple of things for Baby Cook.  Until then I had been holding off as I know that we will receive more than enough clothes, but I couldn't help but purchase a couple of outfits.  They were too cute to pass up.

I couldn't resist :-)

After our shopping trip Colleen and I ended the day by enjoying prenatal massages.  How a pregnant woman survives without getting at least one prenatal massage I do not know.  It was just what my over worked muscles needed, especially after my busy week.  There definitely needs to be a trip or two back to the spa before baby is here.  The entire day was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.  Thank you Colleen for suggesting and inviting me. :-)  Colleen is looking great and carrying her pregnancy beautifully.

In baby news, I am officially in my final week of the second trimester.  This week I found out I had gained 4 pounds in 2 weeks.  That makes perfect sense as my appetite seems to have graduated to that of a teenage boy's.  I can't seem to eat enough food to keep baby happy.  Along with the extra poundage my members and co-workers were kind enough to point out that my mid-section has grown to account for those pounds.  I have no problem with the growing belly, I was a bit taken back by the fact that people are so open in voicing how big you are when you are pregnant.  I know that most people do not mean it in a mean way, however, a little tact when dealing with a hormonal woman, who is growing a human being is probably a good idea.  I actually had a member ask me if I thought I was going to be able to work up to my due date as I was already so big.  I don't care who you are, that stings a bit. Lol  Aside from the somewhat insensitive comments everyone has been quite wonderful and I have been feeling great.  I really have been incredibly lucky.  I haven't really felt sick, my hair and skin looks great, and Matt has been wonderful about giving me mini massages at the end of the day to help relieve any tension.  What more could a girl ask for?

27 Weeks!

Thanks to Kate!

Irish Love from Matt's Mom