Time is definitely flying so much faster with our second baby!! We are into more of a groove with nursing now and Ethan likes to sit with me while I nurse her too! "Gulp Gulp Gulp" he says...haha! Natalie has had her first sponge bath now and this week has been sleeping a ton--almost 22 hours a day!
Ethan has been adjusting well to our new family dynamic--but we really try to do something with him each day where he gets mommy and daddy's full attention too. He made some finger painting masterpieces this week! We've been taking lots of walks too since the weather has been so nice. Ethan has been talking up a storm too. He will literally say every word that we say or at least try. He has been cracking us up with things he says and remembers. He is just SO incredibly smart and observant. He loves to ask...."what kind" and "what is that" and "what's that sound". He'll say..."Mommy, what's that sound?" I'll say..."oh that was a truck buddy..." he'll say..."what kind of truck?" I'll say a white pick-up truck and he'll say..."what kind of white pick up truck." We LOVE that we can have a full out conversation with him! It's adorable. The speech therapist is so pleased with his progress that he no longer has a speech delay and we will be decreasing services in the next month or so!! Yay!!! We could not be more proud of him!
Today we came home from the hospital with Natalie. It was a crazy morning--it took almost 2.5 hours to get discharged from the hospital! Yikes! Nana and Pap where there too, which was really nice! Ethan wanted to "take walk with Pap". It was so sweet--they would do a round on the floor and then he would get back to my room and say..."I take walk with Pap".
When Ethan first met Natalie--he immediately wanted to hold her. I heard him coming down the hall to my room saying..."I see mommy...I hold baby Na-ee" When he got into the room he climbed right into bed with me and said..."mommy, I hold baby Na-ee" The look on his face was priceless when he held her. Complete awe. He held her fingers and toes too. Very sweet! He is very gentle with her and really seems interested to see what she is doing. Natalie had a little present wrapped for Ethan under her bassinet. Ethan found it immediately! :) It was a new little motorcycle toy and he was SO excited about it! Here are some pics of Ethan meeting Natalie.
We are so excited that our little angel is finally here!! Natalie Gianna Haymaker was born on April 16, 2011 at 3:25 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs 13 oz and was 21 3/8 " long at birth. I am so excited that I was able to go into labor on my own rather than to do another induction.
Labor started at about noon on Friday, April 15th when I was at the park with Ethan. I just had really mild contractions that were completely manageable and similar to what I had been having over the past couple weeks. By about 2 in the afternoon they started to be more regular and 20 min apart. So I started to get everything ready "just in case" this was it. By 10 p.m. my contractions were 10 min apart and more intense. They lasted that way the whole night so I really wasn't able to sleep much. By the morning they were 5 min apart at breakfast and really starting to hurt. I called the Dr. and she told me to come in to get checked. When I did was 4 cm dialated--yay!! So they admitted me. I got the epidural early this time and it completely stopped my contractions. 
So, they pushed Pitocin afterall. Thankfully I had the epidural though this time before I had pitocin contractions! :) By the time it was time to push, the epidural had worn off almost completely other than in my right leg. I had asked the nurse to turn up the dose but by the time she did--it was too late. Natalie was born just about 25 minutes later. She was "sunny side up"--which I had never heard of before!
Today I took Ethan to Clemyjontri park in McLean, Va. I told him we were going to have a special date today :) We packed our picnic lunch (or as Ethan called it our "pancake lunch") and we left early in the morning. The weather was beautiful! I am just soaking up every second with my little buddy before the baby comes. We stayed on the swings for almost a half hour--one of Ethan's favorites right now. "Mommy, I go wee...up high" meaning...he wants me to push him high on the swings :) Wee=swings. Very sweet. He met a friend at the park named Mia and they were pretending to be Cheetahs and race on the track that went around the park. Mia was 4--and quickly became Ethan's most favorite person! Then we had our "pancake lunch" and were home in time for nap time. Such a great day! It feels so good to have everything ready for the baby and be able to enjoy spending time with my sweet sweet boy.
Today my two best friends--Col and Tray--took me for a pedicure and dinner to celebrate the arrival of my new baby girl. This was the most perfect sprinkle that anyone could have asked for! We had such a relaxing and fun time. Earlier that day, I spent the morning/afternoon with my two favorite guys in the world--Mike and Ethan. We went to a new park in Old Town, Alexandria by the water so Ethan could watch the boats and planes. It was SUCH a nice day and we had a blast. I don't have any pics from the park because I decided to leave the camera at home and just enjoy the day :)