Hodgepodge from the hospital

Warning: This may be the longest post in history!

We are settling in at home and enjoying some much needed family time this week. Jonathan has been off work, and we have loved having everyone together. I'm not sure yet what Payton is going to do when her daddy has to go back to work next week. I am just now having a chance to go through all of the pictures. We had three different cameras going and I realized that some got pictures that we missed. Therefore, I am including a hodgepodge of pictures in this post. Bare with me...

Before delivery waiting on baby girl to make her appearance!


I love this pitiful face.

Somehow I didn't have a picture of Amy on my original post from her birth. I am still in awe of all of you sweet people who were there at 2 a.m. She even brought me a diet mountain dew to help celebrate after she was born! It was exactly what I wanted after not eating since noon!


We couldn't wait for Payton to wake up and come see us.


Aunt Ashley and Uncle Mark deserve a HUGE shout out! I think they had the hardest job of all...keeping Payton! They were lifesavers. After receiving a call Friday evening, they were to our house in about 10 minutes to stay so that Payton could sleep in her own bed. Keeping this wild child is no easy task. I can't say what a relief it was to know that she was having so much fun while we couldn't be with her. Thank you Aunt Ashley and Uncle Mark, I promise I will find a way to repay you sometime, although I'm not sure how!



We were so blessed with all of our visitors. Staying in a hospital room is not really my thing, and having company to help pass the time was such a blessing. I said that I was going to do better getting pictures with all of our visitors this time, but I still failed miserably. We had so many that I realize now we missed pictures with. Thank you so much to everyone who came to see us (even if I failed to take your picture)!










Lastly, here are a few of my favorites from her first days in the hospital.

Sisters

I have been very excited aout the introduction of Payton to her baby sister. We have talked constantly about Harper over the past few months in hopes that when the time came, Payton would be as prepared as possible. Payton got to the hospital early Saturday morning to meet her sister since all of the excietement took place while she was sleeping. The last couple of weeks, we have talked about the day that Harper was born would be her birthday. The first thing Payton said was, "Harper is wearing her party hat." She was wearing the little hat that they give you at the hospital, and Payton thought Harper was all ready for her party with her party hat on. The introduction could not have gone any better. Payton was excited, yet gentle. She clearly made the association that baby Harper was no longer in mommy's belly, and was now a REAL LIVE baby. As for mommy and daddy, we were so ready to see both of our babies.






Here are just a few pictures of Payton introducing Harper to her baby doll and giving her kisses today.



I pray that that these two girls grow up to be the best of friends!

Harper Lynn Wood

We welcomed Harper into the world Saturday morning, July 2 at 2:10 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs. 11. oz and is 20 inches long.




As you can tell, we are already so in love with our little girl.




There are just a few others who love her too..












No one can deny that Harper had a fan club waiting on her...even if she did arrive at 2 a.m.


After going to my doctor's appointment last Wednesday, we had a feeling she would be here sooner than later. After being stuck at 1 cm for the previous 3 weeks, we got the great news that I was 2.5 cm and 70% effaced. Dr. Alverson set up to induce me on July 5 if she didn't come sooner. He said then that he wouldn't be surprised if I went on my own before then. After leaving the appointment Wednesday, I made a mad dash home to finish up some last minute cleaning and preparations just in case she decided to make her debut early. I had a few contractions Wednesday night but nothing major. Pretty much all day Thursday and Friday I had contractions on and off. I got very little sleep Thursday night due to consistent contractions from 2-6. Sure enough, they stopped as soon as I got up. At this point, I was pretty much annoyed with the on again off again business and was ready to either have a baby, or just wait until Tuesday to take care of business. I went walking Friday morning for an hour with not a single contraction. When I got home I took a shower, went to lunch, and they were slowly starting again. I decided to indulge in an afternoon nap while Payton was napping, pretty much for lack of anything better to do. I woke up from my nap having contractions anywhere from 7-10 minutes apart. We headed to dinner at Nana and Pop's house simply because I didn't want to sit at home. It wasn't long before they were getting stronger and closer. We decided to head home, get Payton to bed, and head to the hospital. Aunt Ashley and Uncle Mark came to the rescue and stayed with Payton. I sat in observation for a while with my contractions about 4 minutes apart but not really making any progress. Dr. H gave me the option of staying or going home. After 3 days of contractions, going home wasn't really what I had in mind. We decided to stay and get things rolling. We got into a room a little after 10 and my water broke on its own. I had some pretty strong contractions before getting my epidural, but it went by pretty quickly. Jonathan ran downstairs about 1:30 to get a snack. In the meantime, Dr. H came in and we got the shocking news that she was about ready to meet us. I called Jonathan and suggested that he come back rather quickly. I pushed for about four contractions, and she was here! Even the dr. was shocked that I progressed so quickly. I never had to have any pitocin or anything to push things along! I must say, my labor was rather uneventful and simple, just the way I like. She was almost exactly the same size as Payton when she was born. Harper weighed 1 ounce more and was 1/4 of an inch longer. Harper doesn't have quite as much hair, and it is definitely lighter than Payton's. We are so blessed to have our healthy baby girl here with us now! Stay tuned for updates of meeting big sister!